Highlight vast opportunities available in the sector
Stakeholders and top operators of the Nigerian tourism sector converged at the prestigious Eko Hotels and Suites last week to proffer ways of improving the fortune of the sector in Nigeria in the face of dwindling oil wealth.
According to them, if the potential of the sector is properly harnessed it is capable of kick-starting accelerated growth in the country while canvassing for a huge budget to be set aside for the sector.
They spoke at the Annual Tourism Seminar organized by the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Tourism, ANJET with the theme; Tourism and Jobs: Better Future for All.
One after the other, they charged the government at all levels in the country to focus more on tourism to achieve accelerated development of the country as the oil wealth is fast dwindling.
To set the tone for what was to come at the event, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Chief Samuel Alabi, while delivering the welcome address called for concerted efforts by both the public and private sectors to ensure the country benefits from tourism.
Having set the tone, the Royal Father of the day, Oba Adeyemi Obalanlege, the Olota of Ota took participant at the seminar on a journey of the vast potentials domiciled in the sector and in each community which if properly harnessed is capable of attracting local and international tourists.
According to Oba Obalanlege, Nigerians must stop depending on the government for job creation, but get creative to harness the enormous tourism potential of the country. He further highlighted that the ancient town of Ota house the second first-storey building in Nigeria and the biggest Egungun festival that if properly developed can be a huge source of revenue.
“Festivals in each community can be developed to generate revenue, the biggest masquerade in Nigeria is in Ota and this is something I did not know until I ascended the throne of my forefathers. Also, the second tallest building in Nigeria is in Ota. It can be better developed to attract international tourists. A lot more monumental buildings across communities can also be converted to tourist sites. With the huge tourism potential, we are blessed with in the country, we should not be complaining about lack of jobs. Individuals must be creative and tap into this tourism potential’ he said.
On his part, Dr. Gbenga Olowo, Managing Director, Sabre Network, West Africa, urged government to take the tourism industry seriously by allocating a substantial amount in the budget to the sector.
Olowo, who was represented by Mayowa Badewa, Deputy Zonal Director, Western Zone, Sabre Travel Network, said that Nigeria is not taking advantage of the huge potentials inherent in the sector.
He posited that other African countries like Ethiopia, Kenya and Gambia were doing well in tourism because they had been able to work on factors which have made the sector attractive to investors like connectivity, good infrastructure, visa relaxation policy and many more.
“We are referred to as the giant of Africa, but there is nothing that indicates such. For example, Nigeria is not on the list of the top 10 visited countries in Africa. Government need to allocate huge revenue to the tourism industry annually because the returns will be in multiples at the end of the day’ he said.
He went on to cite an example of how the country is missing out on the huge potentials available in the sector.
“There are only two hanging lakes in the world. One at Colorado, the United States of America and the Ado Awaye hanging Lake in Iseyin, Oyo. The one in Colorado generates over a million visitors annually while the one in Iseyin has no record of visitors. We must let the world know what we have and encourage them to visit,” he said.
The President of La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort in Lagos, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye engaged stakeholders to stop networking and start working while taking advantage of the vast advantage in the sector to the country’s advantage.
According to him, it is about time to roll up their sleeves and get to work.
“The Dubai that many Nigerians run to today has a land area of 4100 square kilometres with a total population of 3.2 million people but they record between 13-15 million tourists per year, if each of those tourists spend a dollar each in the country, multiply that with the numbers of tourists they record, that is massive revenue for them.
There are over 1.2bn black Africans that can patronize Nigeria culture and heritage, No other country in Africa can come close to Nigeria when it comes to cultural heritage. So, imagine what can happen if we bring those 1.2 billion Africans to Ota for the Egungun festival. We will have the biggest masquerade in Ota” he pointed out.
He further challenged stakeholder and the Olota to work out a modality of bringing all the Masquerades in Africa down to Ota for the biggest, first-of-its-kind Egungun festival to come out Africa.
“I want to propose that we should look at how can bring all the masquerades in Africa down to Ota for the biggest Masquerade festival in the whole of Africa. It is time to take advantage of our advantage to have an advantage. Let us bring the masquerade in the Benin Republic, in Senegal, Gabon, Togo, Ghana and South Africa and all the 54 African countries down to Ota. Let the whole world hear of the biggest Halloween to come out from Africa.
One of the reasons for our plight is our backwardness, if I bring a Masquerade in here today, there will be chaos, the same set of people that are scared of the Masquerade in Nigeria will go to the United States and pay heavily to view the Haloween ceremony, but if it is Africa, they will say it is evil, it is time to change that narrative. Let us begin the process of showing the world that Halloween started from Africa and it started in Ota” he charged.
The seminar also included a panel session where key stakeholders in the sector like Mr Victor Edosomwan, Managing Director, Vicwan Limited, renowned inbound tour operator, Ladi Jemi-Alade, Ikechi Uko, Publisher, ATQNews/Organizer, Akwaaba; Mrs Chika Ani amongst others. The session was moderated by former President, ANJET, Tope Ogbeni Awe.
Key stakeholders in the sector also received various recognition awards from ANJET at the event.
