By Frank Meke
These are interesting times, the hours of light and darkness, depending on what side of the divide you find belong or find yourself.
It is interesting however, that at whatever stage of disagreement, there are options to follow and navigate through, particularly at seeking legal redress. At loss or gain ( victory), our society is enriched in knowledge and leadership, particularly, over the timelines truth that humanity is never perfect.
Mrs Hadiza Kabir is the mandate Secretary of the Social Development Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration. If you ask me, her name does not ring bell in my tourism ears, again clearly meaning that one cannot deny anyone a space in the tourism knowledge economy, simply because he or she does not swag across the various cacophony of tourism boisterourity.
Hadiza Kabir stirred the bees nest last week when she gave notice that FCT Administration through her tourism department, will register, and grade hotels and other related tourism enterprises, a numerate three thousand of them, not just for sake of revenue generation but specifically to power standardisation and keep eyes on those who may had or intend to breach the land use act.
According to news reports and eye witness accounts of few industry players who were at SDS FCT tourism stakeholders meeting, Mrs Hadiza Kabir, informed that her department acting on ministerial approval ( FCT is run by a Minister), will immediately commence the registration and licensing of all tourism enabling structures in the FCT.
She mentioned taxation, contravention of land use act and other” issues” as tentacles that informed the decision to carry stakeholders along on new development, a mandatory focal expectation that in the past rendered the fct tourism department ” fallow”.
The fees on registration and licensing have not been collected since 2013, by FCT after the Ntdc, now NTDA, was stopped on its stride over the registration ecosystem by the Supreme Court, Mrs Hadiza Kabir noted.
One interesting aspect of this development underscores the reality that the tourism laws as captured under NTDA act, and specifically but not limited to registration of Hospitality enterprises, may have multiple dates in court by states governments and their tourism authorities, who may like lagos did, seek supreme Court interpretations.
As Mrs Kabir of fct tourism administration, clearly reasoned, the supreme Court judgement ( not invalidated) by the laws of NTDA, rightly empowered the FCT administration to register and license tourism enterprises, situate and operating within its geospace.
Am impressed by the human face approach of FCT tourism administration, not ref flagging registration and licensing fees owed before now by stakeholders but evidently and frontly telling industry operators to brace up for new game changing rules.
In my earlier review of NTDA laws,( Goggle, NTDA laws and Cockrow at dawn), I had pointed out that the entire scope of operation under the new regulations, is a mockery of the Supreme Court judgment and in fact, will meet resistance from federating states.
I dare in my opinion that even lagos state government except through certain political pressures and “doctrine of necessity” will headline hard pursuit on hospitality and tourism registration value chain, may join the”fight” against NTDA act. It will interesting however to know where lagos stands in weeks and months to come.
Please find time to read my earlier position on NTDA act, which again does not confer on me the limitless knowledge on the industry laws but deliberately done to enrich the growth of the industry, particularly when our appointed and selected government tourism leaders, wish without consultation, to run industry affairs as their private estate.
It will amount to being pretentious, unpatriotic and a lover of idiocy and lies, if anyone submits that targeting revenue generation in the sector, is not driven by the donkey of registration and licensing manifestation.
Mrs Hadiza Kabir alluded to it though not expressively at stakeholders meeting when she revealed that fct was getting her share of revenue from the ” unitary ecosystem, adopted by ntdc before the lagos Supreme Court ruling.
One day, very soon, I will reveal the little I know why lagos Tourism Commissioner , Mr Tokumbo Afiokuyomi, went to seek SP Interpretation of then ntdc laws. Again that case went the way it was, though enriching of tourism jurisprudence, because of poor defence response from the office of the Attorney General then and the legal team contacted to interven.
Indeed, I delivered the letter of intent to appear on behalf of ntdc to a legal firm with offices on Awolowo Road, ikoyi, very brilliant team but again I can’t put my fingers to reason(s), the process failed.
Indeed, there are many contentious sections of the NTDA act, and other laws from other agencies which have over sight functions on tourism development matters in Nigeria.
Unfortunately, the private sector, to which all the agencies do target, for their revenue drive, has continued to limp and bled to death because of operational and implementation mechanisms deliberately targeted to muscle them out of business and not to encourage their growth and employment generation visibilities.
We have overtime called for collaboration between government cultural tourism agencies and the private sector, and submitted that the industry cannot advance and be buoyant if government tourism agencies continue to have breakfast, lunch and dinner with government grants and funds meant to fertilise the growth of the private sector.
Mr Nkereweum Onung, President of the federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria, ( ftan), last week inaugurated a team, headed by President of National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies, to take a proper look at the emerged new regulations of industry agencies as assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Am waiting for their findings and in one breath say, this wouldn’t have been necessary if the purveyors of the tourism laws, had openly converted and sought inputs from the private sector.
Democracy in tourism cannot be practised through acts of subterfuge, high headedness, arrogance and nauseating pride. We warned those concerned since 2015, and in response, they went to market place of blackmail to trade on us.
Since the laws came into being, have there being retreats, sector to sector, influencers and stakeholders meeting, proposed and held to share and review operational acceptation and modalities?
No, no, no,!!!, the slave masters cannot sit in one place with stakeholders with poor digital certification, and experience! How can the Herods of our tourism time, allow businesses with potentials to create jobs and promote Nigerian cultural tourism, be honoured with a golden hand shake from the gods , at temple of government tourism agencies?
I must commend the fct tourism administration for the boldness to free the sector from confusion. At least, FCT tourism says its registration fees shall be “mild” and not heavy laden.
We are waiting for the Rehoboams to react. This is a masters order to slaves, no blackmailing gragra , it’s law. If you can approach Courts, a class action, would do some good. Time for the private sector to seek redress. As for me, I will soon go to court, who is game? Bye bye!!
