ECONOMIC CHALLENGES 2015: tourism may rescue Nigeria

The impact of falling oil prices has led
experts point in the direction of the tourism
sector as an alternative source of revenue
generation. Some experts who spoke to
LEADERSHIP said repositioning tourism as a
viable alternative to oil would require the
enactment of requisite legislation and
appointment of professionals to key
positions.
Some of the experts that bared their minds
on the state of the tourism sector include
the minister of Tourism, Culture and
National Orientation, High Chief Edem Duke;
director-general, National Commission for
Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Mallam
Abdallah Yusuf Usman; president,
International Council of African Museums
(AFRICOM), Mr Nath Mayo Adediran;
president, Hospitality & Tourism
Management Association of Nigeria
(HATMAN), Mallam Aliyu Badaki Ajayi;
organiser, Abuja Bantaba and Akwaaba
African Travel Market, Mr Ikechi Uko and
National President of Institute for Tourism
Professionals (ITP), Chief Abiodun
Odunsanwo.
They submitted that there was the need to
revisit the Tourism Master Plan which was
inaugurated six years ago, noting that 54
years after Nigeria attained independence in
1960, the classification of hotels and tourist
sites had remained undone.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP, the minister of
Tourism, Culture and National Orientation,
High Chief Edem Duke, argued that the
classification of hotels and tourist sites was
the mutual responsibility of Nigerians since
the assets were located within the states.
“Classification of hotels and tourist sites
requires a collective responsibility of each
and every one of us. Very many of these
assets are located within the State and it’s
important for us to collaborate with the State
in certifying these Resorts as well as in
identifying the quality standard,” said Duke.
He was optimistic that professionals at the
Hospitality and Tourism Stakeholders’
Forum, organised by the National Institute
for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR),
would reach a consensus on the
classification which is likely to commence in
2015 as a major part of their mandate.
Disclosing the intent of the federal
government on listing national monuments,
Duke added, “The federal government has
identified 100 monuments around the
country and we are already trying to engage
with the private sector to see how we can
invest in their restoration because if we
don’t have these monuments, definitely, a
lot of our history will go away in years to
come.”
The minister gave the assurance that
transformation was underway in the sector
in terms of human capital development,
infrastructural development and the
restoration of national heritage, and insisted
that they would be form a major initiative in
the transformation agenda.
For his part, the director-general, National
Commission for Museums and Monuments
(NCMM), Mallam Abdallah Yusuf Usman,
noted that the federal government, through
NCMM, had identified more tourist sites,
historical sites and monuments for
protection.
He stressed that a number of museums had
been opened while exhibitions were carried
out abroad, which helped in laundering the
image of the country.
“The way forward for the industry in 2015 is
to sustain the game by coming up with
imaginative programmes that will capture
the attention of policy makers, political
leaders and the general public, intensify
action and improve on capacity building as
well as strengthening the institutions, the
administrative and legal frameworks and
getting quality staff who can push the initiatives forward,” said Usman.
He enumerated poor perception of the
importance of museums and monuments by
the public and low budgetary allocation as
major setbacks to the sector.
On the repatriation of Nigerian artefacts
taken away by colonial masters, he added,
“As I keep saying, the issue of repatriation
is both legal and political. We are exploring
these two avenues and we are engaging the
countries that kept the artefacts in their
museums and through the process, we have
succeeded in repatriating quite a large
number this year. We have in our custody
over 100 of such artefacts that have come in
from Europe and United States within the
last three to four years.”
He said that the NCMM had contributed in
growing the economy by providing,
developing and managing tourist
destinations such as museums, heritage
sites and monuments, adding that the
reason for developing the sites was to
attract more investments and help in
growing the economy.