Author: Salisu Sani-Idris

By Taiye Olayemi

The Creative Designers Guild of Nigeria (CDGN) on Saturday decried the nonchalant attitude of its members toward the health insurance scheme package provided for them.
Its National President, Mrs Joy Osawaru-Akinyemi, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
NAN reports that CDGN comprises of production designers, makeup artists, costume designers and property managers.
According to Osawaru-Akinyemi, the guild members are not indicating interest in the scheme in spite being an affordable package.
She, however, advised them to prioritise taking absolute care of their health and not subject to begging for financial assistance from the public when their health deteriorate.
“Right from the administration of my predecessors, majority of our members have never taken the health insurance seriously. We want the narrative to change this time.
“We have partnered with the Association of Movie Practitioners (AMP) and some other guilds to enrol our members in health insurance scheme under Reliance Insurance but we can only have few members enrol.
“The package has made provision for families of four, five and six. I want them to realise that health is wealth, we should all pay keen attention to our health.
“I will also advise members to always engage in annual overall medical check-up, this is what I do with my family, this will make us realise if there are issues with our health before it degenerates,” she said.
Osawaru-Akinyemi, who had just marked her one year anniversary in office, said the leadership of the guild had laid the foundation for a smooth and effective administrative structure within the year.
She said a couple of training had been done, which were geared toward building capacity for members.
She noted that her team had clear focus on corporate visibility.
”I remain excited that the guild members have been able to earn their respect as the creative power of Nollywood.
“I must say the past year has not been easy, but I have been doing my best, knowing that followership is partnering with a visionary leader to achieve common goals.
“Many thanks to the commitment of my team, the excos and members of CDGN as a whole,” she said.
Osawaru-Akinyemi, who is also the Vice Chairperson of Federation of Nollywood Head of Guilds and Associations, said that the head of guilds were working hard to ensure professionalism and create an enabling environment for collaboration among creatives.
“Given the kind of leaders we have now, we are all working in synergy in the interest of the industry and that for me is the icing on the cake.
“I am glad that members have begun to realise who they are and have a better understanding of their profession.
“They are very conscious of quality service delivery, the reason is that when I came on board, we engaged in several self-awareness campaigns,” she said.
Reacting to the sad incident where a makeup artist drowned and lost her life in River Niger at Onitsha, Osawaru-Akinyemi said the guild had scaled up the safety consciousness of professionals.
She said the rules of engagement for scenes on water had also been spelt out, and would be strictly adhered to.
“Stakeholders are together on the sustainability of safety culture for our industry. Reorientation of members and basic rescue training are all on the way.
“Now, we must know where filming is ongoing so our task force can be on ground to ensure conformity to rules of engagement and on hand for rescue in case things go wrong,” she said. (NAN) (nannews.ng)

By Taiye Olayemi

Nigeria, popularly known as the giant of Africa is endowed with immense tourism attractions capable of attracting international tourists and investors.

The black nation, covering an area of about 923,769 square kilometres, with a population of over 230 million, is the most populous country in Africa and the world’s
sixth-most populous country.

Nigeria, with its numerous beautiful landscape, waterfalls, caves, hills, creeks, rock formations, greenery vegetation, beaches, culture, arts and crafts, could yield huge economic benefits when these tourism potential are adequately explored and exploited.

British-trained Nigerian documentary photographer, Dayo Adedayo expresses great love for his father’s land, investing his resources on documenting Nigerian tourism sites.

Adedayo, also a Cultural Anthropologist and Author describes Nigeria as the most beautiful country in the world but most difficult to photograph due to the series of bottlenecks he encountered while documenting Nigerian tourism potential through photography.

Speaking extensively on the ennormous tourism potential in the country, Adedayo says Nigeria has no business being poor neither any of its citizens.

He says haven gone round the 36 states of Nigeria, the 774 local government areas in the last 21 years, there are lots of tales of hidden treasures to unravel to Nigerians who remain unconscious of the immense potential they live with.

He explains that Ogun State should be considered the religious hub of the nation where religious tourism could be developed for wealth creation.

Expatiating on this, Adedayo explains that churches and Islamic gatherings that accomodate the largest members are all located in Ogun state.

He says government needs to look in this direction of developing religious tourism in Nigeria which can be a money spinner for the nation.

“Ogun state should be the “Jerusalem” and “Mecca” of Nigeria. All the largest churches in Nigeria are domiciled in Ogun, the Redeemed Christian Church of God that attracts at least one million visitors in a month is there.

“The largest Islamic gathering is also in Ogun state, the Living Faith church with their large congregation; the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) which used to be the largest church in the world is also in Ogun.

“The founder of this church was also buried in Imeko, Ogun ; the biblical Queen Sheba was also buried in Oke-Eiri, Ijebu-Ode in same Ogun state.

“These are iconic structures and beautiful potential to develop religious tourism in Nigeria. Saudi Arabia is generating a minimum of $20billion from religious tourism annually.

“Jerusalem and Israel are also making a lot of money from religious tourism, Nigeria needs to look in this direction,” he says.

