Vision 2008: Where to
go, what to avoid
By MAURICE ARCHIBONG
Thursday,
January 10, 2008
|
•Images
of Nigeria at NTDC headquarters, Abuja. PHOTOS: MAURICE
ARCHIBONG
Pix:
Sun News Publishig
|
|
From various perspectives, this year promises to be a tightly
packed one, both on the domestic and international scenes.
The plenitude or sheer magnitude of events in the sporting
and cultural calendars as well as their implication for the
tourism sector would ensure that 2008 turns out a year to
remember. Interestingly, however, almost before 2007 was over,
quite a number of tourism and culture buffs were already geared
up for the New Year.
Finally, 2008 is upon us and in the next few weeks, there’ll
begin the usual flurry of activities associated with this
industry, which controls our lives to a much larger extent
than many could ever imagine. Since Nigeria is one of the
16 finalists playing at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations
(CAN), soccer is perhaps the most important event for most
of our compatriots in this year’s overture.
In fact, even before we entered the New Year, countless soccer
buffs were preoccupied with preparations for the 2008 football
fiesta, which opens on January 20 in Ghana. The 2008 Cup of
Nations, the 26th edition of the continental soccer tourney,
will end on February 10. The good news is that “Travels”
entered the New Year in the former Gold Coast. We returned
a few days ago, and our trip to “Kente Country”
was aimed to provide a flawless and up-to-date guide to Ghana
for our readers, especially those that would be travelling
there for the competition. Fortunately, “Travels”
fans can read all about this quasi-explosive exclusive next
week! “Akwaaba!”
In barely three weeks, even before the soccer festival is
over, we’d be celebrating the African-American History
Month (AAHM). Formerly called the Black History Month (BHM),
the AAHM is a month-long celebration of the contribution of
African-Americans to the American nation. For numerous reasons,
the month of February was deservedly chosen for this observance.
As the largest black nation on earth, Nigerians should show
more interest in developments in the Americas, for outside
the Mother Continent, the United States of America, Brazil
and the Caribbean hold the highest number of people of African
ancestry. Nigeria is, therefore, inextricably linked to the
Americas, and what affects Columbia, one way or another, touches
us too. We shall dwell on the AAHM in another piece, so let’s
stay our course for now.
Within 15 days into the 2008 AAHM, Valentine would be over
and shortly after this Love Festival comes another US event,
the Academy Awards alias Oscar, which though not the only
film fiesta in the world, attracts overwhelming media attention.
The 2008 Oscar is of particular significance, for it marks
the 80th or 81st anniversary of the awards, which the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences annually present. And
still from the US, we’d have the Grammy Awards, where
music stars would be honoured.
Then we’ll celebrate Easter, Sallah, Berlin Film Festival,
Cannes Film Festival, Edinburgh Film and Television Festival,
Osun Osogbo Festival, Ojude-Oba Festival, World Travel Market,
the Africa Travel Quarterly (ATQ)-organized “Akwaaba,”
London Summer Carnival, and so on, before Abuja Carnival leading
to the month-long Calabar Carnival. And before you know it,
2008 would have rolled past, and we’d be talking about
2009, by the Grace of God.
After another of our numerous visits to the Open Air Museum
at Alok, near the central Cross River State town of Ikom,
I had travelled to Calabar to catch a flight to Lagos, when
word filtered in that the Tourism and Culture Minister, Prince
Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN), was on his way to Nigeria’s
famed “Peoples Paradise” for a three-day visit.
We had consequently rushed to the Margaret Ekpo International
Airport to meet the minister. Chief Edem Duke, President of
the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN),
was already at the airport to receive Prince Adetokunbo, which
is how we were able to get to chat with the minister at the
local VIP lounge, and later with the FTAN chief at the Marina
Resort, Calabar.
Over the 12 months of 2007, other tourism practitioners/bureaucrats
we made contact with, included Prince Femi Oluwasina of Jethro
Travels and Tours, ATQ and “The Traveller” publisher
Mr. Ikechi Uko as well as London-based Nigerian-born Olujimi
Jubril Adebakin, who operates a web of tourism-related ventures
stretching from London through the Spanish capital Madrid
to Lagos. The outcome of our encounters with these personalities
would unravel in due course, for now, let’s revisit
select destinations we covered in 2007.
As our dear readers would testify, last year was a very busy
one for “Travels.” It was one year within which
“Travels” went virtually everywhere. In 2007,
we were in Abuja, a number of times, and also visited Nigeria’s
Four Corners. We were in Borno and Yobe States in the northwest,
Cross River and Akwa Ibom (SE); we covered Lagos and Ogun
States in the southwest, aside touring Kebbi and Sokoto States
in the northwest.
