Daily Independent (Lagos)
Emeka Alex-Duru
7 January 2009
interview
Basking on the excitement of a successful outing in the 2008 Calabar Christmas Carnival, governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke spoke with journalists, on his administration's strategies for harnessing the annual fiesta for the development of the State, his challenges in office and his expectations in the years ahead. EMEKA ALEX-DURU, GROUP LIFE EDITOR, was at the session. Excerpts:
How would you assess the 2008 Festival?
There was much more confidence after the uncertainty of the previous edition as to whether it would hold or not. We are now at a stage where if anybody says he is not doing the carnival, he is in trouble. So, we will improve on it next time. We think even the VIP stand that we introduced this time, we think by next festival, we will sell tickets. For those who want to be in the VIP stand, you can buy your ticket on the Internet and know what services that will be provided to you at the VIP stand. Each year we try and build on the experience. Security wise, if you are going to the stadium, next edition, we are going to have all those metal barriers in front of the VIP so that the crowd doesn't come into it. There are a number of things that we are doing. Each year we have to improve significantly on them.
But the hotels in the city do not seem to be prepared for the pressure occasioned by the festival
The thing about the hotels is that there is a rush to build them. There is no service. The service is still very poor and we can't sustain that. So, it is important for us that we get it right with the service. That is why we are setting up a Tourism Institute (TI) here. TI will be the first to actually train hoteliers. We are working with Nigerian Institute of Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR). So we have an accredited facility where people can get training rather than people just getting engaged. And the hotels themselves will train, not just waiters but line managers, chefs, etcetera. We must understand that we are committed to this hospitality. I reckon it will take us another five to ten years to get there but we cannot be weary. We must continue to spend to get to where we are going.
What are you doing about grading of the hotels?
The tourism bureau has a department for that. They are supposed to grade the hotels. They are supposed to see that the hotels are complying with our standards.
In what areas do you think the Federal Government can come in to improve and move the tourism industry forward to the next level in the state?
There are number of things that cannot be left to federal character, and one of them is tourism. Somebody was telling me River State is doing this, Akwa Ibom is doing that and so on. I said no problem, they may have the resources; there are few things that God has given them. I said no matter what they have, they cannot create an Obudu Mountain, you understand. There is no nothing you can do about it. You can't duplicate it. So, if the federal government says for tourism we are picking two states that have the natural God-given environment for tourism development, we happen to have this Calabar River. You have the waterfront, you have the mountain; you have the forest. All those things are God-given. They are not available anywhere. So, when you look at all that, the natural place to promote Nigeria's tourism as where you can come in and enjoy yourselves, you pick Cross River.
That's where the tourism master-plan was supposed to come...
Exactly. You know what efforts went into that tourism master-plan? I was in the Federal Government then. When that master-plan was being presented the people that developed it, said that the greatest challenge to tourism in Nigeria are the Nigerians; that in all their work, they had never seen where the people of a country spoke so badly of their country; that Nigerians speak so badly of their country; that anywhere you see two or three Nigerians sitting and talking they are criticising government and Nigeria, then you want to promote tourism; that they impression they have of Nigeria is far better than the impression Nigerians have of their country. So, there are a number of challenges, there are a number of hurdles to contend with if you want to promote tourism. For example to get a visa into Nigeria for a tourist, it is a tug of war.
I think we are very lucky with a lot of things that happen in Cross River State now. We are just continuing from the last administration because of the relationship between the former governor and me. Long before, we decided getting together in Lagos. We had group meetings in my house that came up with an economic blueprint in 1996 - myself, Donald Duke, the current managing director of Tinapa and a few of us. We had a small group in 1996. What we saw was that we had so much potential, but we had elders who simply bugged us down with our local ethnic issues. So a few of us who were young and daring then came together. So if you ask us now, who is our political godfather, who is Donald's political godfather? Who is Liyel's political godfather? There is nobody. And if you remember, Donald's first election he won by a very narrow margin because we came against the established powers. But in developing that vision and implementing it, we were all part of it. So, anybody that thinks that Liyel will come and his focus will be different from tourism, then that person needs to understand the beginning of things, how we started. Yes, there are a few projects that were not developed at that time, Tinapa for instance, but the general focus is still the same. The issue of the Obudu mountain for instance was already concluded then. So, it is that vision that we continue to work with and the players remain largely the same.
Are there plans to sustain the vision?
I think, if we can sustain it, not just through my own tenure but also through another person who has been part of all of these. Continuity is very important. But in Nigeria we try to change things, you know what I mean: 'won't you come and do your own? Why must you finish the one that your predecessor started? People must know you for your own.' No, we don't have that. We are planting more trees; we are making the place greener, we are doing more in the area of infrastructure. Like in urban renewal programme, we look and say okay fine, where are we? How far did the Duke administration go with the urban renewal programme? And we are taking it from there and moving on. Hopefully, if I don't finish with that, the next person, by the grace of God, can come in and continue with this. So, my focus to make Tinapa work, and I reckon it will take five to six years to get Tinapa to where it should be, but once you get it working, it will create so much opportunity to the people. We are looking beyond just the shops. Like we want, for instance, because of what we have now in Tinapa, you can imagine what the tailors from Cross River State are making from the carnival. After this 2009, by 2010, all carnivals attire must be produced locally. So we are going to tell the bands.
What was the percentage that was used in this edition?
It wasn't that much but a lot of it was sewn here. It is the fabrics that are an issue, you understand. But with Tinapa you can bring in fabrics to create a garment industry.
Talking about Tinapa, the structure is on ground, what is it that is making it difficult for Tinapa to work?
You are a private sector man. If you want to take a shop in Tinapa, what do you need to make you take a shop? I remember when I asked Coscharis to come and take a shop in Tinapa, he said to me what are the incentives? That is what a private sector man is looking for. What are the incentives? Now in Tinapa, you call it a Free Trade Zone. What is the definition of a Free Trade Zone? It hasn't been defined. That was the issue. What can you bring in free, how are the people to be regulated? You imagine that as a free trade zone it is a Customs Exclusive Zone and then you see customs officers in the shops. Now as an investor, if that is not clear, you will not put your money down. So things that are critical to the success of Tinapa are beyond the control of the Cross River State government. They are all in Abuja.
But what is the situation now?
We now have a rule and regulation for Tinapa operation, but it is not gazzetted, so we cannot show it to the prospective tenants. Once it is gazzetted, then we can now see Tinapa more like a Cotonou. Instead of having to do that wahala in Cotonou, you can come to Tinapa and operate it in the same manner.
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