Speaking on the traditional religion, known as “Ifa”, Adedayo says Ifa is the fastest growing religion in Mexico and Cuba which could be related to developing one of Nigeria’s United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) world heritage sites- Osun Oshogbo groove.

The professional photographer still speaking on the beauty of the nation, Nigeria, says every zone of the nation can boast of unique tourism assets.

He says the South East region should be proud of the numerous breath-taking and beautiful caves like Ogba-Ukwu, Awhum, Arochukwu and Amanchor caves.

“The South-South will be proud of the Niger-Delta lovely creeks. The North-Central ordinarily should have been the richest zone in Nigeria due to the huge tourism potential domicile there.

“We have the Katampe hills, Zuma rock, and Farin Ruwa- the most spectacular waterfall in Nigeria, located in Nasarawa state.

“In the North East we have the Kurara hills, Sukur heritage site and more. And in the North-West, we have the Sokoto Museum, the best in terms of content.

“Lagos is also massive for tourism, it is the Athens of Africa with numerous historical heritage sites, the Lagos Island is full of historical colonial heritage sites that can be tapped.

“The largest monument ever built- Sungbo-Eredo heritage site in Epe is also a beautiful one, we have several beaches and clubs in Lagos,” he says.

Speaking on his challenges, Adedayo says he had been arrested several times while trying to take photographs of iconic toursm sites within the country.

He says at another occasion, his expensive camera got damaged as particles of sand got into the lense.

He says Nigerians have to change their perception of the tourism industry as the industry should be seen as a huge economic booster that can be embraced by any individual.

He explains that marketing Nigeria at this point of her development should be encouraged, government should encourage photographs in tourism sites.

“Photographing Nigeria has been a life project for me, I started documenting Nigeria in 2003, that was my first time in Abuja and I was blown away with what I saw, how beautiful Abuja was, sparsely populated and the greens.

“Going on top of the hills, seeing the greenery vegetation, the black tard roads and the white demarcation marks, so beautiful, that was what developed my interest in photographing Nigeria.

“I also observed that countries like Kenya South Africa and Ghana have books about their nation but I haven’t got a book on Nigeria, that was what made me develop interest in documenting Nigeria.

“And 21 years after, I have over 4 million Nigerian images on my archives, travelling by road to states. Nigeria is indeed a beautiful country with beautiful landscapes,” he says

According to Adedayo, the most captivating of these tourism sites in Nigeria is the Mambilla Plateau, located in Taraba state, which measures 122 kilometres from its bottom to the top.

He said right on the plateau, he could sight the cloud coming toward him, describing the experience as heavenly.

“Right there at the Mambilla Plateau, I said to myself, “We are not selling Nigeria, we need to market this beautiful nation”.

“In Asia, China is the largest and their economy is booming, Germany is the largest in Europe with a booming economy so what happens to Nigeria, the largest in Africa.

“We must tap our tourism potential and other non-tangible assets we have to occupy our treasued position.

“So at 60, am trying to lay a legacy to establish an experience centre that would be named, Dayo Adedayo Photography (DAP) Experience Centre where over 10 million images of this beautiful Nigeria will be domiciled for generations yet unborn to see our civilisation.

“There will be a museum and a boat room in the experience centre where people can have same experience I had when I was in the Niger-Delta creek virtually. It is a beautiful country and we need to sell ourselves,” he says.

According to Adedayo, the experience centre located in Lekki, Lagos is currently under construction and would be completed and ready for use before the third quarter of 2025.

He says the building of the experience centre is designed to last over 200 years, to survive the worst kind of earthquake and also designed to be anti-rust because of its location.

“I plan to have at least six of this experience centre, one in each geo-political zone. This is meant to inspire the younger ones so that they can aspire to achieve more than me.

“There at the experience centre, we will have the digital floor where documentary of Nigeria will be constantly viewed, there would be children arena to learn, also the history and evolution of photography and videography will be showcased,” he says.

Adedayo advises Nigerians to project the positive image of the nation more, change their wrong perception about Nigeria and begin to think positive of the nation.

He says their negative thoughts about Nigeria would affect their progress on the land while every positive thoughts would definitely go a long way in making them realise their goals. (NAN).

By Taiye Olayemi

The Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) on Tuesday expressed readiness to ensure orderliness in the Nigerian tourism industry.
Alhaji Aliyu Badaki, first Deputy President of FTAN, revealed this during a virtual media briefing on the association’s forthcoming 27th Annual General Meeting (AGM), slated for July 30, in Abuja.
Badaki, also the chairman, planning committee for the AGM, said the programme had been designed to sensitise tourism practitioners and government on their roles in upscaling the industry and ensuring orderliness.
He said there was need for prompt intervention in creating order in the tourism industry.
According to him, this is occasioned by current happenings in the industry where practitioners operate without taking into cognisance the role of FTAN as the umbrella body for all tourism associations and organisations in the country.
“This AGM is an avenue for us to discuss germane issues that bother on current happenings in the industry between government and the private practitioners.
“It is also a platform to interact and understand ourselves more. We will be educated on the roles of government and the private sector in advancing the tourism industry.
“The AGM will be non-elective, with the theme, “The Role of Private Sector in the Development of Tourism in Nigeria”.
“Botswana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Philda Kereng, will be the lead speaker, we will be benefiting from her wealth of experience.
“We will also have the Minister of Tourism, Mrs Lola Ade-John, and the Minister of Culture, Arts and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, as well as director generals for Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigeria Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) and the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC).” (NAN) (nannews.ng)

Edited by Folasade Adeniran

By Taiye Olayemi

The Association of Nigerian Journalists and Writers of Tourism (ANJET) has jettisoned a training session organised for travel journalists by the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) in Lagos.

