The preparations for this year’s Adire Festival received a boost over the weekend when the State’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism hosted her partners and stakeholders in a meeting.

The festival, which will hold in the last quarter of the year in Dallas, Texas US, is a brainchild of the Ministry and Jimson Global Services, Saubana Multi-Global Ventures, Fritots Global Communications (Pty) Ltd and Creative Village Productions. With all parties represented by the arrowheads, details of the week-long event were discussed and strategies put in place concerning the modus operandi.

Ogun State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr. Toyin Taiwo emphasised the need to reintroduce the Gateway State – and what she stands for – to Nigerians in the diaspora and the world. He noted that investment opportunities, tourism potentials and prospects of bilateral relationship in Ogun state are underexplored. He added that the planned exposé on Adire (tie and dye), the locally cultivated Ofada rice and other artistic products, which the state is known for, will be the focal point of the festival. He reiterated the commitment of Governor Dapo Abiodun administration to arts, culture and tourism and the decision to work with a formidable team of partners with proven track record on this project of putting the state’s uncharted course on global display.

Other stakeholders at the meeting included Oluwabukola Aderonke Tokunbo-Peters (Director of Tourism Development and Promotion); Oluwaseye Abodunrin Adeyemo (Director of Culture); Olayemi Victoria Osilaja (Director of Administration and Supplies); Jimoh Sakiru Abiodun (Jimson Global Services); Saubana Bello Moruff (Saubana Multi Global Ventures); Omooba Adesoji Oluwasanya Talabi (Fritots Global Communications (PTY) Ltd) and Olanrewaju Olakanlu (Creative Village Productions).

 

By Evelyn Osagie

In the wake of COVID-19, the world is still faced with the fight to eradicate malaria.

“Malaria is one of the leading causes of death among children in Nigeria,” according to  USAID Mission Director Anne Patterson.

To scale-up proven, cost-effective, and life-saving malaria control interventions centred on insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) distribution, intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women, diagnostic testing, and treatment, the  United States Government through its President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) has provided 14.7 million treatment doses at the facility and community levels, 8.2 million of which were for pregnant women and children.

Despite the constraints of COVID-19, in 2020 PMI helped Nigeria with 14.7 million treatment doses at the facility and community levels, 8.2 million of which were for pregnant women and children, according to its Annual Report released to the U.S. Congress.

PMI works with Nigeria’s National Malaria Elimination Program to scale-up proven, cost-effective, and life-saving malaria control interventions centered around ITN distribution, intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women, diagnostic testing, and treatment.

Led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented together with the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PMI works with partner organisations to benefit more than 41 million people across Nigeria.

PMI distributed 7.1 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs), provided 7.2 million rapid test kits, and trained 9,300 health workers to properly diagnose and treat patients for early detection of the disease, it was said.

Patterson, who oversees PMI activities in collaboration with CDC leadership, said:

“We are pleased to see our partnership with Nigeria has had clear success and will continue this support with proven methods of prevention and treatment against malaria.

“Nevertheless, malaria remains an onerous burden among the poorest and the most vulnerable echelons of Nigerian society.  During pregnancy, the disease can pose a life-threatening risk to both mothers and babies; malaria also causes adults and children to miss work and school, contributing to economic hardship.”

PMI works with Nigeria’s National Malaria Elimination Program to scale-up proven, cost-effective, and life-saving malaria control interventions centered around ITN distribution, intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women, diagnostic testing, and treatment.

Simultaneously – and equally important – PMI helps to strengthen health systems and build the skills of health workers to deliver malaria services.  PMI also enhances the capacity of federal and state health officials to manage malaria control activities.

U.S. Global Malaria Coordinator Raj Panjabi said: “Science shows we can beat malaria and we can beat it in our lifetime. Yet, we need bold action to stop COVID-19 from holding us back. The United States is proud to partner Nigeria to continue the fight.”

 

Author Management Gems, Deji Ajayi is a management mentor with years of cognate experiences in human resources, administration, training and employee relations in private sector. In a book chat, he spoke on the uniqueness and challenges of his maiden book and what inspired the writing, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.

What is the thrust of the new  book?

With over 25 years experiences in management in private sector, I realised that I should give back to the society. I decided to come up with this small memento which will serve as a sort of impetus and motivator to those coming after us.

