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These are interesting times, the hours of light and darkness, depending on what side of the divide you belong to or find yourself in.
It is interesting, however, that at whatever stage of disagreement, there are options to follow and navigate through, particularly in seeking legal redress. At loss or gain (victory), our society is enriched in knowledge and leadership, particularly over the timelines of the truth that humanity is never perfect.
Mrs. Hadiza Kabir is the mandate secretary of the Social Development Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration. If you ask me, her name does not ring a bell in my tourism ears, again, clearly meaning that one cannot deny anyone a space in the tourism knowledge economy simply because he or she does not swag across the various cacophonous stages of tourism.
Hadiza Kabir stirred the hornet’s nest last week when she gave notice that FCT Administration, especially her tourism department, would register and grade hotels and other related tourism enterprises, enumerated at three thousand, not just for sake of revenue generation but specifically to power standardisation and keep an eye on those who have or intend to breach the Land Use Act.
According to news reports and eyewitness accounts of a few industry players who were at the SDS FCT tourism stakeholders’ meeting, Mrs. Hadiza Kabir announced that her department, acting on ministerial approval (FCT is run by a minister), will immediately commence the registration and licensing of all tourism-enabling structures in the FCT.
She mentioned taxation, contravention of Land Use Act and other “issues” as factors that informed the decision to carry stakeholders along on the development, a mandatory focal expectation that in the past rendered the FCT tourism department “fallow.”
The fees on registration and licensing have not been collected since 2013 by FCT after the Supreme Court stopped the NTDC, now NTDA, over the registration ecosystem, Kabir noted.
One interesting aspect of this development underscores the reality that the tourism laws, as captured under NTDA Act, and specifically but not limited to registration of hospitality enterprises, may have multiple dates in court by state governments and their tourism authorities who may, like Lagos did, seek Supreme Court interpretations.
As Kabir of FCT tourism administration clearly reasoned, the Supreme Court judgment (not invalidated) by the laws of NTDA, rightly empowered the FCT administration to register and license tourism enterprises situated and operating within its geospace.
I am impressed by the human face approach of the FCT tourism administration, not red-flagging registration and licensing fees owed before now by stakeholders but evidently and frontally telling industry operators to brace up for new game-changing rules.
In my earlier review of NTDA laws (google, NTDA laws and Cockrow at dawn), I had pointed out that the entire scope of operation under the new regulations is a mockery of the Supreme Court judgment and, in fact, will meet resistance from federating states.
I dare in my opinion that even Lagos State government, except through certain political pressures and “doctrine of necessity”, will headline hard pursuit on hospitality and tourism registration value chain, and join the “fight” against the NTDA Act. It would be interesting, however, to know where Lagos stands in weeks and months to come.
Please, find time to read my earlier position on NTDA Act, which again does not confer on me the limitless knowledge on the industry’s laws but deliberately done to enrich the growth of the industry, particularly when our appointed and selected government tourism leaders wish without consultation to run industry affairs as their private estate.
It will amount to being pretentious, unpatriotic and a lover of idiocy and lies, if anyone submits that targeting revenue generation in the sector is not driven by the donkey of registration and licensing manifestation.
Kabir alluded to it, though not expressively, when she revealed that FCT was getting her share of revenue from the “unitary ecosystem, adopted by NTDC before the Lagos Supreme Court ruling.
One day, very soon, I will reveal the little I know why Lagos Tourism Commissioner, Mr. Tokumbo Afikuyomi, went to seek interpretation of then NTDC laws. Again that case went the way it was, though enriching of tourism jurisprudence, because of poor defence response from the office of the Attorney-General then and the legal team contacted to interven.
Indeed, I delivered the letter of intent to appear on behalf of NTDC to a legal firm with offices on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, very brilliant team but again I can’t put my finger to reason(s) the process failed.
Indeed, there are many contentious sections of the NTDA Act, and other laws from other agencies, which have oversight functions on tourism development matters in Nigeria.
Unfortunately, the private sector, which all the agencies do target for their revenue drive, has continued to limp and bleed because of operational and implementation mechanisms deliberately targeted to muscle them out of business and not to encourage their growth and employment generation visibilities.
We have over time called for collaboration between government’s cultural tourism agencies and the private sector, and submitted that the industry cannot advance and be buoyant if government tourism agencies continue to have breakfast, lunch and dinner with government grants and funds meant to fertilise the growth of the private sector.
Mr. Nkereweum Onung, president of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), last week, inaugurated a team headed by president of National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies to take a proper look at the new regulations by industry agencies as assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.
I am waiting for their findings and in one breath say this wouldn’t have been necessary if the purveyors of the tourism laws, had openly coverted and sought inputs from the private sector.
Democracy in tourism cannot be practised through acts of subterfuge, high headedness, arrogance and nauseating pride. We warned those concerned since 2015, and in response, they went to market place of blackmail to trade on us.
Since the laws came into being, have there being retreats, sector to sector, influencers and stakeholders meeting, proposed and held to share and review operational acceptation and modalities?
No, no, no,!!!, the slave masters cannot sit in one place with stakeholders with poor digital certification, and experience! How can the Herods of our tourism time, allow businesses with potentials to create jobs and promote Nigerian cultural tourism, be honoured with a golden hand shake from the gods , at temple of government tourism agencies?
I must commend the FCT tourism administration for the boldness to free the sector from confusion. At least, FCT tourism says its registration fees shall be “mild” and not heavy laden.
We are waiting for the Rehoboams to react. This is not masters order to slaves, no blackmailing gragra, it’s law. If you can approach Courts, a class action, would do some good. Time for the private sector to seek redress. As for me, I will soon go to court, who is game? Bye bye!!
