Tourism consultant and cultural heritage researcher Sewedo Balogun has outlined a five-point reform agenda aimed at transforming Nigeria’s festivals into sustainable tourism products capable of generating year-round economic benefits.
Presenting his recommendations at the Naija7Wonders Zoom Conference 3.0 on “Festivals & Tourism in Nigeria: A New Pathway,” Balogun identified infrastructure deficits, inadequate visitor interpretation, poor payment systems, weak post-festival planning and unequal distribution of tourism revenues as major obstacles limiting the growth of festival tourism.
He noted that many festival destinations lack quality accommodation, citing the Argungu Fishing Festival, where visitors often have to stay in neighbouring states because of insufficient hotel facilities.
Balogun also criticised the absence of multilingual guides, cultural interpretation centres and digital payment systems, arguing that these shortcomings reduce visitor satisfaction and limit repeat tourism.
He further warned that host communities often bear the social and environmental costs of festivals while receiving only a fraction of the economic benefits, as much of the revenue is captured by large tour operators outside the communities.
Drawing comparisons with Ouidah in the Republic of Benin and Ghana’s successful Year of Return initiative, Balogun said Nigeria could significantly improve its tourism earnings by investing in heritage interpretation, community participation and destination management.
To reposition the sector, he proposed the establishment of a Festival Tourism Atlas to document festivals nationwide, a Festival Infrastructure Fund to improve accommodation and visitor facilities, a Festival Guide Certification Programme to train professional bilingual guides, a Diaspora Festival Pass to encourage international participation, and an Intellectual Property Framework to ensure local communities retain ownership of their cultural assets.
Balogun stressed that with a population of over 220 million people, Nigeria has a ready domestic market capable of driving a thriving festival economy even before attracting international visitors.
“If festivals are properly documented, professionally managed and strategically marketed, Nigeria can generate trillions of naira from tourism while preserving its rich cultural heritage for future generations,” he said.
