Tag: Mrs Sally Mbanefo

The bright light from the adjoining Egypt’s and Tanzania’s stands lit up the twin cylinder-shaped designs hanging over other structures. Each corner was equipped with white chairs, tables and relevant literature on Nigeria for discussants. It was an ideal setting for the business of the day.

By 4pm, all of that have started giving way to arts and culture, especially when two groups, Osun Foundation Troupe and a nine-man band, Wale Salter, mounted the stage at strategic corner of the stand.

First, it was Osun Troupe backed by Eyo masqueraders. When Salter took his turn, the performances reached a crescendo and Ghana’s Minister of Tourism, Culture and Creativity Elizabeth Ofosu Adjare took to the dance floor with the Director-General of Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, Mrs. Sally Mbanefo.

Welcome to AF560, South Hall (Nigeria’s stand), Excel Centre, London, last Wednesday during Nigeria’s Day at this year’s World Travel Market. For the next two hours, there was a ceaseless influx of tourists of diverse race and colour to the stand, despite that African countries, such as Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal and Egypt, also held theirs same day.

With over 100 exhibiting nations and 82,213 visitors in attendance, Nigeria stood tall, using the country’s music, dance, food and indigenous fabrics, not only to draw global attention to its tourism potential, but also to buttress the fact that arts and culture remain the major drivers of Nigerian tourism.

Mbanefo listed reasons tourists should visit Nigeria as a destination of choice. She spoke on the warm weather, friendly and hospitable people, amazing natural and historical sites, booming entertainment industry as well as cultural festivals, to the delight of listeners. A Colombian tourist who was among visitors to the stand believed that Nigerian culture remains one of the best in the world.

“I love the musical rhythm. You people have amazing culture. Your food, your dance, your dresses are wonderful. I am a Colombian but I love Nigeria,”he said.

For Mbanefo, the day was a fulfilling one for Nigeria. “It has been quite interesting. The inflow of visitors to Nigeria’s stand is encouraging and it is an indication that there is still hope for Nigeria. People have besieged the Nigerian stand since the beginning of the fair to get information about the country’s business climate. They have also asked about Ebola and how we conquered the virus. They want to know how secured the country is now and we are restoring their confidence about Nigeria.

“Not just Nigerians alone that have been coming here, other nationals have been coming too and are also very interested in the things we have to offer in the tourism industry. We have availed ourselves the opportunity of influx of people to our pavilion to showcase our tourism assets, to tell the world that our people are our most cherished assets- warm, friendly and hospitable people.

Our tourism sites, entertainment industry and festivals all join to make Nigeria as a destination of choice.

“This year’s outing is another wake-up call for Nigerians both at home and in the Diaspora as well as potential investors in tourism. It was an opportunity to showcase all the tourism assets that Nigeria has and the reason tourists should make Nigeria their destination choice. We would want those who do business in Nigeria to also enjoy leisure and we would also be excited to receive you all in Nigeria”, she said.

Publisher of Come To Nigeria Magazine and an artist, Mr Oladimeji Adisa whose company was among the cultural troupes that performed for Nigeria, was honoured by NTDC for his contribution towards the promotion of Nigerian culture and tourism abroad. Based in Liverpool, Adisa has been promoting Nigeria, using indigenous music and dance. Also, Come To Nigeria Magazine’s focus is to further showcase the culture and tourism potentials of the country.

Representative of Ogun State at the fair was the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mrs Yewande Amusan who marketed the state’s festivals, cultural and historical sites. She also led a team of textile artists to demonstrate the production process of the local fabric, Tie and Die (Adire). Amusan praised NTDC for the insight and opportunity given to Ogun to showcase its culture to the world.

“I commend NTDC for giving us the opportunity to attend this kind of event. What we are doing is keying into the vision of what the Federal Government is doing and I can say on behalf of my governor that the state is also committed to tourism development. We have so many products and destinations but this year, we have chosen to concentrate on the Adire industry. We have come with adire makers who will demonstrate what it takes to produce the fabric.