As we stated months ago, travel writing can be fun, but you
also need to take the discomfort, even life-threatening risks,
involved in your stride. This came from sailing in a boat
laden with several passengers beyond official limit. Recall:
We had safely made the journey from the Cross River State
capital, Calabar, to Oron in neighbouring Akwa Ibom but had
to travel by land out of Oron days later, following reports
of a mid-sea collision of two boats.
One life was lost to that tragedy, according to reports. The
casualty rate would have been much higher but for the urgent
rescue efforts of other canoe-men, who witnessed the sinking
of the incoming boat. Respondents intoned some of the accidents
in our waters could have been averted, if boat transport operators
were forced to comply with safety regulations.
Frequently, the boat driver, his mate and agents that crowd
the jetty, evocative of Lagos bus stop “Agbero,”
collude to cramp more passengers aboard, than the vessel should
normally carry. To worsen matters, the whiff of marijuana
is commonplace at riverside embarkation points and also at
most major bus stops, motor parks and border posts in Lagos
and major settlements across Nigeria. The level of drug abuse
and consumption of alcohol at some of these spots is a veritable
indication that all is far from well with the traveller within
Nigeria, where experts decades ago attributed the rising number
of fatal accidents to drivers working under inebriate conditions.
Our harvest from Oron not only revealed the risk Nigerians
face on a daily basis in the course of commuting, but also
poor attitude to museum management and threats our cultural
heritage face, when we wrote: “Today, almost half a
century after the Oron carvings were pushed to the world stage
by theft, remnants of these priceless antiquities could also
be lost in the most spectacular of ways: Oron Museum faces
serious risk of being razed down by fire.
For inexplicable reasons, transfer of inflammable petroleum
products has been taking place barely 10 metres from one of
the fences surrounding Oron Museum along the banks of the
local river. During our latest visit to Oron, we counted over
10 gargantuan-sized tankers, each bearing the inscription
“8, 500” (litres) dumped around the museum’s
fences. Sources say at least two huge vessels bring oil, which
is then transferred to these tanks most nights around 10pm.
Thus, some 85, 000 litres of petrol are transferred to tanks
lying next to a national museum.
From “Travels” trips to Nigeria’s Four Corners,
and similar visits to Calabar, Igbo Ukwu, Ikom/Mfum, Umuahia
and so on, we also drew attention to the shameful state of
roads in various parts of Nigeria’s defunct Eastern
Region. Igbo Ukwu’s exquisite roped pot and other objects
including the spiral snake, bronze pedestals, pendants, bowls,
ornate staff head, etc threw this Igbo settlement to universal
attention. Consequently, Igbo Ukwu has since become a Mecca
for researchers and tourists. Unfortunately, countless foreign
visitors leave Igbo Ukwu with negative impressions of Nigeria
because of the terrible state of local roads.
Who could forget the visit of the Kingsley Holgate-led team
to Nigeria in 2007? Mr. Holgate, his wife Jill and children
as well as Annelise and other teammates were in Nigeria as
part of their “One net, One life” campaign. The
exercise, which was designed to take records breaking adventurer
Holgate and others through 33-nation circumnavigation of Africa,
saw the South Africans distributing mosquito nets as part
of a strategy to save life on a continent, where reports say
a child dies from malaria every 30 seconds. The Holgate-led
team, which also gave out spectacles as aid to the visually
impaired, enjoyed warm receptions in Cross River and Lagos
States.
Apart from trips to Nigeria’s Four Corners, we also
visited Jibiya, a frontier settlement in Katsina as well as
that state’s capital. Other unforgettable sojourns for
us in 2007 include visits to Asaba and Ibusa both in Delta
State, Umuahia (Abia) and the Benue State settlement of Vandeikya?
Such was our fluidity, it sometimes seemed that we could be
at different places at the same time! We were able to achieve
so much by God’s grace, and we pray for His continual
blessings of good health and long life, so we can do more
for humanity, Amen!
Kudos to Otunba Runsewe
But for the galloping strides recorded by the Nigerian Tourism
Development Corporation (NTDC) in recent times, since Otunba
Olusegun Runsewe assumed office there, one could have said
there is nothing to show, almost 15 years after the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) doled out some 7 million
dollars to promote tourism in Nigeria. The grant, which was
released in 1993, was part of a 40 million dollar package
approved for Nigeria to boost tourism and external trade.
It remains unclear, if the balance was collected and to what
use it was put.
Aside the UNDP fund, there was another 17.5 million dollar
loan agreement between the Tourist Company of Nigeria (TCN)
and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) also aimed
at giving fillip to Nigeria’s tourism industry. Sources
indicate the 17.5 million dollar was one of the highest amounts
the IFC ever gave to any private business in Nigeria.
