By Frank Meke

Barely a week after Nigeria’s underperforming Minister of Tourism, Ms. Hannatu Musa Musawa, hastily set up a Local Organising Committee for AFRIMA, she has waded into yet another controversy—one that clearly suggests she’s punching above her weight and scrambling for performance metrics.

The AFRIMA hosting, recently secured by Lagos State, is now being cleverly repositioned by the Minister and her handlers as a Federal Government achievement. This desperate attempt at relevance once again exposes her self-centred approach to leadership, a pattern of optics over substance, all in an effort to mask her glaring underperformance in the culture and tourism sectors.

If not for timely interventions from some quarters, the AFRIMA incident could have embarrassed the Federal Government. Hannatu Musawa, in her quest for validation, continues to cross professional boundaries without delivering any verifiable results since assuming office nearly two years ago.

Her latest misstep further reveals her disdain for the Nigerian tourism media. Just recently, Nigerian tourism journalist and Executive Secretary of the Africa Tourism Commission, Mr. George Lucky, published a critical but valid piece questioning the silence of the newly elected Secretary-General of the UN Tourism, Sheikha Al Nowais of the United Arab Emirates, over the UAE’s discriminatory visa regime targeted at Nigerians.

George Lucky’s article raised an important point—how can the new UN Tourism boss remain silent while her home country imposes such hostile travel restrictions on African nations, particularly Nigeria, which strongly supported her candidacy? That silence, as Lucky pointed out, raises doubts about her capacity to lead with fairness and equity.

According to Lucky, shortly after the publication, he was contacted by one of the Minister’s numerous aides—an individual named Abiola Abdulkareem—who pressured him to take the article down. The aide reportedly became aggressive, even threatening that the Minister would issue a public disclaimer. Lucky, a respected journalist and not an employee of the Ministry, was both surprised and concerned by the bullying tone.

This raises a troubling question: Why is Minister Hannatu Musawa so protective of the UAE, especially given their recent history of contemptuous treatment of Nigerian travellers? For over two decades, Nigerians have significantly contributed to UAE’s tourism economy—particularly Dubai’s. Emirates Airline, a favourite among Nigerian travellers, was the first to pull out during the trapped funds crisis and only resumed operations after Nigeria caved to their demand for ticket sales in dollars.

If anything, George Lucky was well within his rights as a Nigerian citizen and journalist to question the usefulness of our diplomatic relationship with any country that undermines us. Two months ago, I was part of the delegation of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) to Istanbul, Turkey, at the invitation of Turkish Airlines. At the meeting, NANTA President, Mr. Yinka Folami, raised the issue of Turkey’s own strict visa policy against Nigerians.

Unlike the UAE, the Turkish authorities responded swiftly. Barely two weeks later, the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria publicly announced plans to lift the visa restrictions. That is diplomacy, that is responsiveness, and that is respect.

The Turkish Travel Association even requested a guided tour of Nigeria to better understand and promote our destination. Following up, NANTA executives met with Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Hon. Tunji Ojo, to address the concerns raised by Turkish stakeholders regarding Nigeria’s own restrictive visa system.

In all these impactful engagements, Hannatu Musawa was conspicuously absent. Her approach to governance is detached, transactional, and optics-driven. She prefers solo trips—often without representatives of the organised private sector or the tourism press—engaging in photo ops and signing vague Memoranda of Understanding that yield no tangible benefits.

Issuing a public disclaimer against a Nigerian journalist for defending the dignity of our nation is not only disgraceful—it is unpatriotic. Hannatu Musawa has once again shown that she has little to offer as Minister of Tourism. Her obsession with appearances and self-promotion overshadows any real effort to tackle the pressing challenges of Nigeria’s cultural and tourism sectors.

I stand firmly with George Lucky and every Nigerian who believes we should no longer accept the disrespect of foreign governments. We must stop begging for validation and instead build partnerships with countries that see value in us.

Minister Hannatu Musa Musawa should tell Nigerians exactly how the UAE has benefited us. The UAE continues to exploit our patronage while devaluing our citizens. Enough is enough.

It’s time for the Federal Government to assign Ms. Musawa a more fitting role—because her repeated missteps and ill-advised interferences in the tourism space are doing more harm than good.

Her latest misadventure is not just irritating—it is insulting.

By Frank Meke