By Okwe Obi, Abuja
Since oil was discovered in commerical quantity in Oloibiri community in Bayelsa State in 1956, not much has been done by successive administrations to restructure the tourism sector, going by the country’s rich natural resources and enormous economic potential.
Rather, funds accrued from the sales of crude oil and gas are lavished at tourism sites outside Nigeria in countries like South Africa and Kenya.
To change the trend, the federal government and tourism experts recently converged on Abuja to brainstorm on how the sector can take its pride of place, not just as a money-spinner, but also to serve as an elixir for unity and peace, following the cultural diversity of the country.
The event, which was, tagged “Unity in diversity: One voice, one nation, the Nigerian dream,” had in attendance legislative aides to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abass, Kayode Lawal; Senate Committee Chairman on Tourism, Prof. Anthony Ani, Ogbonna Aja; and representatives from 15 schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.
In his presentation on the tourism space in Nigeria, the Assistant Controller, National Park Service, Abdullahi Ahmed, said: “We have seven national parks. That is the old ones. But in 2022, the Federal Government upgraded some forest reserves through the request of the state governments, about 10 of them, to the status of national parks, making it 17 national parks. These are all conservation spots, where animals are kept.
“The core mandate is biodiversity conservation. When you conserve these resources, you also visit for the purpose of tourism.
“Before upgrading any forest reserve to the status of a national park, a lot of studies are carried out to ensure their ecological viability.”
Speaking on the economic potential and how much Nigeria has made, he said: “Actually, we are generating revenue. But I cannot give you a figure right now.
“But I know all the parks we have been operating over 20 years ago are generating revenue from ecological tourism and other activities. But we still have room to improve.”
He advised Nigerians to appreciate the natural resources the country have and suggested that instead of citizens going to luxuriant in Kenya and South Africa, “they should visit our national parks.”
To back up his appeal, he made reference to the Gashaka Gumti National Park, and said: “It is a beautiful enclave where you have enclave of beautiful ecological things.
“You have the animals, you have the landscape, forest and water and so on. You can go there to see animals and for meetings.
“So, even if you want to explore some of these historical things, especially that are peculiar to that region, you can go there and see.
“Definitely, we want to encourage Nigerians to visit. When Nigerians visit these parks, they will be able to generate revenue and attract foreigners to visit our national parks.
“When most of us go out to visit other parks, a lot of people will think we do not have these things.”
Ahmed’s proposal courted the nod of a senior legislative Aide to Anthony Ani, and Chairman, Senate Committee on Tourism, Ogbonna Aja, said: “Nigeria, has not really looked inward. Everything has been on oil and the revenue accrued from the oil sector.
“We have other sector like the tourism sector that can provide alternative means of revenue for the country. What is required is for Nigeria to make investment and design a way to drive the tourism sector especially like capturing the young ones to be interested in the tourism sector.
“There is a lot of potential in the tourism sector. Currently, we are not doing much. But Nigeria can generate a lot of revenue both local and international.
“Tourism is one sector that can unite us and appreciate our cultural diversity and tribes. We are better united than divided. The different tribes should complement each other for one better and united nation.”
On his part, a senior Legislative Aide to Tajudeen Abass, Kayode Lawal, agreed with Ahmed when he said: “We have to support the government to see what we are going to contribute. Different administrations since 1999 have initiated different policy framework to look at what we can do to diversify the country’s economy.
“When you look at the 10th Assembly, my organisation is one that is looking at how we can boost tourism.”
Kayode explained that”unfortunately, it is not about agenda or policy but about action. Now tourism is supposed to be the next frontier in terms of economy and wealth creation in Nigeria.
“But we all know about the challenges with the government are policy somersault, incompetence, bureaucracy and laid back attitude.” He expressed optimism by saying “we believe that we can still do more. We believe that the government is listening for us to take proactive moves to revamp the tourism sector.”
The founder of Green Time Sustainable Initiative and organiser of the programme, Dr Charity Agbambo, charged citizens not to give up on the country.
According to her, the event was put together to mark the 64th independence of Nigeria and to reassure Nigerians of the importance of oneness through tourism. And one of the ways to achieve the unity was to tap secondary students to be part of the celebration.
Agbambo said: “We have different programmes that we use to promote tourism and advocate good policies, patriotism, unity. Educational outreach is one of them.
“We have about 15 schools represented here to catch the children young. It is time when we begin to catch the children young and teach them about the future of the country.
“The Nigerian dream is a dream for all and not just for the tourism volunteer network; it is a dream Nigerians have to take very seriously.
“How do we promote Nigeria? How do we educate the younger ones to be better stewards of the society. One person cannot do it. So that is what we are involving everybody. We are teaching this children how to be better Nigerians, Leaders and how to love each other.
“We have over 250 languages in Nigeria and different ethnic groups. We have so many issues. But we are supposed to see our diversity as a bond to showcase our uniqueness and not something that should divide us.
“We should be able to respect each other’s culture, behaviour and views so that we can live peacefully. Our values should be the right one, the right leadership skills that should make them think about Nigeria.”