Towards the World Cup slated for Russia in the next few weeks, participating nations and their teams have been testing out their firepower by engaging in top-line friendlies. Though very busy criss-crossing Nigeria to have first-hand information on tourism and culture, I have watched on television global football friendlies between Nigeria and Poland, Brazil and Russia, Spain and Germany, England and the Netherlands, Argentina and Italy, Portugal and Egypt. These friendlies are like a taste of what to come at the event proper, yet something is missing.
The missing link in crowd behaviour can only be assumed or predicted, so also the tourist or football fans spending pattern and actual visit outside the sport arenas in Russia. So, football brings on its heels passion to discover and meet other nations outside each game and the referee’s whistle signaling an end to a game.
While the organisers, teams and the fans may be encouraged to retire to their hotels to rest and celebrate, others truly hyped up will take to the streets to experience things beyond football to share with families and friends back home.
Mark my words and do your research, it is Nigeria that brought the content of cultural tourism into global football fiesta even though it has no World Cup yet to show for it. At the 2010 event in South Africa, the Nigerian cultural village became the great melting pot, a rendezvous where exclusive Nigerian cultural brand was on showcase, food, fashion, music and road map of economic investment.
Otunba Segun Runsewe, then the boss of Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), creatively packaged a Nigerian cultural and entertainment extravaganza and changed the story line of global football organization, fronting a new desire to bridge and present sports tourism on a new light ever than before.
Though Nigeria did not go beyond the first round of the competition, our cultural village, however, became the talk of town after each game and I bet you, investments, tourists tracked the idea back home.
Sadly, we lost the initiative at Rio, Brazil Olympics, an embarrassing show yet to fully investigated by the authorities, a memory Runsewe again this time around as Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) would want us to forget and correct the mistakes of Rio, Brazil, at Russia 2018. The Sally Mbanefo era at NTDC was the most disgraceful in the history of Nigerian tourism outings.
As master strategist and Nigeria’s chief cultural tourism marketer, Runsewe has dusted the books, launched three million Nigerian football supporters initiative, packaged a mini cultural hall of fame in Abuja, an insight of what probably will be on showcase in Russia.
The football supporters club family are happy, top line football administrator, soccer influencer and legend, Segun Odegbami is in support of this significant drum beat that trends to put Nigeria on world map as Africa’s foremost footballing nation and cultural tourism destination. It is significant to note that the campaign to drive a three million culture-friendly supporters to cheer the Nigerian team will present the true face of Nigerian fashion and dress sense in Russia.
This off the field play of cultural tourism plan and agenda is what Nigeria needs at this period when our global image as a destination is at its lowest ebb and will also serve as a great motivation to our hardworking Super Eagles who are determined to change the course of African football history. The NCAC cultural diplomatic show piece in Russia must be supported by President Buhari and the National Assembly so as to help reposition our sports tourism engagements and show leadership in Africa.
Otunba Runsewe, through this all-important cultural exposition, has shown that he understands the times like the biblical children of Issachar (1st Chronicles 12 v 32) who had knowledge of what to do when Israel was at a political and economic cross-roads. Runsewe intervened for Nigeria’s tourism at South Africa 2010 World Cup and, in 2018, the proposed Nigerian cultural village in Russia to showcase the best of our cuisine, arts and crafts, fashion and tourism offerings cannot be overemphasized.
This is an effort that is timely, well thought out and strategic to marketing Nigeria beyond the average efforts of those saddled with the responsibility to dress us up well in the eyes of the international community.