It is really about mentoring and personal effectiveness. It is also about building good relationships while at work, while growing your career so that people would be able to manage their career successfully.

We have topics on various areas such as time management, how to manage, how to relate with your colleagues, how to build good relationships with your colleagues and your bosses so that you can achieve your target despite the time limit that you are given. And if you are not able to finish a certain assignment you try to find people who you can delegate to and also achieve that target. So, it’s about working with people; it’s about getting things done through people. There is also a topic on creating wealth, where people at work complain about not being able to be successful with the little they earn. The idea is that while you’re working, you can still make money from outside using your spouse, relatives and managing small businesses. I also talked about choosing a leadership style, tips on being a role model, tips on coaching and mentoring.

 Who are your target audience?

They are the future leaders in a company; the youth who are the future leaders in an organisation, those who are going to be motivated who need mentoring and guidance, to be successful in their careers.

There are lots of books with such scope but what makes this unique?

It is very simple to read, and I gave practical day-to-day examples from my own experience. It is localised. There is a session there that talks about home front maneuvers. I also talked about time management.

As a young manager, what would you say was your greatest challenge?

The greatest challenge was when you put people into the job without proper training. For example, I was a sales manager and was trained. They trained us around the country. But the nitty-gritty of the job was not really exposed until I got to the field. So, I had to learn on the field. Those people on the field are already ahead of you so you have to start running fast to catch up with them. I was coming from administration. So the best time you have is about three months of training, coaching, going to class, and so on. But, the nitty-gritty is that by the time you get to the field you have to run fast and catch up with those on the field.

 Would you say your experience inspired the book?

Yes. It is one of the things that inspired me to write the book. You have to motivate people to take their time and take steps to achieve their goals, not just throwing them into the field.

You talked on time management, creating wealth, leadership style, enduring credentials and ‘we and them’ syndrome. Why are these important?

Enduring credentials deals on what people don’t know about the credentials they should possess when they are starting their careers. For instance, a candidate goes in as an engineer and he just stays with his BSc. Engineering, not minding professional qualifications from relevant professional bodies. You still need to develop yourself further professionally, like those of us in Human Resources (HR), we went to the Institute of Management and Institute of Personnel Management. We went to SPHR School, which is the Society of Professional HR in London, UK. You develop yourself better on the job. So, you are not only good at that job, you are also good for professional institutes outside. You can also go to other organisations don’t stay put in that environment.

The We versus Them syndrome, there are so many aspects there. While I was still in the industry, we had people who worked in head-office and those who are in outstations or factories. Those in the locations or factories often have the feelings that those in head-office are always passing orders because they plan and set processes and policies, while those in the location or factory are to execute. So, those in locations see those of us in the head-office as ‘them’. We also have examples of those who are living on the Mainland and those who are living on the Island. The bosses live on the Island while other managers live on the Mainland. At times they fix meetings at 8am. It is easy for those on the Island to get to the office by 8am, but those on the Mainland are the ones that have to struggle with traffic.

What have you done differently to make the book available?

I have people who are in those industries. The HR managers are all over the place. They are the ones we are contacting, and we are going to use professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management, to get across to those people to let them know that this book is out. Also, I lecture MBA students in University of Ibadan School of Business in Ibadan. So, I will go there to introduce the book to them.

After Management Gem what next?

There is going to be another book, maybe on talent management or sales or selling in Nigeria.

What were your challenges getting it published?

It was not so easy because I also work as a consultant who had to publish over five books. But the challenge there was that in most cases when we sent a manuscript to the publisher, he would have set some corrections. He will send them to some of his assistants to amend. By the time they send it back to me, we realise that some of those errors are still there. So it took time going back and forth, and I just realised that that’s part of the challenges of publishing. It is not about just rushing the bringing it out; it is about getting the best out. I also learnt something on the printing aspect. It is not just about printing; you also have to design the cover page separately.

Will there be a sequel to the book?

I have to write a sequel to this because people will be asking questions about what I have said and suggest areas that I needed to have added. You can never finish writing a book on management. For instance, I gave an example of choosing your leadership style; there are so many other leadership styles that you can choose from.

