On his part, Chief Wanle Akinboboye rocked the boat when he stated that the Nigerian police was not only the best in performance outside Nigeria during peace keeping efforts in Europe and America but they are indeed, the best in the whole wide world!
Unfortunately, we down play their relevance and refuseto give them the necessary moral, financial and logistic supports.
Those who doubt him should visit the dilapidated barracks, he challenged Nigerians.For him, the police needs human treatment, because the force is overworked but underpaid. That has got to change!
On the ever increasing significance of security in our cities he mentioned the attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, with the Pentagon strongly hit, leaving nearly 3,000 people dead andthe lives of 2.8 million people adversely affected.
But the citizens never gave up, such that in 2019, the same city attracted 66.6 million visitors before the COVID-19 pandemic! The success was traced to the will of the people who were determined that no terrorist group was going to take from them their precious lives and the enjoyment of amenities copiously available to them.
Lagosians, he stated need a similar determination here in the city of aquatic splendor, to change the narrative on both local and global tourism.
The worth of the state’s economy could be much higher through tourism, if well harnessed.
To do so, the private sector should be actively involved in line with the 2020 Review on tourism practice,
We, as a country need intelligence information gathering for the police to act on them and be proactive, as prevention is always cheaper than cure.
We need quick response time, to curb the activities of criminals as it plays out, especiallyin several other developed and safer cities across the globe.
Furthermore, he stated that: “We are busy networking but we are not really working on the way forward. We must earn favour. We must train our Tour Guards dressed in mufti”
Joining their voices with the consummate tourist, Alhaji Sheriff and Nneka of Goge Africa stated that security experts must be ready to learn, as tourism is inter-dependent. It as an industry likened to an umbrella covering several sectors, Sheriff explained.
Striking on one of the loopholes in the industry, Nneka revealed that training is one thing, but placement is another as those trained are not getting employed.
Also, service quality is poor because leaders in the sector are not ready to train the workers especially in hotels.Most hotel staffers feel they are doing you a favour.
To make the desired difference she motivates her staff on self- improvement. She enthused that the future is bright if there is focus on professionalism but they need both financial and logistic supports in terms of audio and visual equipment.
Her views were echoed by both the Special Adviser to the Vice President South-West, Charles as well as Mrs. Uchenna Azumba, of the Lagoon Institute of Hospitality.
Though Charles identified skills gap and called for Skills Council there remains a critical problem of the workers in the hospitality industry not willing to learn.
Yet, tourism is about movement, with tourists staying in their destinations for a while as they engage in different activities.
The human element is therefore, the most important, as hotels must have high quality management system. Reinforcing on a similar issue, Sheriff,who retired as a director in the Federal Service in 2005 noted the challenge of training is that is paper-based without industry experience or skills. “That gives us qualification without skills and skills without qualification” which is not good enough.
WALKING THE TALK
One of the highlights of the Roundtable on tourism was the decision made by Chief Akinboboye to speak with richly endowed Nigerians, so that the private sector could come in.
He stated that the donation of 10-60 CCT cameras, as well drones to the police will go a long way towards mitigating the scourge of insecurity, not only in Lagos but across the country.
He explained the security situation in developed countries:“We do not need policemen holding AK 47 rifles and coming in large numbers during wedding ceremonies or political rallies. We need to keep training and arming the tourism security guards who should be dressed in mufti”, he rightly observed.
That is most commendable because there have been several communiqués and beautiful suggestions coming out of similar sessions, seminars on different aspects of our national life but they have remained, mere wishful thinking!
FUNDING:
On the increasingly important issue of funding for the industry, Mr. Trevor Ward, Director/Head, Hospitality Group stated that funding is a necessity to develop infrastructure and enhance the local value chain.
He explained that the need for Tourism Development Fund, TDF is crucial but that we should learn from the mistakes made by some other African countries and what some of them havedone right.
For instance, it should involve the stakeholders, unlike in Ghana that came up with the Tourism Act but lacked a distribution plan and was not placed in the Legislative Act.
Read also: Why education, investments are cornerstones to transform tourism – UNWTO
The Ghana Tourism Authority, GTA has total control outside the involvement of the private sector. So, the stakeholders are kicking against it. But in Trinidad and Tobago, it was conceptualised from a holistic format.
Similarly, in Kenya a 2percent levy paid by tourism industry assists in its development. Also, in South Africa there is the Tourism Equity Fund, TEF butit is meant for only women to support their enterprises.
Simply stated, the more tax that comes to the tourism sector, the more impact it will make, but it should be effectively managed.
In retrospect, there were efforts to set up the TDF during the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration but there was no private sector involvementto implement it, as the ideas started to gather dust.
In their valid and informed contributions, both Ayo Omotoso of the Travelogue and Albert Opara, the Acquisition Officer, Transport Sector of Sterling Bank placed emphasis on localizing tourism by empowering the people at the grassroots.
In a similar vein, Dr. Temidayo and Charles Okomadu brought forth the significance of funding tourism through grants, the renovation of tourism sites, and empowering the people to travel.
While in overseas people save and budget for travelling to destination sites, there is hardly any of such plans here in Nigeria. But Sterling bank stands out as the main finance institution that has Spectre Savings and Loans Scheme specifically targeted at encouraging tourism by Nigerians. It is digital and could be assessed in 5 minutes, Opara explained.
The factor that has been killing businesses in Nigeria is the involvement of the third party. Certainly, the tourism sector requires the support of the banking sector.
GOING FORWARD
As agreed by the stakeholders, there should be proper planning, inclusiveness, application of industry models, and strong legal framework, as suggested by Trevor.
Now is the time to put square pegs in square holes, beginning of course, with the Local Government Tourism Committee, and the Lagos Tourism Investment Conference to be held on annual basis. But it should be kick-started with Creative Tourism Department to cook ideas and pass on to the government for implementation on Public Private Partnerships, PPP.
Going by the well thought out position of Mrs. Azumba, tourism should be treated as a business based on the TREE principles of Transformation of the policies, Raising volunteers, Enlightening the citizens and Enriching the people for Sustainable development.
For the tourism industry, the future is bright according to both Nneka and Trevor. It is indeed time for action and implementation of policies.
Big Kudos goes to the ITPN for breathing life into the long-sleeping tourism industry.
