Jibrin Abubakar
16 June 2008
interview
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?
Cross River state has done very well when it comes to promoting tourism in Nigeria. The Obudu Cattle Ranch and Tinapa are two centres that the state is very proud of. Apart from that, they have their Christmas Carnival that is being developed. It is now doing very well and every year it is getting better. Within Calabar itself, they have a museum, and they also have other attractions. One of the seven national parks is in Cross River. So that is one state that we are all proud of. They are doing very well. Apart from that, we have the seven national parks which include Yankari in Bauchi. So, all these attractions are here. Most importantly the master plan has been launched by the government and it has documented some of these attractions I am talking to you about. The master plan was launched last year by the current minister in charge of tourism. Before then, Nigeria has no any master plan. There are other attractions too in the country. Even within Abuja. You also have the Gurara Fall and the Zuma Rock in Niger State as well as the Farin Ruwa in Nasarawa State. If you are talking about natural landmarks, you have the Aso Fall in Plateau State and the Olumo Rock in Abeokuta. We have cultural festival, like the Osun Oshogbo festival, the Durbar in Kano and Katsina, the Argungu Fishing Festival in Kebbi State, the Musquaerade and the New Year Festival in Enugu State. So, these are annual festivals.
Given your background and especially coming from the northern part of the country, what motivated you into tourism?
Like you said coming from the northern part of the country which is conservative. I will say the whole country has deep faith in Islam or Christianity.
I think tourism is what conservative people look down upon as a sector that promotes waywardness and they think it's not supported by religion. I am an artist at heart though I read law. Tourism is about the appreciation of art and the appreciation of nature. So being a Muslim, and from the north and in the tourism industry I found it a challenge to disabuse the mind of my own people that tourism is nothing but promoting the movement of people and benefiting from these people who have moved into an area. Saudi Arabia is benefiting from it. It is called religious tourism. Israel is also benefiting from it. So their tourists are called pilgrims. It is left for Nigeria to identify what will motivate people to visit Nigeria. This is the big question. Egypt boasts of the pyramid and the Ethiopians boast of an antiquated skeleton. Now, this country chooses culture and we thought we have a comparative advantage there. So, we are promoting our culture and we are promoting heritage tourism. You will see this if you've been to Emirs or Obas palaces. Some of the states also have festivals like the Durbar in Kano etc. Some of us will say because of Shariah, we have banned alcohol and casinos. You see tourism is not about all these things. I have told you about some countries that are promoting religious tourism. Somebody will not say he will not go there because there is no alcohol. Tourists always want to look at something unique. Tourists are curious individuals. So tourism is just a movement of people on a temporary basis. I found it challenging as a Muslim from the North to educate my people that tourism is not for wayward people and I believe I am morally upright. We are talking about fighting poverty leaving behind a sector that could assist in the fight against poverty.
What motivated you into tourism?
I started my working career as a lawyer. I had a brief stint with the ministry of justice in Kano State, then I went private. I came into tourism by way of starting a travelling agency in 1987. You know my family travels a lot. So that was the beginning of my journey into tourism. My business grew from selling tickets as tour operator, and later, I moved to resort development near the Zuma Rock. I also started becoming involved deeply as I joined the association of the travel agents. So I became an activists and some of my colleagues deemed it fit to elect me the president of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents (NANTA). Afterwards, I moved on to head the Federation of Tourism Association of Nigeria (FTAN), which include the travel agents, hoteliers etc. Eventually, I was invited to the public sector to head the NIHOTOUR as its Director General. I do all these at the expense of my law practice Dantata and Co. is still there technically and today a lot of people don't even know me as a lawyer.
Recently, the Niger State government announced that it was developing the tourist potentials of Zuma Rock. We used to know you as Mr. Zuma Rock, what is your reaction to this?
I commend the initiative of Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu. This is some thing we have always been praying for. My investment in Zuma Rock dates back to 1999 when the then governor of Niger State laid the foundation stone. I had acquired the land and got approval for development. At Zuma Rock resort, we have hosted various dignitaries: Ministers of other countries and sport officials, for instance during COJA, Amos Adamu brought in over 200 sport administrators. So we have always been a lone ranger in Zuma Rock. I should not be talking to you about Zuma Rock because since I became Director General, I resigned from the Zuma rock resort in line with government policies that you can not hold two jobs. That may have accounted for the low activity at the resort today. Before now, people used to call me Mr. Zuma rock, but in the past few years, I have been more visible in the institute. The new proprietor is called Mr. Bassey. Now I am just an investor. Mr. Bassey will answer your questions and I will hesitate to answer any question on Zuma Rock.
On a personal note, the family you come from is renowned for its wealth. Our readers may want to know more about the Dantata family.
I am surprised that you asked that question because in the last ten years of my life, people always ask me of tourism. This means that I have succeeded in getting out of the shell of Dantata family and make a mark of my own that I am me and not a son of Dantata. The family name began from my late grandfather, Alhassan Dantata. I am in the third generation. You know most of the names you are hearing now constitute the third generation. Most of us too have our children who we may say are the fourth generation who are waiting in the wings. Our parents who could be construed as the second generation, worked for their father. He was a courageous merchant and that time the country was exporting agricultural produce and the one he concentrated on mostly was groundnut. Kano was the centre just like cocoa Ibadan as the centre, coal Enugu as the centre and Tim with Jos as the centre. Then you have the railway connectivity. Up till now I use to have a nostalgic memory of the railways. It was my first mode of travelling to school from Kano to Kaduna. This is a memory from my childhood. So my parents were all involved in the groundnut trade. All my uncles worked for their fathers in the 1940s and 1950s. Both my father and my grandfather died before independence. I was a baby when my father died. These are pre-independence personalities. My grandfather, Alhassan Dantata who is the progenitor of the family was a long distance merchant. He used to travel as far as Ghana way back before the British came. He traded in kola nut, precious stones and livestock. By the time the British came, he then moved to groundnut. All his eleven male children including my father worked with him. Today, all of them are dead remaining two males. He had seven female children but only three are alive and all the five are now in their late 70s and 80s. They are very old. The males worked for him. By the time of our generation, groundnut trade has gone down and oil has taken over. So I never worked in the family business or the groundnut business. My own late father was Ahmadu Dantata who was the son of Alhassan Dantata. My father died in 1960, just a few months before independence and my grandfather died in 1955. People have asked me about my family and they want to know which part I belong and I have said of late people have recognised me as a tourist promoter. I have gotten out of that shell.
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