The 14th edition of the International Arts and Crafts Expo (INAC) came to end in Abuja last weekend with plenty lessons begging for attention. It is probably the blind and deaf that would pretend that the three-day, activities-filled blue-chip cultural tourism exposition did not filter through to him or her through the various established mass media windows.
Let me state for the record that the social media, the print and electronic media literally glowed with incisive reports and commentaries about this strategic Nigerian brand culture exhibition packaged by the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC).
Four years down the line and since Otunba Segun Runsewe took over the affairs of the then moribund NCAC and introduced a domiciliary account for arts and crafts as the game-changing economy, the sights and sounds of the expo have grown in leaps and bounds.
Interestingly, Nigeria’s federating states and private sector operators have shown faith, truly leveraging on the expo’s platform to showcase their indigenous arts and crafts, some, if not all, throwing light on the unique diverse culinary offerings endemic to their region and peoples.
And the well-thought-through process of inviting the global community through their embassies in Nigeria added intricate vistas and value to the exhibition, and created a visible and verifiable foreign direct investment profile beneficial to participants, trade visitors and to organised tourism practitioners in Nigeria.
Significantly, a trade investment exclusively devoted to getting the cash-strapped and low-capacity sectorial players to flourish rings a bell of futuristic competitiveness and development, but where are our Jews?
It is painful that while government agencies, at least, NCAC and, lately, the culture intelligence arm, National Institute for Cultural Orientation (Nico), drive hard at creating opportunities for the private sector, the noise-making and know-it-all trade operators wallow in poor self-assessment, thus very far away from the realities of serious engagement to make hay for selves and nation.
It is a pity that, while the foreign components of the INAC Expo carefully and strategically connect to the richness and diverse cultural resources endowments, our so-called private sector trade practitioners took only to WhatsApp and other tools to play disgusting Russian roulette. It is nueseateting to read some very banal and poisonous submissions from some of our “tour” operators and their likes who wait on heavens to feed them and yet would not lift up their eyes to see beyond the Jordan of what NCAC has created through INAC Expo.
Indeed, I am usually intrigued by the response of the industry players who sit at home, wait for special invitation or to be begged to move out of their comfort zone to see where the world is heading to. At the just concluded expo in Abuja, the very aggressive presence of the states, 14 of them, and Federal Capital Territory, despite the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, tweeted to those conscious of the future of Nigerian cultural tourism engagements that something would soon give way to our rankings locally and internationally.
Like I said earlier, except for the fabric and fashion operators and the gastronomic businesses, the so-called Nigerian tourism operators were nowhere to be found.
Yes, many live in the mansion of excuses due to economic downturn, and may claim financial difficulties to pay for a platform to showcase their trade, but what happens to networking and collaborations? Certainly, inclusiveness in the sector gives room for such groups or persons to make a case for discount or outright pro bono assistance from NCAC, which I am absolutely sure Otunba Segun Runsewe would be willing to offer as an investment for the growth of the industry and the players.
I had taken up this bent with FTAN president, Mr. Nkerewuem Onung, and he says it is evidence of the reality of the effort, which his administration wishes to address, adding that the industry players are still living in tourism dreamland, usually propped up by what most of them perceive as their best way to go without serious effort to localize the lessons supposedly learnt.
True as his submission appears, it is numbing that a man would wish to reap where he has not made any investment except to belong to an association, write worthless proposals and drive wedges of bitterness and divisiveness across board. These fellows and their bedfellows are never consistent, never would work with others and, even as stand-alone goliaths, would never see anything good in what others have done or are doing.
They move from office to office, spreading rumors and standing truth on its head. When opportunity presents itself, maybe out of divine mercy, they bang it against the wall of ingratitude, blaming imaginary opposition other than themselves.
As it is in the private sector, we also have it in the agencies under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It is unimaginable but true that of about 10 agencies that boomed with various tourism contents, only a few are living up expectations.
Misplaced interpretations of mandate? Surely some of the agencies’ big heads cannot in all truth understand and relate with theirm andate, hence their very bitter aggression against private sector operators who knock at their doors either for collaboration or opportunities to trade.
In two weeks’ time and holding in Ado-Ekiti, capital city of Ekiti State, Nigeria’s biggest culture showpiece, National Festival of Arts and Culture (Nafest) will light up the very skylines of diversity of our festivals, food and history. I was happy to see the timelines the iconic festival shared on most industry platforms, hoping that all of us would be there to learn and plan for the future.
Permit me to share some of the lessons learnt while outside our shores on exhibition time across the world. I noticed that not only do trade visitors attend with boxes, loading them up with trade materials from stands and booths, I equally noticed that fellow exhibitors would move around to “spy” on competitions, with hope of adding value to what they have and at subsequent outings improve on their product packaging.
Oh, yes, festivals, exhibitions and workshops are all valued treasures of learning and education, not necessarily to smile home with sales and service enquires but a practical learning post. The poor learning feature of our trade sector is worrisome, considering the ever changing dynamism associated with the needs and expectations of the industry.
Though I am gladdened by the relationship and desire of FTAN leadership to be at all the cultural tourism events, with pen and paper, jotting strength and opportunities in leveraging opportunities so far created for the sector by NCAC and possibly NIHOTOUR, the truth remains that individuals and corporate entities must wake up and take advantage of trade opportunities such as INAC Expo and NAFEST to bring forth the reality of an economy capable of creating jobs and opportunities.