Adekunle Adekoya
21 September 2008
There is no reason why tourists should not be streaming into Nigeria in their thousands because Nigeria is a very safe place to live and work in, compared to others where life is very cheap, but still record huge tourist arrivals.
This is the submission of Alhaji Idi Hong, minister of state of tourism, culture, and national orientation at the media launch of Unbelievable Nigeria!, the latest initiative at getting Nigerian tourism industry upwards.
Venue was Planet 1, Maryland Lagos, last Thursday, where NITEX '08 (Nigeria Tourism Expo) was officially presented to the media at an impressive ceremony. In his opening remarks, Alhaji Hong added: "There are countries in the world where people will cut off your hand just because of the wrist watch you're wearing, or your handbag; yet they still record huge tourism arrivals. Nigeria is not like that. Yes, there's insecurity, but that's a worldwide phenomenon and there's no reason why tourists shouldn't come to Nigeria on account of that.Nigeria is a safe place to live in and work."
Warming up to the subject, Alhaji Hong said further: "You don't build your house and then come back to demolish it yourself. I agree there's insecurity. Even in the Niger Delta where there are militants' activity, it's only in two of the six states there and that is being looked into. The minister's remarks heralded the presentation of NITEX '08 proper, a task performed by Chief Edem Duke, president of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN).
Regarding what NITEX '08 is all about, Chief Duke said: "I feel proud to share wiith you the thoughts behind NITEX 2008. It is Nigerian Tourism Expo, or if you like, an exhibition of Nigerian Tourism experience. It is to be an annual event, and will be a travelling expo for Nigeria."
He then narrated the how the seed behind the idea was sown. "It was late in 2005; in a café somewhere in Johannesburg, South Africa, I met with Jerry Mabena, who was then managing director of Kagiso Expos. Kagiso is a major player in the area of exhibitions management, and is known with Indaba.
I had myself taken interest in expos before, having helped organize the Nigerian expo which held in Seville, Spain, another one in Taejong in South Korea, and before those, I had organized expos for the World Petroleum Congress in China and South Africa. There thus is a passion for expos because it is a type of event that provides person-to-person interface, and therefore the vision emerged to have an exhibition for all of Africa.
"The problem we have hitherto is that each time we have to sell Africa, or Nigeria, we have had to do so through foreign fora; there is no forum we can call our own through which we can sell Africa or Nigeria, but at that time, it was difficult to get the right people to buy into the idea and make it a reality." Chief Duke disclosed that with the right people in government, the time is ripe for private initiative to develop the country, stressing that NITEX '08 is a private sector initiative supported by government.
He expatiated more on the rationale for NITEX: "Frequently we go out to other 'parts of the world; they have a perception of us, and no matter how hard you try, you will be restricted, you will be limited, and I have come to believe very strongly that the spirit of the Nigerian can no longer be restricted. The time has come to engage the world's travel experts on why Nigeria is not a preferred travel destination.
The truth is that some states in this country have more to offer than what some exotic destinations have to offer. Some sell only elephants; others sell antelopes and buffaloes as tourist products. But the point is that the world is hungry for Nigeria, thirsty for Nigeria and it is up to us to take Nigeria to them. The context of NITEX is for us all to tell the world that they need to look at Nigeria."
NITEX 2008 will hold in three venues outside Nigeria - in London, because of high convergence of commerce, tourism, high population of Nigerians and the UK's historical ties with Nigeria; in Atlanta, Georgia, in the US, because of high concentration of Nigerians, African-Americans with strong Nigerian ties, tourism, culture, and investment prospects, and finally in Barbados because of high demand for inbound African investment prospects, its tourism and travel business experience, and very important, high demand for re-establishment of historical and cultural affinity.
Mayowa Akintunde, CEO of USP, a brand consultancy firm also spoke at the event. He said that NITEX is a brand platform on which Nigeria can be sold, and that the time is ripe for the country to begin city branding, in much the same way as Eiffel Tower brands Paris. To this end, he urged all Nigerians to see themselves as the nation's brand ambassadors. Minister of tourism, culture and national orientation, Prince Tokunbo Kayode in his remarks reiterated that NITEX is a private sector initiative.
'NITEX is a private sector show. We in the ministry are just working with them; the idea is to truly promote domestic and international tourism. South Africa spends a lot of money promoting tourist inflow into their country here; Ghana does the same. We haven't been doing that at all, but we'll gain a lot now that we have started. For instance, our banks are opening up in other countries; people should like to see the country where they are coming from, and they, and others in the private sector are encouraged to buy in because the advantage is limitless for them'.
Among others, the objectives of NITEX 2006 include promotion of every aspect of Nigeria tourism industry; encouragement of foreign investment in to the industry; setting up platform for positioning Nigeria as a tourism brand in Africa; providing opportunities for business linkages between interested parties, and promoting inbound tourist traffic into Nigeria. Most importantly, the expo has the objectives of convincing the world that Nigeria is safe, secure and friendly.
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