So much is happening in Nigerian tourism industry at dizzying speed and it will take some measure of sanity to get grips on those that really count. In fact I would suggest that we invite the Nigeria army to launch operation crocodile smile to rid the industry of robbers, miscreants and fly-by-night operators who peddle poisons as tourism products and those who deliberately “advertise or dramatize” our tourism narratives to cover sinful lust for deception.
Honestly, the army need to help push crocodile smile through Abuja Jabi lake and invite the leadership and workers Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) to come learn how to promote and market Nigeria and Nigerians who are known as the most “Smiling Nation and people” on earth.
NTDC is probably the only tourism institution in the world where workers sit at their desk for days without doing anything to better our tourism history despite the huge wages which the workers and their ogas at the top earn. This unfortunate scenario highlights the deep rot in our tourism system not limited to NTDC but also to some other parastatals such as National Theatre where some its directors were allegedly picked up last week by security agents for “smiling away” with funds meant for NT’s restoration.
It is sad to belong to an industry to which nothing good but deliberate acts of national betrayal fronts it development and expectations. That brings me to look at what has become a pattern of betrayal of our tourism institutions since 2013 when the PDP satanically foisted on Nigeria a tourism administration experience which has generated consequential tourism dooms day realities that could be seen by those with guts to challenge the ongoing miss direction of our tourism tomorrow.
For all the care in our tourism corner, the trending discuss of who superintend on the affairs of National Association of Tour Operators in Nigeria (NATOP) is a mere diversionary antics sponsored by our new happenstance in tourism to shift attention from the sure doom day that awaits our tourism economy and to which government must act quick and broom change the story.
The unfortunate run on NATOP and Nkereuwen Onung, who is also the Deputy National President of Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN) is a classical agenda of the Absaloms in our midst to effect coup against persons and institutions that have kept faith with Nigeria tourism through challenging times in our industry with no possible solutions in sight.
The story of NATOP and its leadership is one that clearly reflects the mirror of betrayal by Nigeria and Nigerians to the dream of having a viable domestic tourism culture in Nigeria. From late Pa Mattew Ebadoje Da’silva, a journalist, later President of NANTA and founding inspiration of NATOP to Fatima Garbati and now Nkereuwen Onung, NATOP had sought and funded the desire of Nigeria and her people to come to terms of pushing through a strategic tourism reawaking.
Fatima Garbati at her time, even when she was at National Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) aggressively pursued the quest for a rebranding of our domestic tourism and handed over to Mr. Onung, a successful banker and developmental tourism logistics operator who prefers to let his work speak.
In this quest, we have all betrayed the NATOP dream, choosing rather to celebrate foreign cultures and destinations. Again, except for the intervention of Runsewe at NTDC, NATOP has never enjoyed any critical support from NTDC from 2013 till date and here, today we talk about domestic tourism drive when a private sector institution that knows the hidden intricacies of the business is seen as a tourism “leper” and the leadership aggregated into satanic zero sum game as surplus to requirement to our so called domestic tourism action plan.
Today, is not a day for testimonies of how Onung kept NATOP going but generally a call for a halt on discussions that could demoralize patriotic tourism operators and leaderships who had stood with Nigeria tourism through thick and thin not minding the huge pressures of the effort on their finances and physical well being.
The tourism Absaloms should look elsewhere and leave NATOP alone. We must at all times stand with the David’s of our industry, people like Onung who is not afraid to ask NTDC to come up with a realistic tourism promotion and marketing agenda for Nigeria. Onung’s desire to be convinced by NTDC that it has all it takes to push Nigeria back into the international tourism frontier remains a challenge to which the current distraction and discuss by tourism Absaloms cannot tint as inconsequential.
On our march to the tourism Zion land, I do however worry about various windows of damages done to our tourism history by our people, particularly our leaders who have always chosen the outside world above Nigeria in their desire to seek recreation and wellness. One could not imagine what would happen if Nigerian and Nigerians allow NATOP to go down, at this critical time when the private sector and the government need join hands to rebuild and repair our tourism expectations.
Therefore we must warn all those who do not mean well for Onung and NATOP to please look elsewhere for their trademark. NATOP and Onung must be allowed to share their opinion on tourism, particularly on the cobweb look alike domestic tourism agenda of NTDC. We must always reason together and that is the way nations are developed.
Ogba Zoo Boss, Ehanire speaks
My friend and fellow tourism advocate, Mr. Andrew Ehanire, boss of Ogba Zoo, who was kidnapped and spent 20 days with his captors, has being released. On last Monday morning at about 8:45 am, I called him in Benin when the news reached me and he was very happy to join our tourism world again. Andy promised to give me inside details of his days in the kidnappers den and I cannot wait to visit this amiable lover of tourism in Benin. To God be the glory for this good news worthy of thanksgiving and celebration.
Welcome back from the land of death, big brother Andy.