Today, I remember Mrs. Tereza Ezeobi, the “Ruth” of our tourism, a very loyal, committed and effective leader in the growth and development of tourism in Nigeria. Ezeobi, the NANTA president in the late 90s, was indeed an amazon and tourism warrior. She did not only help reposition NANTA, she worked gallantly to birth the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN).
Apart from Ezeobi, there were tourism people and great minds such as Ade Aruna, hotelier par excellence and former general manager of then Ikoyi Hotel, now a Pastor, Ganiyu Balogun (the Boatman), Victoria Soluade, Jimi Alade, Segun Ayodeji, Josephine Anenih, former PDP Women Leader and former Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Margaret Fadiyi (Webisco), the late Pa Da’silva, Garba Gumel, the late Kingsley Onuoha, Deji Adeleye, Paul Onyia, former sales manager, Sheraton Lagos, now a traditional ruler, and Ogbeni Tope Awe.
This list of tourism men and women of goodwill is not exhaustive as there were others that space would not allow me to mention. At its peak and formation, the driving force in FTAN was not about who held any particular post but the will and strength to push tourism ahead as a professional business driven by professionals only.
In this historical recount, I will not forget the role played by Alhaji Tukur Mani, former NTDC boss, Minister of Commerce, Health and a PDP-appointed Nigerian Ambassador. Alhaji Tukur hugely encouraged the birth of FTAN when the Alabo Mike Amachree-led Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN) became operationally limited to husband the growing number of practitioners and the desire for change.
FTAN, from all intents and purposes, was formed to give the sector a strong united presence and to create a holding bay for mentoring upcoming young professional groups across the octopus divide of the industry. Ezeobi and her team dreamt big for FTAN and the tourism media, led then by Ogbeni Tope Awe, gave the process more than front page attention.
Tourism was all we lived for and those formative leaders ensured that true sacrifices were made to reposition the industry. Let me admit and note that tourism got more encouragement from the military than civilian administrations, a strong reason why most of the laws setting up the various agencies of tourism and culture bear the military’s unitary stamp.
Indeed, from Obasanjo, IBB, and Abacha, military regimes strategically pushed tourism ahead but found that the private sector was not organised or was at war with itself. General Jerry Useni, as Minister of the FCT, gave FTAN some measure of support and when we refused to have Goody Ibru as president, Useni humbly pleaded that we drop our opposition to his candidacy.
I recall then at one of our strategic meetings at Abuja Sheraton when Onyia walked in and announced that he would no longer lead the opposition to Ibru’s presidency as the powers that be were alleged to have put pressure on him to break our ranks. Onyia was very dedicated to the dream and ideals of FTAN and was ready to sacrifice his lucrative job at Sheraton Ikeja, a hotel owned by his principal and FTAN presidential nominee then.
Even though Onyia insisted that the decision of the group must override the threat to his job at Sheraton, we all backed down and took to the mediation and wise counsel of Useni, whose late wife was strong member and travel agent.
Looking back today, the men and women with a measure of personal sacrifice such as the founders of FTAN can no longer be found in our midst. What we have now since the time of Munzali Dantata till date are men and women who want to tunnel their way into government appointments using FTAN as a tool to achieve their dreams. The ideals of the federation are now relegated to the background while portfolio operators and office seekers now play the spoiler’s role.
About two years ago or thereabouts, I drove all the way from New-Bussa, Niger State, to attend an FTAN AGM/election meeting in Abuja. It was a Kangaroo set-up organised by pretenders to FTAN leadership and dreams. Before my arrival the tourism mosquitoes had “shared and paid up” for the various positions of FTAN and all attempts to call the chairman of the board of trustees (BOT), Mr. Samuel Alabi, to order were cleverly circumvented.
The truth is that FTAN is now living on past glory, with so-called office seekers (not leaders) who have no true knowledge of the expectations and makings of the federation. Those on the ground today were not elected but selected and neither do they have any strategy to reinvent the federation.
The BOT apart, the eight-year presidency of Tommy Akingbogun was a disaster and existed only on a rag-sheet, as the industry now more polarised than ever before. To own a hotel, hospitality or travel company does not make anyone a professional and that is why we want our FTAN back. It is indeed long overdue to overhaul the entire federation and let selfless men and women drive it back to the tourism road of profitability and fame.
Enough of Tom-and-Jerry antics in the federation, as the time has come for the pretenders in FTAN to give us back our association. And I must advise the Minister of Tourism and all the heads of tourism and culture agencies to keep their distance from the FTAN “Sugar Leaders” and wait for our new flag-bearers.

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