May 01, (THEWILL) – To grow Nigeria’s GDP through tourism, the Federal Government should create a separate tourism ministry that will oversee tourism activities within the country, JANEFRANCES CHIBUZOR writes
The Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN) has expressed displeasure over the absence of a stand-alone tourism ministry in the country.
This was disclosed by the President of FTAN, Mr. Nkereuwem Onung, during the fifth edition of the National Tourism and Transportation Summit and Expo held at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
Speaking at the event, Onung said that the tourism sector had been sidelined because of the absence of a stand-alone ministry to activate its pivotal role as a relevant ecosystem of the Nigeria economy.
He charged the Mohammadu Buhari Administration to resuscitate the Presidential Council on Tourism and to stimulate the states apparatus in order to drive genuine development and the promotion of practical tourism in Nigeria.
“Let me also appreciate the fact that we are talking about the link between transportation and tourism. This link is very important because when we want to calculate the Gross Domestic Product of tourism, we will look at travels and that is why we are sometimes told that they can’t give us our own ministry because they have not seen any contribution from tourism to the GDP.
“When you add up the contribution of transportation and you bring aviation and other allied tourism sector businesses that make up the value chain together, it will give you an incredible outlook of data and inflow that will blow your mind.
“We have many people who are doing events and because they think tourism is not viable, they begin to get into alliances with other departments of the economy and that is why we want to use this opportunity to call on the Federal Government to revive the PCT where you will bring the eight different ministries together so that tourism will find its feet in Nigeria,” Onung said.
Onung, who spoke passionately about setbacks in the tourism sector, added, “Today, as a sector, we are dysfunctional and you can’t believe it because we even think that some of the government agencies are illegal because of the laws in operation. Due to a 2019 Supreme Court judgement, we are told that tourism resides with the states, though we know that tourism should be a national phenomenon. That is the problem we have.”
Arguing that transportation is not the only bottleneck of tourism, he highlighted other problems of the sector to include non availability of a functional master plan and outdated tourism policies.
He called for conversation among stakeholders in the sector, saying, “It is time for us to sit together to explore the lowest hanging fruit of tourism for the development of our country.”
Onung commended the Institute of Tourism Professionals of Nigeria for organising an event that is pivotal to the stimulation of public and private sector partnership, stressing that the success of the summit and expo rests on the fact that it was anchored by the private sector.
He said, “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many hotels were shut down for about 12 months, most people lost their jobs and businesses, airlines where not flying and yet the aviation sector managed to get relief from the government because of its role and that was why NANTA shared from it.
“This industry needs help and that is why I am asking the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Culture to take the massage back to the Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that we want to know what happened to the FG approved COVID-19 palliative “relief fund” for the tourism sector, we are interested in it. Let us not sweep it under the carpet.”
Onung thanked the organiser of the National Tourism Transportation Summit and Expo, Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, for creating an environment for conversation. “We have only two major events, Akwaaba African Travel Market and this event, so we cannot afford not to be here.
Speaking on tourism opportunities for Nigeria in Africa, he informed the audience on the Africa Agenda 2063, which outlines the Africa that we all want. According to him, it is the blueprint and the Master Plan for transforming Africa. He said, “AfCFTA is real and we have to be practical to be part of the moving train. ITPN is one of the 23 associations that make up a federation, which is the voice of tourism in Nigeria. In FTAN, we are trying to bring forth the TRIC mandate. There has to be tourism marketing in Nigeria. Destination Nigeria has to be emphasised and we are coming to a position where we have to do proper advocacy; insurance has to be done and capacity building has to be emphasised to give the tourism industry a viable and sustainable meaning to the Nigeria economy”, he added.
About the Author
Janefrances Ebere Chibuzor is a Tourism Writer at THEWILL
