The immediate past Senior Special Assistant, SSA, to the outgoing governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on Tourism Development, Amb. Wale Ojo-Lanre, has called for the creation of a sole ministry for tourism at the federal level.
The foremost tourism promoter said this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Thursday in Lagos, during the celebration of the 2022 World Tourism Day.
Ojo-Lanre explained that this became necessary in order to fully harness the potential of the industry for revenue generation.
He averred that merging the tourism industry with culture and information had hindered the growth of tourism over the years.
Calling for the establishment of a legal framework for the industry, which he said would go a long way to boost investors’ confidence, while the industry will remain formidable and organised,he said, “As a nation, we need to address the problems hindering the growth of tourism in Nigeria.
“These are lack of good legislation, no legal framework and we cannot boast of 20 well developed tourism sites.
“Things should be done correctly. Let us have a separate ministry for tourism so that these problems and many more can be attended to.
“There is no political will about tourism as an economic sector, which should be vigorously attended to.”
Speaking on the World Tourism Day celebration in Nigeria, Ojo-Lanre said that Nigerians still have a long way to go in yielding bountifully from tourism.
The reason for this, according to the former chairman of the Oyo State Council of the Nigerian Union of jJournalists, NUJ, was because the industry had not been fully developed like in other climes.
He said that rather than celebrating the World Tourism Day like other nations, tourism practitioners in Nigeria only need to work unanimously in drawing government’s attention to the pitfalls in the industry.
He added, “Tourism practitioners in Nigeria are supposed to work together on the occasion of the World Tourism Day, rethink tourism in a sober and reflective mood.
“We should not rejoice over failure and continue to dance over the comatose state of tourism in luxurious and choice venues.
“We join other countries that are steadily reaping fortunes from tourism to celebrate.
“Instead, we should engage ourselves to call attention to the parlous state of affairs of tourism in Nigeria.
“We should come out with achievable strategies and a master plan of turning things over.”
