If the inactivity and motionless posturing that have characterised the Nigerian tourism scene since this year is anything to judge by then obviously, not many Nigerians would know that the world is celebrating one of its fastest growing sectors, tourism, as there is no indication that neither the federal ministry of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation nor the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) are gearing up to host a benefiting celebration on Sunday. Although the feelers from the ministry said that Enugu State has offered to host the national celebration but there is no announcement to that effect. Obviously, expect a dull sound and colourless celebration if any. While at the various states level, the situation is not any different as there is no indication or announcement to the effect that the states and local governments are prepared for Sunday’s showpiece.
This happenstance further buttresses the fact that tourism is not highly rated in Nigeria by either the public or private sector because where the government has failed and you expect the private sector to rise to the occasion but that is not happening as well as the umbrella body for the private sector, the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) is almost a dead body and has since lost its way due to bickering and grand standing by its members who are only interested in positions and the lucre of office while abandoning the cause of tourism. It will take a long while for the country to wake up from its doldrums and put its tourism sector in the right path to success and development as the example of other succeeding countries has shown.
Perhaps the change agenda of the new federal government can inspire hope in the sector but that is doubtful going by the body language of the president and his team as tourism appears not in his horizon because there has been no concrete statement on the direction it wants to go when it comes to tourism. Not even when the permanent secretary of the ministry, Mrs. Nkecki Ejele and her team, recently met with the president in Aso Villa to brief him on the sector. The news that came out from the meeting was not a cheering one but rather the old song of making billions of naira out of tourism was what was sung but how exactly this would be realised was not revealed. Tourism does not work that way as a magical wand but rather there has to been work plans with datelines put in place and the mechanism for its properly distilled and sold to the general populace by way of building blocks.
http://newtelegraphonline.com/nigeria-dull-sound-on-the-horizon/
