Federal ministry of tourism: Age-long battle won

THERE are three objectives for writing this article. The first concerns my previous conduct in respect of writing complaints, features and recommendations to establish the basis for having a separate administration for tourism functions. Studies and practices would come next. In addition, one would attempt to set an agenda for the new Federal Ministry. The former federal ministry where tourism was domiciled formed into lumps both domestic and incidental functions. This incongruity made what tourism to be treated as sequels. The attention given to tourism functions appeared as if both the study and practice of tourism were in a valley named “Shadow of Death. The Book of Psalm 23:4 reads, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil”. Luli via www.clarion-books.co.uk says “When students are ready, the teacher appears.’’ My exposure to tourism and hospitality education by my PhD Thesis Supervisor; Prof. Bola Ayeni in Nigeria and my benefactor; Prof. L.S Mitchell from the U.S, helped me to identify a missing gap in the nomenclatures and functions of the affected federal ministries in Africa. “To live for a time close to great mind, is the best form of education,” John Buchan writes.

Great educators/philosophers have supported the early actions taken to ensure that Nigeria has a separate administration for tourism and hospitality. They generally assert that “Higher education is a vacuum used to fill a vacuum”  “and an educated man should know something about everything and everything about something. What sounds like “battle” in this discussion has been stated under the second objective of this write-up. The fourfold approaches represent an amalgam that has to some extent influenced the birth of the new Federal Ministry of Tourism and the battle is over, meaning a move-up from underpositioning and confused positioning to accurate positioning for success. The immediate past Federal Ministry of Information and Culture should be happy because the present administration does not want to continue to overstretch the personnel of the old ministry. The new federal ministry now has its own threshold of products and brands and ranges of operations, which could be used for choosing and implementing a positioning strategy to meet The 2030 International Agenda for Sustainable Tourism Development.

At this juncture, one likes to recapitulate the three points meant for this discussion. First, the writer would like to thank Aare Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu; Mai Grima Shugaban Kasa Najeriya for creating the new Federal Ministry of Tourism. By this act, the indefatigable, veteran and visionary president, has shown purposeful and invaluable leadership within the first 100 days in office. This ‘’Oga at the Top’’ uplifted the tourism sector as an in controvertible platform on which the Renewed Hope Initiative could be actualised. In correctly and sustainably positioning this new federal ministry, the Presidency,  the Senate and the House of Representative made it possible for Hon. Lola Ade-John to become the pioneer Federal Minister of Tourism and I thank them for that. The minister’s qualifications and career accomplishments in both the banking and the oil sectors have direct relevance to tourism, which is seriously interdisciplinary in nature, theory and practice. She is going to excitingly, unflinchingly and delightfully unleash her potential work in collaboration with the World Tourism Organism (WTO),  World Travel and Tourism  Council (WTTC), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), International Air Transport Association (IATA), Association of Nigeria Geographers (ANG), Hospitality and Tourism Management Association of Nigeria (HATMAN), Universities, National Universities Commission (NUC), Polytechnics, College of Education, Research Institutes and other federal ministries in Nigeria, for effective and sustainable functioning (study, practice and industry). This form of togetherness will help to actualise Nigeria’s tourism agenda.

Since the minister is also a systems analyst, it would be possible for the Federal Ministry of Tourism and its allied parastatals to benefit from information and communication technology. This is specifically in areas of tourism destination integrated computer reservation management system and destination management/marketing system. It shall also be possible for the relevant public to tap information from her fountain of wealth of banking performances in respect of tourism financing, mainstreaming investments and greening initiatives for sustainable tourism development at the three tiers of tourism governance in Nigeria. The educational philosophy that informs reporting my previous work is hinged on three areas of expectation, responsibility and feedback. The leadership must do the needful in propelling the aircraft of the tourism Industry. In addition, stakeholders must respond favourably to the idea of the tourism ministry standing alone and go ahead to encourage the establishment of highly sustainable tourism enterprises, put in place supporting services, monitor developments and give back to the society. That puts them on investment and “gain” platform. On Wednesday April 3, 1985, the Punch newspaper carried an excerpt of the paper that I presented at the 28th National Annual Nigerian Geographers Association’s Conference, hosted by the Department of Geography, University of Lagos on April 2.

