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eTN Inbox: Breakthrough in Nigeria's tourism
The piece by Lucky George captioned "Of Neophyte and Tin God" is not the true situation of the tourism industry in Nigeria. People are not calling for the sack of the Nigerian Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode and Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, in charge of the national tourism organization called the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) due to the row between them.
It might sound funny; the tourism industry here is now hot as a result of this row. It is not a case of saying ' When two elephants fight, the grass suffers. It is amazing how much freer the industry is getting, more attention and fewer bottlenecks.
People in Nigeria could not help but notice the tourism industry which is changing in recent times. Not only are the two tourism chieftains making themselves relevant in the normally 'dull' terrain, they are also falling over themselves to launch programs and products in order to retain their jobs even if they can't work together. Today, tourism is fast becoming everybody's favorite.
George, a colleague of mine for over a decade, may be exaggerating the situation. The problem involving the officials is believed to be personal, and is very subtle, but it is there. Getting the job done is the issue and none of the ‘gladiators’ is found wanting. It appears the tourism industry in Nigeria is liking it.
Cynics believe the officials won't be there forever as they (the heavyweights) are not core tourism industry people ( they are political appointees). It's a matter of "soldier come, soldier go but the barracks remains," said one tourism worker in Pidgin English.
So, it's no wonder a lot of tourism practitioners said they expect the duo while they are still in tourism, in spite of their differences, to work out a better future for the tourism industry in Nigeria.
Prince Kayode and Otunba Runsewe are among government officials who may have performed well in their scorecards. At least, Kayode was not dropped by Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar’ Dua in his recent ministering shake-up. Runsewe, one of Nigeria’s most popular director -generals, was asked to resume work by the Presidency, a day after Kayode, his supervisory minister, announced his suspension to the public last January.
The tourism industry attracts more than its fair share of attention, thanks to Runsewe’s business-oriented programmes and activities. From entrepreneur family to media background, he has got a little of everything compared to Kayode who is a senior advocate of Nigeria (senior lawyer).
On a personal note, what the tourism in Nigeria needs is having professionals man key positions in the sub-sector. Since the government of the day does not have the political will, having a person who hates bureaucracy that characterised the Ministry of Tourism and NTDC in the past is a plus.
A former President of National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mr. Soji Amusan praised the effort of the realtively new Director General to jumpt-start the sector.
” Runsewe is like a private sector operator. He has improved the image of of Nigeria at the World Travel Market; look at our stand which is well branded. Some of these things he is doing will help to move the tourism industry forward," he said.
Indeed, Runsewe is hot. I have to admit I wasn't sure of him at the onset. I'm just loving his style. His campaign slogans, “Tourism is Life'” and " Practical Tourism", the likes of “ Incredible Colors of India,” have revolutionalised our small tourism industry.
It is a total departure from too many workshops and seminars organized by his predecessors which did the industry no good. Needless to say the recommendations from such ‘elephant projects’ were hardly implemented. In fact, the tourism chieftains used to hide under the so-called workshops to steal funds allocated to marketing and promotion of tourism in Nigeria.
Unsurprisingly, this accounts for Nigeria’s shoddy outings at international exhibitions like ITB Berlin or World Travel Market (WTM) in London in the past. What matters to those officials was coming with a bloated delegation who laid claims to estacodes as a way of a bribe. They were just pocketing public money.
Kayode, meanwhile, was believed to be doing his job when he visited WTM to attend Tourism Ministers' Meeting recently. He had the prerogative to visit any stand of his choice while at ExCel, London. Many said “It's no big deal” if he didn't visit Nigeria's stand while there.
This writer was thrilled to visit Nigeria's stand at this year's WTM. Our dear country paid for the stand just in time. It was one of the best decorated stands and the performance was not too bad compared to the ones in the past. It was spiced with standard promotional material and the right people. Visitors who could not get enough of Nigeria gave Runsewe the thumbs-up. He is believed to be the new face of tourism in Nigeria.
Generally, people singled out the minister for criticism as they discussed the issue in low tones at WTM, saying “If our very own minister, Kayode did not visit our stand, it means he has got his name printed across the problem with Nigeria’s tourism (the one George described in his story).
