There is something about Nigerian highlife music that connects with me. From the great legends like Bobby Benson, Osita Osadebe, Eddie Okonta, the Oriental Brothers, Orlando Owoh and many others that have left this sinful world, their music filled with innuendos and deep messages helps interrogate lifestyles and human character.
In those days and till now, I will sit in one place to follow up, listen and assimilate the philosophies inherent in the lyrics of these ever green and great highlife giants. “Ma wu mi roro” by Orlando owoh taught me to be patient with liers and those apt to deceive for their days of shame will ever manifest. “Osu ndi, owe ndi’ by Osita Osadebe mocks the unreliability of man to stand up for truth, thus putting a lie to the believe that we worship same God and even where we do, truth has many colours.
Oriental Brothers golden lyrics’” kinkana” thrills me to no end as the philosophy of earthly riches irrespective of its source, makes man to lubricate processes to wipe away the affliction of poverty. So, the man leaves, Anumelechi”(waiting on God) and dives into kinkana, an euphoria of sort, egged on by getting wealth at all cost and means. Oriental Brothers definitely picked their lyrics from the feet of sagas and wisened old men at the village square where truth does not suffer proper interpretations.
Eddie Okonta’s “sawa sawa” lyrics may sound attractive to the very simplistic but leaves a great message to many people who leaves nothing good on the sand of time. Sawa sawa is like a sour soup, beautiful to the eyes but bitter to the mouth and purges the belly.
Whenever I wish to interrogate and reflect on our road to tourism, I will simply search out some of the evergreen iconic music of the legends and drink from their experiences and prophetic submissions.
At Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), the “babanla nonsense,” (apologies Fela Anikulapo kuti) that has become the ongoing “vesta of massive dislocation at the agency of tourism, worries to no end.
There is no doubt that since 2013 till date, Ntdc has become a kind of “kinkana” a brutish liquor of administrative rascality that inspire and push the political appointees to the brinks of “sawa sawa”.
It is quite glaring, particularly under the watch of Folarin Coker, who just completed the most horrendous and prostitutious four years outing in the history of Ntdc, that federal government is not in the business of growing tourism intervention that can be held accountable.
Ntdc has reduced and bewitched Stakeholders to “ma wo mi roro”, a siddon look position, mouths agape, the biggest tourism heist of our time, a record four years tourism budget stipped in massive deception and covered with sawa sawa digital abracadabra.
In the current Ntdc budget, waiting for a possible return of Master rogues and to which will destine the agency to the cemetery, we are made to believe that an ‘ osu ndi’, owe ndi’, tour Nigeria project, spilt into two, projected to provide about two hundred and fifty million naira each to the coffers of kinkana celebrants, beats one hollow.
That budget, which is the most padded in the history of Ntdc, was not meant for any meaningful tourism intervention but for sawa sawa prostitution. It is most disgusting bold attempt to scam the nation in the name of tourism projects.
It is equally annoying that some dummy airports branding projects and which were never ongoing anywhere could be left unquestioned. Talk about another fraudulent kinkana project called goggle tourism, honestly, we must be dumbs in the industry to just watch one Lagos magician cast spell of lies and deceit on us in the name of goggle showmanship.
What does EFCC do in face overwhelming evidence that had sun set on Ntdc finances, gone down the brooks and cannot rise again? I wonder if the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission can still carry out mere kindergarten investigations on the books of Ntdc in the past four years?
At national assembly, both senate and house Committee leaderships on Tourism, seems not perturbed at the piecemeal sawa sawa end game at Ntdc. They seemed to see nothing, hears nothing and say nothing. Are the great distinguish Honorables in the hallowed chambers, worried?
In four years, while the failed former administrators at Ntdc held the nation and industry hostage, our people’s representatives never bothered an oversight visit and tolerated the kinkana Ntdc administrators.
Though most Nigerians have given up on Nigeria, particularly when those who were appointed to serve, were encouraged not to account for their time in public office, but we are not ready watch the rot in Ntdc go unquestioned and unreported.
President Muhamandu Buhari must cause Ntdc in four years under his leadership to account for every dime, naira and kobo appropriated and released for tourism. We concede that Mr President, has the right to appoint anyone but we also expect that detailed profiling be carried out on such persons, at least, failures and sawa sawa dancers should not be part of the dream leaders for an agency of government expected to be at behest of the campaign for diversified economy built through tourism services and projects.
We are tired of Clapping hands for a failed Ntdc, a place gradually gone to the dogs, a place that has clinically became conduit pipes, with human capacity capital frustrated, tourism ambition and passion exchanged for mockery and quackery.
No matter how it ends and what may happen, we have sworn to hold our tourism leaders accountable and responsible, not just in Ntdc but across the all the agencies under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Ntdc is not plate number making agency, neither was it set up for sawa sawa weekend shows. The end to learners permit to appointees must stop and let failures and their collaborators be warned.
As we wait anxiously for presidential announcement on the way forward as regards the leadership of some agencies, we expect to see the return of performers and not wholesale distributors of failure.