*How has UN Tourism CAF Meetings improved tourism in Nigeria?

The news that Nigeria has again bidded and won hosting right for UN Tourism Commission for Africa (CAF), meeting for 2025 (68th)  came as a surprise to many Nigerian tourism industry practitioners.  Surprised in the sense that the last UN Tourism event in Nigeria, the first UN Tourism Global Conference on Linking Tourism, Culture and Creative Industry held between November 14 to 17, 2022, raised so much dust within the country.

This new hosting right means that each of the last three ministers in charge of tourism in Nigeria in the last twelve  years: High Chief Edem Duke, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and now Mrs. Lola Ade-John have all won hosting right to UN Tourism CAF meeting. With the 2025 hosting, Nigeria would have hosted the meeting three times in 13 years. There are about 53 UN Tourism member-countries in Africa, why is Nigeria always at the forefront to host?

Questions have also been  asked   on the usefulness of UN Tourism conferences in Nigeria. The argument was that the world body had held a number of events and conferences in Nigeria. They did not , in any way, positively impacted on the tourism fortune of the country. The only people that benefit from the conferences are few individuals in the public and private sectors that organize the programmes.  

 For both Duke and Mohammed, their periods as ministers could best be described as wasted years for the industry. The jury is out on the tenure of Ade-John so far, however, they all have one thing in common: they have bidded to host UN Tourism CAF Conference.

 Duke hosted the 53rd UN Tourism CAF Meeting in Lakeside Tinapa in November 2012. It was the turn of Mohammed to host the 61st UN Tourism CAF Meeting in 2018. Now Ade-John has decided not to be left behind. She has accepted to host the 68th meeting in 2025.

One would have expected that seeing that  the last two past ministers had hosted the event, Mrs. Ade-John should have been more circumspect and  ask the right questions before joining the hosting band wagon.

The plan to host the 68th UN Tourism CAF Meeting in 2025 is poorly thought out and ill advised. Like the others in the past, it would have little or no benefits to Nigeria.

Africa Travel Herald (ATH) and few travel journalists in Nigeria had in the past dared to ask, and are still asking what is so special about the UN Tourism CAF Meetings that every minister in the last few years is in a frenzy to host? Before bidding to host, did our  minister deemed it neessary to feel the pulse of stakeholders on the hosting, most especially since she said she was still learning the ropes? Did she analyze what Nigeria stands to gain from such meeting apart from personal ego and pecuniary acquisition by some few? If she did, can she tell Nigerians what the benefits are?

It is even worrisome that with the current economic situation in Nigeria, some few individuals in government believe the only way they can improve the tourism fortune of Nigeria is to splurge the country’s scarce resources to entertain international guests on a programme that can be best described as a jamboree. ATH believes this is the height of lack of empathy for what the Nigerian citizens are facing, and a disservice to the country.  

IN 2012 when the plans to host the 53rd UN Tourism CAF Meeting was on, the minister, High Chief Edem Duke, in his trademark boisterous nature had enthused: “ The theme of this meeting which is “Responsible Tourism: Opportunities for Women and Youths,” is very timely and relevant, and it is of particular interest to us in the Ministry. This meeting therefore provides an opportunity to discuss our ideas in the area and rub minds with other stakeholders with view to evolving the best ways of further mainstreaming our women and youths into tourism business. To this end the ministry had started the implementation of the Nigerian Tourism Development Masterplan which is the roadmap for the development and sustenqance of the Nigerian tourism industry. We are working with the relevant professionals and stakeholders in the industry to implement the policies and programmes contained in the masterplan.”

It is very clear today that every word of the above quote turned out to false. Nigeria gained nothing from the hosting.

IN 2015, Duke was succeeded by Alhaji Lai Mohammed as  minister in charge of tourism.  It is on record that Mohammed  attended almost every UNWTO meetings in any part of the world, yet  he could make out time to attend only one private sector programme (NATOP AGM 2017 in Lagos) in 8 years.  He hosted UN Tourism CAF Meeting 2018. When travel journalists questioned him on the gains of such hosting, he replied: “It provides an excellent opportunity to discuss ways and means to promote intra-Africa travels and tourism, leveraging on our vast and unique resources and our number, for mutual benefit to all member states.  It is my expectation that this meeting will also serve as a platform towards establishing stronger linkages and functional collaboration among member states in order to realize the potentials with which the continent is endowed with.”

In his response, the UN Tourism Secretary General, Mr. Zurab said:   “ We are here to support Nigeria to be the most important and most attractive place to come to visit to enjoy the culture.”   He also said, “We have an ambitious plan. We want to promote Africa as one of the main and most important tourism destinations in the world.”  After the meeting, it did not in any way improve the tourism fortune of Nigeria.

However, despite this obvious lack of gains, Alhaji Lai Mohammed still dragged Nigeria into wasting tax payers’ money to host a UN Tourism event, the first of its kind in the world called First Global  Conference on Linking Tourism, Culture and Creative Economy. It was very obvious that the purpose the conference was everything but the growth of tourism in Nigeria. The Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) led by the current President, Mr. Nkereuwem Onung kicked against it, the travel press under the Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Travel and Tourism (ANJET) kicked against it, but Mohammed, buoyed by his enablers from the private sector, went ahead to ram the conference down the throat of Nigerians.

Reviewing the confab, Mohammed listed some of the gains, saying: “we were able to showcase a world class venue that can host regional and global events at any level, comparable to anywhere the world.” Today, it is obvious that it was a waste of public funds.

 So, why did the Nigerian Minister of Tourism Mrs. Lola Ade-John  who has suddenly jump on hosting UN Tourism CAF event bandwagon, in whose interest? If she were still in the private sector, how would she justify the financial outlay for the conference