A tour operator who asked for anonymity said recently: “Kayode always comes up with embarrassing situations in the tourism house. The one at the recently held World Travel Market in London was no exception. Thankfully, it must have helped in reducing the number of non-professionals at Nigeria’s stand, hangs-on who will think the travel exhibition is another 'owambe' (Yoruba word for party).”
However, the words on every lip are, “The Federal Government definitely got to look into the problem to stabilize the tourism industry in the country!”
Justina Okpanku
Lagos, Nigeria
Comments
Nigeria’s tourism chief, Chief Olusegun Runsewe was honoured by almost 99 per cent of travel writers and journalists in Nigeria, a couple of weeks ago, on the eve of 51st Nigeria independence anniversary, October 1. True or false? True.
Almost all the newspapers and news magazine published the article “ Travel writers Celebrate Runsewe”. A reporter in Nigeria’s newspaper flagship, said: “He raised the Bar” despite the challenges facing Nigeria tourism.
Justina Okpanku has been vindicated. Whatever view Justina canvassed or expressed in her comment, that’s no reason to say she lied. OK? There are better methods of getting your own way/view. We now know who lied with the recent events in the country.
I am not a fan of Runsewe for some personal reason. But there must be something he is doing well to make successive governments back him. People are calling Runsewe a cat with nine lives, a survivor of sort.
For me, I was happy when he organized (first- of its kind) a star-studded pre-independence concert to encourage domestic tourism after the terrorists attacks on Abuja, the nation’s capital. The United Nations House was bombed resulting to loss of lives. Our business was on the line in Abuja. But confidence is returning as he flagged up his campaign” Nigeria is safe”. Hotel occupancy level was drooping. We are used to seeing people who bring personal interest over and above our national life. It is unacceptable.
Runsewe was suspended by the chairman of the NTDC, tourism board, Uche Anya for some reason, but Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan upturned the suspension. True or false? True. Did Runsewe also bribe President Jonathan? Did he bribe President Yar’dua (late)?
Don’t be shocked. Anya was said to have requested for a bullet-proof vehicle to be cruising in Abuja City, I understand the Corporation funds are not even enough for marketing and promotion, after paying satff salaries.
For the reporters, it is a sad commentary that they chose to be writing in the manner they did on this medium.
Lucky, I was told is a business man cum reporter who goes about ‘fighting’ people and organizations that refuse to do business with him. Go to Transcorp Hilton hotel, Abuja, it is the same Lucky problem. My hotelier friend in Lagos warned me aginst Lucky and his pranks. As for madam Justina, I have not met her in person, but some of us used to rely on her well-informed hot hot tourism articles on her pages every Friday in Thisday newspaper. She did well. I understand she has moved to other business.
Another shocker: Kayode, based on the news, has been linked with many deals when he was Nigeria’ defence minister. True or false? Follow the links (Adetokunbo Kayode).
On infrastructure:
There is no sector in the Nigerian economy that does not have infrastructure challenges.
The federal government has promised it will fix bad roads and all that. To make those changes we want, somebody tried to go the extra mile. It appears Runsewe is bent on promoting Nigeria’s festivals and culture no matter the problems.
Some unlucky people in Nigeria, including those in Lucky’s village, are also known to send their children to school. No classrooms or qualfied teachers. The kids study under trees, rain or shine. They could not wait for government. You cannot stop those who said Runsewe has made a difference. It could get better.
anybody in the tourism industry in naija should know that this NTDC guy is a joke and a charlatan. Justina, how much were you paid to put all these lies in this article? shame on you for lying on behalf of this runsewe THIEF. I can't speak for the prince kayode person, but I've personally dealt with the NTDC and they sit on their fat azzes all day and DO NOTHING. So what, he put up a "colorful" stand at the WTM in London, and came up with a "nice" slogan, big freaking deal. Restore tourism sites, improve the logistics so people can GET there, restore our museums and world heritage sites.. then MAYBE I might not feel the need to balk at every fake article written on this fake. I'm only mildly optimistic that this new guy will do better than these first-rate fools.
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