“Of course, we have a traditional way of making it but we are complimenting it with commercial method. We are trying to make people know the different uses of adire but it begins with appreciating the fabric. With that, we can get the younger generation interested in making a living out of it. It is the first time NTDC is partnering with our state in this regard and it is very rewarding. Guests to Nigeria’s stand, Blacks and Whites, were lavishly entertained with indigenous cuisines,” she noted.

There were lots of arts and crafts on display throughout the four- days fair, which also had about 20 private sectors exhibitors such as Arik Air, Keystone Bank, Eko Hotel and Suites, West Africa Tourism, EFTAN, Treavan Limited Travels and Tours, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Ogun State Ministry of Culture and Tourism, among others.

•Mbanefo describes staff as core stakeholders

The Director-General of Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, Mrs Sally Mbanefo has reiterated the corporation’s commitment to the promotion of domestic tourism in the country as it will flag off the Tour Abuja City project next month. This is in pursuance of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) and ABC Transport on promotion of domestic tourism in Nigeria.

She spoke at the two-day NTDC staff retreat held at the Village Hall of the corporation in Abuja, recently.

The project, according to Mrs Mbanefo, is to market tourist sites in Abuja, thereby encouraging residents in the city to visit tourist sites therein.

Mbanefo disclosed that ABC Transport has assigned two sight-seeing busses to the project to take Abuja residents from one tourist destination to the other, adding that, “the busses will pick people from nine designated bus stops to 24 tourist sites/landmarks in Abuja city.”

Meanwhile, Mrs Mbanefo described staff of the corporation as core stakeholders in the Nigeria’s tourism industry, noting that neglect of the staff was why the nation’s tourism master plan never worked.

“Why all the tourism master plans we have been having in the country did not work is that they abandoned the staff, and pay no or less attention to the welfare of the staff, that are going to drive the project, direct the strategic imperative of the organisation,” she decried.

“I appreciate the fact that staff of the NTDC, the implementers of the corporation’s strategic imperatives, are the core stakeholders in the industry, hence, they must be well equipped and practically made ambassadors of the Nigeria’s tourism industry to drive development in the industry. We must feed the goose that lays the golden egg.

“As a result, capacity building and staff welfare are  priorities on my agenda in repositioning the Nigeria’s tourism industry and promoting domestic tourism in the country. And this, I will execute to the letter.

“Following our Memorandum of Understanding with The Gambia Tourism Board, 20 NTDC staff will be going for an exchange programme in Gambia on customer care, public relations, health and safety, administration, management, and project management. Meanwhile, the Gambia Tourism Board are inviting tourism specialists from Netherland to imbibe our staff with tourism best practices,” Mbanefo said.

The retreat, Mbanefo said, was organised to equip the staff of the corporation on how to generate revenue, as well strengthen their capacity for enhanced service delivery to tourism stakeholders.

On her activities in the first year in office, Mbanefo said: “We want all Nigerians to recognise the importance of tourism; that is why we used the first year of our administration to create awareness and agree on implementable policy framework that would make it possible for the country to harness the potentials that abound in the tourism sector.

“Staff will be locally trained on how to involve the staff in revenue generation, and to have understanding of what role they have to play because they are my most important stakeholders in this tourism value chain.”

While reviewing her 2014 revenue generation plan during the retreat, Mbanefo stated that one of her plans was to make the corporation independent of government handouts.

“One of the reasons behind revenue generation is for NTDC to become independent of government handout. We believe that in all the country that have tourism best practices, tourism is what the nations survive on; but that is not the case with Nigeria.

“But with NTDC’s strive on tourism and the support of all the partners we have signed MOU with, we are going to generate revenue not just for NTDC alone but for the whole country, then, there would be a future, then, the desperation on oil will be reduced, there will be jobs.”

