Yunus Abdulhamid
28 December 2008
Inadequate legislations and insufficient manpower are the bane of the tourism industry in Nigeria. This was the submission of some legal practitioners who participated in the recent National Tourism Sensitisation Workshop held in Abuja by the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR).
Mrs J.M. Nasir, a professor of law at the University of Jos in her paper titled, "Assessment of Hospitality and Tourism Legislation in Nigeria," said the requirement of N500, 000 liability insurance bond by an operator of hospitality outfit do not promote indigenous operators nor employment or aid poverty alleviation. She said the regulations also provide that the National Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) can review the name of business in the sector which conflict with the power of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Other areas of the regulation she criticised are; exception of government owned hospitality and tourism establishment from control, which renders the level playing field undulated; transfer of ownership which conflict with the existing rules on inheritance/shares transfer as provided by CAC as well as the unrealistic provision of revocation noticed deemed to have been received after 21 days of pasting which could be used to keep bad operators in business while NTDC officially assume it has done its job.
Barrister Ibrahim Haske Dikko, in his presentation said, "there is no doubt that as presently constituted; the NTDC is incapable of meeting the desired objective. There is need for a brand new regulatory agency to cure some of the present inadequate functions of the NTDC and a new tourism Act is needed to do proper monitoring and regulation of tourism and hospitality sector."
He noted that till date, classification and grading of the hospitality sector had never been done. "Even Hilton and Sheraton have not been graded and classified as either five-star or four-star respectively. Hilton Abuja may not be up to a proper five-star," he said.
George Ibekwe, a lecturer at the Nigeria law School in a paper titled, "Adopting Global Tourism Code of Ethics for Sustainable Development," said six fundamental principles need to be followed to achieve a win-win situation for the tourists and the host communities. These include; non-violence and respect for all life, just economic order, sustainability of consumption with respect for fragile environment, equal rights and partnership between men and women and protection of the rights of children.
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