The Senator representing Imo West senatorial district, Rochas Okorocha said on Thursday that he is short of expertise to chair Senate Committee on Tourism.
The Former Imo state governor stated this during an interactive session with Permanent Secretary, directors and other officials of the Ministry of Tourism in Abuja.
Instead, Okorocha stated that it would have been more convenient for him to head the Senate committee on education to oversight the Ministry of Education.
Although he said, without any option, he will offer his best to revamp the tourism sector of the country which is not very viable.
To achieve the task, he appealed for cooperation from officials of the tourism Ministry, saying if concentrated, the sector has the potential to compete favorably with crude oil earnings in raising revenue for the country.
“This is not my area of expertise, I would have loved to be chairman Senate Committee on Education but I will do my best. Working together, we shall give Nigeria the best that will meet Nigerians aspirations.
“Outside agriculture, the best employer of labour is tourism. But its contribution to our Gross Domestic Product is infinitesimal and it is unacceptable.
“Today, destiny has brought on my shoulder and my colleagues to steer the ship. Our mission is to revive it. The good news there is that all of us must strive to make a mark.
“We shall work together as members of one family. We aren’t here to police you but to get the job done,” Okorocha stated.
According to him, he has since assumed the position and opened discussion with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory for an expansive land to promote leisure.
In his remarks, the Director General of National Centre for Arts and Culture, Segun Runsewe noted that tourism sector is neglected by successive administrations.
He insisted that if harnessed, tourism is capable of turning the economic fortunes of the country.
While calling on Senate to show more than passing concern in the indiscriminate issuance of Nigerian international passport, the DG however posited that “some of the people being apprehended in foreign nation for heinous activities were not Nigerians.”
Solomon Ayado, Abuja