In the paper titled “The spatial patterns and trends of traditional recreation in Ekiti – Community of Ondo State,” I called on Nigerians to be inwards-looking at that austere period, to develop the tourism industry. Feedbacks indicated that people had started to understand some principal factors that had influenced the development of tourism through time and space. The other examples of the initial struggle include the need to “build a tourist city.” which was published by the Daily Sketch on January 11, 1988. The call on the Federal Government to establish a separate Federal Ministry for Recreation and Tourism was published by National Concord on Monday January 1989.

In 1993, I wrote on “Tourism policies for the years ahead” and this was published by Nigerian Tribune on January 22, on page 11. Furthermore, Nigerian Tribune also published in three series one’s write-up on “The Tourist Potential of Ekiti State” on the 8th, 15th and 22nd January respectively in 1997. In addition, one leading a team of other eleven researchers, wrote a 264 paged  “Tourism policy for Ekiti State, Nigeria. Several issues that include having efficient separate administration for tourism studies and practices were tackled.

In the respect of the third objective, if people could lay their hands on the above published works and many other ones written by both scholars and Technocrats within Nigeria and in Diaspora, they could provide an overview, theories, demonstrations, evaluations and the collaborations which the new Federal Ministry of Tourism could use to implement the following suggested Agenda:

(a)          Publication in 37volumes, of all the tourism potentials of Nigeria,                                              indicating the relative wealth of tourism products and brands in the                                    36States and the Federal Capital Teritory (FCT) Abuja.

(b)          Theory Triangulation and Theory Crystallization, to understand the                                          distribution of the tourism potentials.

(c)           Multivariate Analysis and Digitalization of the voluminous data to                                             assist sustainable mapping of tourism resources for virile sustainable                                          development of all states and the F.C.T.

(d)          Digital Cartography on the Geographical elements in the tourism                                              system to prepare  “The Tourism Planning Process.’’ Instead of just                                                an obsolete “Tourism Master Plan.”

(e)          The Tourism Environment Impact Assessment Process and Auditing

(f)           Tourism, Manpower Development from the grassroots and                                                        introduction of Tourism Studies at the Secondary School Educational                                      Level     and collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education.

(g)          Human Capital Development and Tourism contemporary curriculum                                       development at the University level within the Benchmark and                                                          Framework of the National Universities Commission (NUC).

(h)          Encouragement of Polytechnics, College of Education and Research,                                       Institutes, to beef-up their curricula in Tourism and Hospitality                                                         Management.

(i)            Collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organization to                     implement Recommendations on Tourism Statistics and The Satellite                                             Accounts.

(j)           Encouragement of Tourism Professional Associations in Nigeria, the                                        Universities running programmes in Tourism and Hospitality                                                                 Management and other stakeholders, to domesticate Global Solutions                                     led by WTO,WTTC and so on.

(k)          Strengthening Tourism Destinations Integrated Computer Reservation                  Management and Marketing Systems, while boosting Operations                                                 Management in Tourism.

(l)            Adoption of The Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, to develop                                      Nigerian Sustainable Tourism Development 2040. The future of the                                   Tourism Industry.

(m)         Encouragement of Tourism Entrepreneurship, Intrapreneurship and                                      Technoinforprenueurship through “Tourism Financing and bringing                                         on board Green Investments, and

(n)          Introduction of Tourist Site Protection Programmes and TaskForces.

In conclusion, the write-up has presented previous work that generated viewpoints regarding tourism research and research process, that have influenced the creation of the Federal Ministry of Tourism. The concepts of Threshold and Range of Tourism Products and Brands, have been pointed up to appreciate the reality and the needs of the Federal Ministry of Tourism more meaningfully. In addition, a fourteen-point agenda has been proposed. All of these have been pointed at to encourage stakeholders in the tourism industry to rally round the Hon Federal Minister of Tourism, so that Sustainable Tourism Development could be attained in Nigeria.

• Professor Afolabi is of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Federal University Oye Ekiti.