This was due to NIHOTOUR’s action of replacing credible and verified industry media practitioners in the country with bloggers and part timers, masquerading as journalists, while shunning the association’s members.

The Umbrella body of private sector tourism media practitioners in the country, the (ANJET) has officially reported NIHOTOUR to the Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John.

This is contained in a statement issued and made public by the media practitioners’ association, in Lagos on Friday.

The statement confirmed a letter dated June 22, 2024 and signed by the ANJET President, Mr Victor Nze, in which the association berated NIHOTOUR, an agency in the Federal Ministry of Tourism, over its action of replacing credible and verified industry media practitioners in the country with what it described as ‘bloggers and part timers masquerading as journalists,’ while shunning the association’s members.

ANJET in the letter said it was compelled to draw the minister’s attention and clear the air on misrepresentations being circulated in the media over the purported training programme for journalists which had claimed that its members formed part of the participants at the event held in the Shangisha area of Lagos, from June 10 – 14, this year as organised by NIHOTOUR.

“We further categorically state that NIHOTOUR never offered ANJET any official invitation to attend the training, regardless of our position as the mouthpiece of the travel and tourism industry private sector operators in the country,” the association said.

The group noted that while it cannot dictate for NIHOTOUR the company it chooses to keep in driving and achieving its statutory mandate guiding its establishment in 1987, ‘we take exception to being lumped together with faceless, unverifiable and unidentified tourism journalists as beneficiaries of a questionable training programme organized by the agency.’

ANJET, therefore, drew the minister’s attention to the origin of the training programme which it maintains was initiated by its members and embraced by NIHOTOUR’s pioneer Director General, M.K Bashir in the 1980s as a way to boost capacity of the industry’s journalists, even as it berated the decision by the present NIHOTOUR management to debase and demean the programme’s credibility through questionable actions like what played out at the recently-concluded event.

“Over the years, successive DGs have maintained that tradition though expanding its scope of participants to even embrace media officers of some para-military organisations like the Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Immigration Service and the Nigeria Customs Service, and recently the media departments of all agencies in the old Federal Ministry of Information, Culture and National Orientation.

“However, never in the history of the training programme has it been demeaned to the level of gathering impersonators and parading them as travel and tourism journalists as it happened during the last NIHOTOUR training programme in Lagos.

“Incidentally, even last year’s edition of the same programme organised by NIHOTOUR in Abuja was not without controversies.

“The management of the agency has continued to deal directly with third party interests, rather than relate with the ANJET leadership in all its engagement,” the group said.

According to ANJET, there is now palpable worry that ‘this trend embraced by NIHOTOUR of assembling persons without credibility and reputation to create the impression of training industry journalists, may be a conduit pipe for retiring already budgeted government funds.

’Continuing, the association said it stands to be ‘corrected that the questionable persons who were paraded and presented with certificates at the training by NIHOTOUR are not credible industry journalists, but bloggers and part timers. And we refuse to be associated with this sham of an event.

’The statement informed the minister that ANJET remains the only media practitioners body recognised and affiliated to the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), the biggest private sector operators forum in the country, as it further asserted that ‘Any gathering purporting to be for industry journalists but excludes our members has to be interrogated for authenticity.

“To buttress our position, the Honorable Minister after holding an interactive meeting with our association at the Radio House in Ikoyi, Lagos, last April, moved to enlist the agreements reached with the journalists as a major achievement recorded in your first year in office.

“Furthermore, ANJET was also recognised with a nomination to serve in the Marketing & Communications Sub Committee for the National Tourism Policy Review, in April, last year,” it stated in the letter.

The group, therefore, called on the minister to ‘call the Director General of NIHOTOUR, Nura Sani Kangiwa to order over his unbecoming action of continuously embarrassing ANJET and its members with inhuman offers.

“We also request the Honorable Minister to probe circumstances surrounding that training programme for industry journalists organised by NIHOTOUR. While the actual programme of activities was designed as a three-day event with attendees provided for as live-in hotel guests, the reality is that participants reportedly arrived and departed the event’s venue from their homes.

“The decision by NIHOTOUR to persist with ignoring ANJET is a direct affront to the Honorable Minister who has devoted immense time and efforts towards courting the media practitioners’ body since her assumption of office, last year.

“We strongly believe that NIHOTOUR has debased and demeaned its highly regarded certificates with this sham of a programme,” the group wrote.

The protest letter to the minister also berated NIHOTOUR for preferring third party interest parties in official communications between it and the ANJET leadership, which the latter described as ‘unprofessional and capable of fanning distrust and harmony.’