On assumption of office in May last year, she was unambiguous of her mission and vision for the nation’s tourism industry. Today, despite paucity of funds, the Director-General of Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mrs Sally Mbanefo has worked her talks in focusing on domestic tourism as cornerstone for building a sustainable tourism industry that will attract foreign tourists and investors, reports Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME.

Director-General Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mrs Sally Mbanefo has identified paucity of funds as a major challenge being faced by the corporation in its execution of tourism projects. She said such hindrances are affecting the total rebuilding process and refocusing of the corporation to meets its set targets of becoming a significant revenue generation source for the country.

Mrs Mbanefo blamed this development on the inability of most Nigerians to see tourism as a revenue generator and as an alternative to oil as well as sustainable tourism assets that can earn money for the country. “I don’t believe I was given this job to keep going to Federal Government asking for money to run our projects. I think the government put me here in order to create our own money because we are capable of doing so. That’s why we are calling on the private sector to come in. So, funding of projects is really the main challenge.

“Nigerians have not started looking at tourism as a revenue generator, as an alternative to oil, as sustainable tourism industry, sustainable tourism assets which can earn money for the country. We also need a paradigm shift in culture change about how people think about tourism and also about foreigners coming into the country to visit the various beautiful sites such as the Mambila Plateau, Osun-Osogbo festivals,” she said.

Reacting to the country’s tourist’s receipt that is on the low side, she said private sector needs to champion tourism because it is a private sector activity which must be driven by the sector. According to her, people believe Abuja is a boring conference centre that should be changed to a tourism spot of the world, as a green city and an eco-tourist state where waste will be converted into bio-fuel.

“So, it is not just about the beauty but also the revenue we create. The firm that has agreed to partner us in this project will pay for it from the beginning to the end, and they will get their money back through the income we generate. We are also partnering with Federal Government. It is going to be green city which includes tourist Nigeria, heritage Nigeria, anything that reminds people of Nigeria. We just want Abuja to have a fantastic tourism city, everything will be driven by nature, green solar energy, green combustion, and it will be green everywhere. We will be changing waste into wealth and creating a city that is green and nature-driven,” she added.

Mrs Mbanefo who put the estimated cost of the project at $150m, disclosed that the corporation that has volunteered to do the work is doing it through prefab and that it would take a one year to complete. She explained that the biggest part of the work is mapping the land before the commencement of the project. .

On sourcing of funds for the Abuja project, Mrs Mbanefo said that a foreign company has undertaken to invest in it and will get their money back through proceeds made from the sales of hotels, houses and shops. “Money will come out of those investments and from there, we will decide what goes to them, what goes to the Federal Government, what goes to FCT and what goes to NTDC,” she said.

She observed that there is a seeming competition amongst state governors on people-friendly projects especially those that affect children, women and tourists. She cited the Ondo State governor Dr Segun Mimiko as a good example other governors must emulate.

“All I can say, so far, is that Ondo State has been so exemplary in education, in infant mortality and medical tourism. I think the state is leading.

“In Akwa Ibom, we can talk about their e-Library, Calabar has beautiful museums, and it also has the Tinapa and the carnivals. Why foreigners appreciate Nigeria a lot is because we have carnivals and festivals, some countries do not have them, so they are fascinated by it. Nigeria has unique festivals and carnivals, there are cultural things that are only found in Nigeria, and our country has so much to sell,” she said, noting that

NTDC has plans to have a stand at all the airports in the country where visitors can get information about tourist’s sites in the country.

To further facilitate domestic tourism, Mrs Mbanefo said NTDC is collaborating with ABC Transport with the aim of providing transportation to tourists at subsidised rate so that Nigerians can travel more within the country. Continuing she said: “I want to emphasise that enjoyment of Nigeria’s assets is not for the elite alone. In fact, it’s more for people at the grassroots level and those that can’t afford to go abroad. We want Nigerians to be so patriotic that they are happy to enjoy Nigeria. Let us make the most of what we have and not cry about what we don’t have. ABC has already brought in two buses, like the London double decker buses and we are going to start touring Abuja to show the world that Abuja has something to show.”