allAfrica.com: Nigeria: How to Create Wealth

The name Dantata is synonymous with wealth and great merchandise. Before passing on in 1955, the patriarch of the family, Alhaji Alhassan Dantata had left an enduring business track for even the fourth generation that is just springing up.

At a recent tourism workshop in Abuja, Daily Trust cornered Alhaji Munzali Dantata, who is of the third generation in the dynasty of the family, He says as a lawyer and the Director General of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Studies (NIHOTOUR) he has carved a niche for himself and not as a member of the Dantata family. He also unravels the source of his grandfather's wealth. Barrister Munzali, who is in his 50s, spoke at length about his new found job and how it can create wealth for Nigeria. To him, tourism is life.

W hat is your assessment of the tourism potentials of Nigeria?

The tourism potentials of Nigeria are enormous, and at this time, it can be said that the government is finally taken tourism seriously-as business and as a big industry, not just as a social activity that promotes sight seeing only. This is mainly in the form of tourist receipts. When tourists come into the country, the sum total of their expenditure is what is to call the tourist receipts. Money from domestic tourists is also called the domestic tourist receipts. I am very happy to say at this point in the history of Nigeria, tourism is taken its rightful place. There are countries which rely on tourism to run their economy. I think 60 percent of Kenya's earning and GDP depend on the tourism sector; so also in South Africa, about 30 percent or so. In Nigeria, tourism has never made much impact, and one of the reasons is because it has never been appreciated and quantified.

It is the biggest employer of labour. It is employing almost 200 million people worldwide. That is why the UN is coming into Nigeria to help evaluate tourism potentials in the country. This is why it differs from oil. Oil makes lots of money but there are few people working in the industry. In Nigeria, there is no statistic about the number of people working in the tourism sector. But I can assure you that the Federal Ministry of Tourism and Culture and National Orientation is working on what they call tourism satellite account. So, tourism can contribute substantially to the Nigerian economy. if you are talking of oil, not all states have oil, if you are talking of agriculture, not all states can grow crops, if you are talking of mining, not all states have minerals, but every state has the potential to promote its cultural tourism.

Would you say the government and Nigerians are not sensitive to tourism?

I would want to share the blame all round. Nigeria has not been a tourist conscious country. This is so because we have other sectors that bring in money and gradually, the oil sector became dominant over agriculture that was bequeathed to us by the colonial masters. The colonial masters had promoted tourism in other African countries like the eastern African countries, even Zimbabwe and South Africa. But in our own case, tourism potentials of the country were not realise early enough probably because of the issue of comparative advantage. It was towards the 1990 that tourism started gaining ground in Nigeria as it was reflected in the name of the ministry of commerce and tourism.

Can you shed light about this national workshop on the review of laws establishing parastatals under the Ministry Of Tourism, Culture And National Orientation, and as a tourism expert, why do you think the nation should be moving towards this direction at this particular time?

First and foremost, I will like to commend the initiatives of Prince Kayode, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and National for initiating this kind of workshop. Being a lawyer himself, he has seen the need to review the laws governing tourism in Nigeria. We have seen professors and those from the academia coming to deliver lectures. Because when you are even talking about enabling environment, you have to start from the law. You may have a very good industry but bad personnel and this would invariably affect the industry. You can always find the success and the failure of a people in the laws that regulate them. This is what we have just concluded and I am glad you are able to come. I am sure the National Assembly will hear very soon concerning the laws that needs to be in place for the functioning and development of tourism in Nigeria.

Recently, some African ministers gathered in Abuja for the development of tourism in the continent. What was it all about?

The conference is an annual conference of African ministers. It is mainly on tourism. It is an annual meeting. The next meeting will take place in Cameroon. It was opened by Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan. Over 30 ministers from African countries attended. This was a very successful meeting. Some of the issues deliberated upon include the issue of common visa for Africans in line with the Europeans' common visa, where by you can travel to all parts of Europe with one visa. So, the issue of one visa for Africa has always been on the table. These ministers share experiences and returned back to their countries with them, and certainly the conference will go down to the people.

Can you tell our readers about some of the tourist centres in the country?

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