 

By Babatunde Olaide-Mesewaku

According to The Tourist Gaze anyone taking a moment to view different scenes, landscapes and townscapes or artworks, which are out of the ordinary, is a tourist. The tourist gaze, from a postmodern posture, conceptualises tourism as an engagement and experience rather than a specific form of travel. The implication of this is that everyone is a tourist much of the time whether he/she knows about it or not. Experiences such as annual ethnic or communal festivals celebrated to mark epochs or celebrate the culture and heritage of people which enable participants to explore what they do not enjoy on a regular basis without leaving their familiar neighborhood are a case in point. This view of tourism embraces the main elements of the traditional definition of tourism with variations in space and time one spends as a tourist in a particular destination. It therefore, caters for both international and domestic tourists, whether one engages in overnight stay or a few hour(s) of excursion.

Understanding domestic tourism

Tourism, first and foremost, is domestic. It is usually a product of the Eco-system. Domestic tourism is the tourism of residents within the economic territory of the country of reference. Many writers have referred to the term ‘residents’ in tourism literature with such commonly used terminologies as host, community, local communities, rural communities and hosting communities. In the context of domestic tourism, residents are providers of tourism goods and services at destinations and not consumers unto themselves.

Many writers have defined domestic tourism from various perspectives; while a school of thought defines domestic tourism as all trips over 40 kilometres outside one’s usual environment which can be day trips or overnight trips for any given travel purpose; another perceives  domestic tourism as the travel by residents of a country within the country, which can be same day or overnight within or outside the same state and territory but excluding travelling for work or school; and lastly another defines domestic tourism simply as tourism within one’s country of residents. Though these definitions inevitably appear diverse one particular element that transcends these definitions is the fact that domestic tourism is characterised basically by movement of tourists from one area of the traveler’s country to the other.

What is more, domestic tourism can be said to embody such approaches in tourism practices as Community Based Tourism (TBC), Ecotourism (ET), Pro-poor tourism (PPT) and Sustaining tourism-eliminating poverty (ST-EP). All approaches are geared towards possible reduction of poverty at the grassroots level with increased net benefits for the people. This objective is consistent with the United Nations Sustaining Development Goals. It is an outgrowth of the broadening scope of the idea of sustainable tourism which encompasses socio-cultural and economic, as well as environmental sustainability.

Why tourism in Lagos State

Lagos population, according to United Nations projection, would be 20 million in 2015 which would make it the third largest city in the world. This is 2021. Lagos is home to over 21,000 industrial establishments, 10,000 commercial ventures, and five industrial estates. The state accounts for 70percent  national maritime cargo freight; over 80percent of international aviation traffic and 50 per cent of domestic energy consumption; Lagos accounts for 80percent of the number of industries captured in 2019 was 318. Lagos, no doubt, offers enormous prospects for both inbound and outbound tourism because of direct flights from tourists’ generating regions of America, Eurasia, African markets as well as other component states of Nigeria to grow domestic and regional tourism. Its strong economy of being responsible for 30 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP with estimated GDP in 2020 hitting a record N32.150 Trillion and a sustainable infrastructural development make Lagos a strong catalyst for a flouring domestic tourism.

Conceptual model for Lagos domestic tourism

As a result of the interaction between tourists and the local people which is expressed in how tourism responds to particular assets in a destination, its accessibility to the local, its connectivity and its ability to linking consumers to producers characteristically makes domestic tourism malleable activities that are relevant particularly to reduction of poverty with potentials to providing a number of intangible and practical benefits to the local people.

As the word connotes, domestic tourism thrives more on harnessing of a destination’s tangible and intangible natural and cultural heritage in relation to how the community or the host live and explore their lives in relation to their economy, technology and sociology. Economy: be it fishing, farming, animal husbandry, farming, trading, palm-wine tapping which gives them source of livelihood etc; Technology: finds expression in various forms of local arts such as visual arts, painting, textile, carving, sculpting, pottery, ceramics, weaving and crafts, bead-making etc leading to empowerment and self-sufficiency, particularly for youths in rural communities and; Sociology as expressed in mode of dressing, food and cuisine, history, religion and festivals, social and cultural landscape, environmental ambiance, social institutions e.g. security, music, literature, and other intellectual expressions.