For decades, Nigerian hotels operated more or less without
adequate supervision, but things are about to change, following
deserved interest in the industry on the part of the Otunba
Runsewe-led NTDC. Yoruba-born Otunba Runsewe, who also holds
the title of “Obi Agu Ndi-Igbo,” has since set
in motion plans to rate or classify hotels in the country.
The NTDC boss has also initiated plans to collate accurate
data on tourists’ flow and needs, all with a view to
enhancing efficiency and boosting revenue yield. When hospitality
premises inspectors begin working full-steam, hotels would
be better maintained and more tourists would be encouraged
to visit Nigeria, meaning more money for lodge owners, restaurateurs,
tour guides, airlines, artists and craftsmen as well as souvenirs
makers.
To be candid, there is staggering wealth awaiting Nigerians
but first, the tourism sector must be left on track. Fortunately,
the nation has Otunba Runsewe at the helm of affairs at NTDC.
From what Runsewe has achieved within the short period that
he has led the NTDC, there is no doubt that for once, Nigeria
has found a man, who is not only evidently perspicacious about
the tourism industry but also passionate about his job and
determined to finally tap its potentials in order to provide
employment for others and wealth for the nation.
A staggering number of achievements within a rather short
spell attest to Runsewe’s devotion. These include renovation
of the hitherto decrepit NTDC headquarters, where smelly rugs
have given way to ceramic tiles, aside landscape improvements
that have thrown up a welcome parking lot and a row of eateries,
where visitors can get a taste of Nigerian cuisine before
heading into the hinterlands. Nigerian cities including Abuja,
Jos, Kano and Lagos now boast current road maps, courtesy
NTDC. Moreover, Runsewe also succeeded in producing a tourist
map of Nigeria as well as mounting colourful signage across
Abuja to replace previous ones, which shamefully had many
names wrongly spelt.
Another brainchild of the Otunba Runsewe-led NTDC is the construction
of a National Yam House in Etiti Village of Igbo Ukwu. In
fact, on September 20, 2007, this indefatigable DG of the
rejuvenated NTDC was also physically present in Igbo Ukwu
for the foundation-stone laying ceremony of the permanent
site of that national tourism development body’s outpost
at Isuofia village. In the northern part of the country, the
NTDC is also building a Fish House in Argungu, Kebbi State.
Interestingly, Kebbi is also one of the states that benefited
from Youth Tourism Clubs (YTC) launched by the NTDC recently.
Other states, where the YTC exists include Anambra, Edo, Enugu,
Imo, Oyo and Plateau as well as the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT).
Having learnt that Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, NTDC Director
General was on his way to the Murtala Mohammed International
Airport to board a flight to London for last year’s
World Travel Market (WTM) fair, “Travels” had
chased the man, who has within a short spell brought hitherto
unimaginable transformation to Nigeria’s tourism industry
to his Ikeja point of embarkation. We had just joined the
Otunba, after a search amid the sea of heads awaiting boarding
announcements, when a man walked up to the NTDC chief, seized
his hands and shook it enthusiastically. As if that was not
enough, the man threw his arms around Otunba Runsewe in a
reflexive hug: It was quite a scene.
And who was this fellow? We later found out he is Mr. Oluwajimi
Jubril Adebakin. And why was he so excited to meet the NTDC
boss? The man was effusive with praise for Otunba Runsewe,
over the numerous positive developments at not only the NTDC
headquarters but across the nation’s tourism sector
as a whole. But where does Adebakin come in as judge in this
circumstance? As Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Universal
Alliance Connections, and an affiliate of the Trans Hotel
Group, Holiday Taxis, APA Airlines Management, DTS Development:
Travel Solutions and so on, Adebakin is amply qualified to
play juror here. But the universal alliance connections chief
is just one of countless notable figures, who’ve endorsed
Otunba Runsewe’s performances at the NTDC.
In deed, an Abuja-based national daily recently published
commendations of the Otunba from such movers and shakers like
Prof. Dora Akinyili, the much-revered DG of the National Agency
for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Hear Prof
Akunyili: “I am deeply impressed by the positive innovations
being put in place by the director general NTDC Otunba Olusegun
Runsewe to encourage tourism and safeguard public health.
Three products have been successfully launched: first-aid
boxes for taxis and hotels, tourism map of Nigeria and e-payment
card, which will encourage a cashless society, thereby reducing
crimes.”
On his part, Lieutenant General Andrew Azazi, Chief of Defense
Staff, had this to say: “NTDC is the first organization
to donate life-support equipment to the military, and it will
gladden the hearts of Nigerian military personnel on peace
mission to Darfur and other lands.” |
