April 11, (THEWILL) – Director General of the BRACED Commission, Ambassador Joe Keshi has hinted at plans by the body, to set up by the South-South governors of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta State, to harmonise socio-economic development in the region, to formulate a regional cultural policy to guide and drive cultural tourism development.
Amb. Keshi, who gave the hint during a meeting with the Chairman, Board of Trustees of BRACED Tourism Promotion & Development Initiative (BTPDI), Dr Piriye Kiyaramo, Victor Christopher and Mr Jide Dominic, both of them, veteran journalists in Yenagoa, on Monday, ahead of the postponed meeting of the BRACED Commission, also talked about plans to hold a meeting with commissioners of culture, sports and tourism as part of efforts to formulate a framework for a regional cultural policy as a guide for the development and integration of our rich cultural heritage to properly harness the cultural tourism potential in the region.
The retired Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cabinet Secretariat- under former Presidents, Olusegun Obasanjo and Musa Yar’ Adua, respectively, expressed the commission’s readiness to collaborate with well-meaning individuals, corporate bodies and the private sector to develop and promote cultural assets in the south-south region in a bid to drive a higher tourists’ traffic to the oil-rich geographical zone.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of BRACED Tourism Promotion & Development Initiative ( BTPDI), Dr Piriye Kiyaramo had informed Ambassador Joe Keshi of the objectives of his pioneering regional destination management organisation, saying that the body was duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Abuja, as a regional hub for collaboration, partnerships and engagements on tourism promotion and development.
According to the former Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Bayelsa State Governor on Tourism, tourism is much more than just an economic sector, stating that “tourism is probably one of the most determinant influences on societies and that it will continue to remain as a key industry in the future.”
Dr Kiyaramo used the occasion to invite the Director General to the official inauguration of the newly appointed executive committee of BRACED Tourism Promotion & Development Initiative, headed by Mrs Ifiokobong Anthony Akan as pioneer Director General in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State in the last week of May this year.
It will be recalled that the widely travelled Amb. Joe Keshi, also a recipient of many international and local awards including the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), conferred on him by the Federal Government of Nigeria, worked as a diplomat for thirty-four years.
He served in Togo, Ethiopia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Namibia and Sierra Leone, where he participated as a facilitator in the negotiations that ended the 10 years of civil war in the country, as well as in the United States of America, where he served as the Consul-General of Nigeria, based in Atlanta.
He was the National Coordinator of the Nigeria National Volunteer Service (NNVS), with the mandate to mobilise and facilitate the involvement of the Nigerian Diaspora in Nigeria’s development.
Amos Okioma is a Correspondent at THEWILL