The harnessing of these local resources and assets into products of attraction for domestic visitor’s experience and consumption constitutes the factors that grow and stimulate domestic tourism. And when fully developed and projected they become attractions for the influx of international tourists. It goes without saying that the value of domestic tourism rests in the reality of the indigenous people’s ways of life and other stakeholders acknowledging the value of such in the preservation of tourism resources in the community.

Some of the basic characteristics of Domestic Tourism are that: It grows and develops  from the host community ecosystem or environment; attractions are not necessarily built, managed or existed for mass tourism destinations; it is dependent on natural capital (wildlife, sceneries and features) and culture which are assets to the host; it does not wholly rely on excesses that attract inbound international tourists like five star hotels, airports, quality highways among others; Domestic tourist is not out to consume highly standardised tourism products; domestic tourism is for small scale tourism that takes off with minimal investment; domestic tourists do not need to have lots of money to enjoy social life but the will to travel outside of their normal environment for leisure of participating in festival, picnics at the beaches or adventure to sites and sceneries

Key stakeholders in domestic tourism implementation

A stakeholder has been defined as ‘‘any individual, community, group or organisation with an interest in the outcome of activities, either as a result of being affected by it or by being able to influence it’’. Involvement of stakeholders in the domestic tourism approach will not be enough without being made to feel engaged and enabled to work together as a team.

The public sector, including supra-governmental bodies such as the UNESCO, the Federal and the State Governments and the local government and other quasi-governmental organisations: this sector becomes relevant in terms of appropriate legislation, policy formulation and regulation in the area access to funding and fiscal incentives; training and capacity building; land use planning and access to land; environmental and impact assessment; provision of infrastructure e.g. network of good roads, visitor attractions like museums, historical buildings, communication infrastructure etc. The tourism industry: this includes players in the hospitality industry, Entertainment and Arts, tourist attractions sites and other tourist services providers, the national/local tour operators, owners of shopping malls, restaurants and café, canteens, transportation associations etc. The private sector, who must act as partner, enabler, customer, marketing channel and financial analyst: this includes the banking sector, other financial institutions and local media outfits. The integration of the host community people as producers, suppliers, workers, participants and above all decision-makers

Strategic approach to implementing domestic tourism

To put in place basic structure for the development of domestic tourism and its growth, as pointed out above, two basic steps become imperative. The local governments must be adequately integrated. The local governments provide the basic structure for the growth and flourishing of domestic tourism in the state hence the creation or establishment of tourism departments at the local government level. The creation of tourism committee at each local government in the state is sine-qual-none. This is one technical aspect where a legislation/policy for the creation of tourism committee in each local government in the state becomes catalytic.

The committee and the department shall work in synergy in their respective local government to collect and collate data on both tangible and intangible cultural and natural heritage at their respective local government, coordinating the activities of local tour guides, operators and relevant NGOs in the local government areas; coordination, liaison, raising public awareness and undertaking activities like arts and cultural exhibition; provision of information to visitors via creation of Tourism Information Offices in the Local Government. Act as community based liaison for the implementation and execution of State tourism programmes at the grassroots level. Promote and encourage tourism initiatives at the local level by encouraging local government to build, own and manage visitors’ attractions like museums, galleries, cultural activities etc.

Promote tourism marketing via promotional campaigns, sponsoring and facilitating cultural and entertainment events. Capacity building, training and empowerment through skill acquisition in indigenous technology including training of tour guides operators and interpreters. Act as liaison office and network nexus for both the Hotel Licensing and Film Licensing Board respectively or any other agency operating under the tourism Ministry to collect and collate data to aid the agencies in carrying out their responsibilities in the State. Product development in various aspects of the State’s tourism resources even food that are discernible in each local government.

The unique tourist experience that is being consumed in a destination are usually delivered by the combined activities of travel agents, tour operators, transport providers, hotels, restaurants, attraction site managers, activity operators, handicraft sellers, general retailers and operators of many other ancillary services. This is why tourism has become probably the world largest employer of labour employing 1/11 jobs generated globally. The conscientious pursuit of domestic tourism in Lagos State will change the narrative of tourism and impact significantly the quality of life of the local people socially and economically. However, the challenges this model will normally face speak to  coping with the ravaging COVID ’19, technology, security, good road network to destinations, the nation’s economy, environment, politics, infrastructure etc.