The expected merger of national tourism agencies architecture is an earthquake of sorts discussed in covens and temples of certain overlords whose interest borders on getting jobs for the boys.
There is no bearing for national good and development, just pure pursuit of selfish interests and political survival.
President Muhammadu Buhari certainly wishes to put a spanner in the current status of these agencies, many of which have become conduit pipes for corruption and overated for merely bearing a name and badge for the industry largely seen as an orphan.
Let me situate the scenario. In 2015, the stand-alone Ministry of Tourism was brought down to its knees by this current administration due to absence of strong presence and well-articulated developmental milestones in the archives of the ministry.
While other ministries had records of of achievements and value chain, Tourism Ministry had loads of corruption scandals and misappropriation of funds as its calendar of existence and, trust the anti-corruption broom-sweeping government of President Buhari, the cupboard of the ministry was cleaned out and the then permanent secretary allegedly put on the podium of judicial scrutiny.
That the interest of the sector captured as a mere department in the new Ministry of Information, Culture and National Orientation could be described as a lucky break and, however, is responsible for the poor drive and marginalization of the sector, and bickering between Information Ministry and the organised private sector tourism leadership who rightly felt tourism sector under this administration lacks gown and gavel.
So, what did the Steve Orosanye report say about the moribund tourism and related agencies four years ago? What again did the Ebele Okeke Committee report on the white paper by the Amal Pepple Committee say about what becomes these wasteful agencies? What indeed do the sectorial players want to see and encourage? Plenty questions, you may say.
Let us look into the ecology of the ministry before it was axed and the agencies, lacking in structure of conservation and administrative competence.
According to Orosanye, the agencies expected to go through surgical knives are Nigeria Tourism and Corporation, National Gallery of Arts, National Institute for Cultural Orientation, National Film, Video and Censors Board, National Theatre, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, and Centre for Black and African Civilization.
The Orosanye merger agenda was not only to remove the cancer of leadership ineptitude and enthrone a commercialized structure for the agencies, it also called for outright downsizing of the over-bloated, diabetic and good-for-nothing tourism outposts.
Indeed, what has kept these anemic agencies going till today is the legal encumbrances surrounding their existence, for which the Ebele Okeke Committee sought National Assembly dialogue.
It is here that these agencies may find it difficult to process their application and justification to remain redeemable. It is instructive to note that a town hall meeting with private sector stakeholders must interrogate the process and, from all indications, the lawmakers who have also been accused of not doing enough justice to bear sanity on how these agencies utilise government funds, will be shocked at the position of the private sector tourism entrepreneurs and players who want to get rid of some of these tourism signpost agencies.
Certainly, the private sector would want to see the National Theatre spiked and merged with National Troupe of Nigeria, which the Orosanye report indeed canvassed, CBAAC axed and given a new direction under National Commission for Museums and Monuments, certainly commercialized and removed from the feeding bottle of government.
It will be a miracle for National Film, Video and Censors Board to remain a stand-alone agency as the report clearly redefines its structure as a mere department in the Ministry of Information and, except Tourism became a stand-alone ministry, NFVCB may lose its identity completely.
The film sector, one of most vibrant and internationally acclaimed game-changers for Nigeria in image ranking and financial returns, has lost its bite and, according to stakeholders, abandoned by government to the extent that most African nations have now put roadblocks to Nigerian films flooding their countries.
Recently, a groundswell of opposition by stakeholders is said to have got the buy-in of a top influential government official to stop feverish attempts by NFVCB leadership to return the industry to its winning ways and also justify its relevance to national development aspirations.
For National Institute for Cultural Orientation, the quest to merge or return it to National Council for Arts and Culture, may meet certain brickwalls as the agency has found its rightful footing in the past one year, reaching out aggressively to address most cultural red flags troubling the nation. NICO’s strategic evangelical cultural awareness programmes targeting Nigerian young persons to embrace new measures of studies in indigenous tongues and culture, fostering national unity, is in sync with President Buhari administration’s dreams of making Nigeria one nation united by its diversity in tongues and cultures, which fosters peace and national security.
NICO has also brought global attention and support from the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, which lately approved about three Nigerian cultural sites and festivals as heritage economy. NICO indeed is no a longer a printing press of outlandish cultural submissions.
Octopus Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) may struggle to stop its decapitation and regulatory mandate. President Buhari has thrown to the dustbin the amendments of its legal structure and frowned at the call to solely run the entire national tourism marketing architecture, which is at variance with the Federal Government giving the private sector opportunities to create tourism jobs and contribute to national GDP.
It will take a huge amount of pressure to get private sector leadership to buy into a legal process, subjective to squeezing life out of private sector entrepreneurs who have lost all forms of protection from grants and double taxation dislocation over the years.
National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism is said to bear the same surgery of identity due to its past description as an outpost of wasteful ventures. However, it may be saved from theatre of merger operations with NTDC due to serious rebound to its birth goals and mandate in the past one year. Like NICO, its vocational training intervention in hospitality and tourism trade has endeared it to the government and people.
Its very visible and valuable contribution to national conversation on critical areas of job creation openings in the industry, thus empowering the youths and women groups, is seen to align with the socioeconomic goals of this administration.
The national troupe no doubt will survive the merger scare, rejuvenated and taking Nigeria dance culture to the world that needs Africa’s biggest black nation to interpret and market its very significant diversities in culture and tradition.
Notably, the merger option canvassed by orosanye and driven by poor response and understanding of the vision and expectations of government to aggregate these agencies to meet with the needs of the Nigerians was misapplied by some of their immediate and past administrators who saw their appointment as a call to” come chop”.
It’s sad for instance to see an agency such as Centre for Black and African civilization, going out to call for celebration of festac 77, which certainly is an effort wasteful of national scare resources, unresponsive to national cultural dreams and a boggy vehicle of mockery to interpretation of our values and preservation of Nigeria gold bar in artistic cultural tourism.
No wonder, the industry is silent and unconcerned. No advocacy, and support for a new order, the extreme expectation is to pull the tourism house down and redefine a new winning way.