We need more money from Uweche-Mbanefo

As somebody who sees himself has both a Benin and an Igbo man, I felt very proud last month, after Cambridge University succumbed to pressure to repatriate the edifice, ‘Okukor’, back to Nigeria. For some of you who haven’t been following this news, ‘Okukor’ is a bronze statue that was cast in Benin City, but found its way to Britain. Just like other great pieces of art, a lot of people attach different meanings to this piece of art. Besides, ‘Okukor’ means chicken in Igbo language. The artwork is actually a rooster.  From the whole story, it is clear that these ‘Oyibos’ are really interested in masterpieces from Nigeria, and we are still poor. Don’t we know how to make money in Nigeria?

Since foreigners really love masterpieces from Nigeria, don’t you think tourism could earn a lot of forex for us because of this love? Did I hear you say that you already know this and that foreigners won’t troop to Nigeria just to see our artworks because Nigeria is unsafe? Well, we will look at this in this article. For this reason, I am going to look at Sally Uweche-Mbanefo’s plans for tourism. We shall examine, to an extent, if her plans will earn us some forex as soon as possible.

If you have not heard of this amazon before, please google her name. She is one of Nigeria’s most classy chief executives. She is very educated and comes from an elite family. She is well-travelled as well. She has also been blessed with lovely children. She is the director general (DG) Nigerian Tourism Development Commission (NTDC). Because the DG is very educated, I believe she is not the type that would shy away from debates. Besides, I understand she is a fan of Che Guevara, thus, she must be very philosophical. Though, it sounds like a contradiction for a former elite banker to be a fan of Che Guevara. When did capitalism fall in love with Marxism?

If you ask the man in the street if he thinks tourism can earn Nigeria a lot of forex, he would laugh at you. He might argue that fun seeking foreigners won’t come because Nigeria is very unsafe. This might be a legitimate point because stories of Boko Haram is enough to scare anyone. But, this might not necessarily be very correct. Why did I say this? One, did you see videos of Calabar carnival on Channel 199 on DSTV. Were you not surprised to see youths from all over the world coming to Calabar to dance? Do you think those youths didn’t hear of Boko Haram? Two, remember when there was a rumour that Dangote wanted to acquire Arsenal FC. There is nothing that promotes a country’s image like rumours like this. As soon as this rumour broke, my flat mate in London, who was an Arsenal supporter, started googling about Nigeria and Dangote. Surprisingly, he found some good things about Nigeria and was willing to spend his next vacation in Nigeria.

Now, let’s get to the DG’s plans. Sally Mbanefo wants to introduce tourism tax. In my view, this plan should be thrown away. Today, there is a proposal to rise education tax to 4% and to introduce a 5% National Security Tax. Everyone is introducing one form of tax or the other because the government is broke, instead of making our tax system more efficient. Presently, under our harmonized taxing system, we have 61 taxes in Nigeria. Business people are already drowning and groaning. Please, madam, jettison that idea about a new tax, there are other ways you can raise money.

The DG has managed to get some big companies to promote tourism. This is laudable. She wants to make tourism a money spinner in Nigeria. This is a very good intention. But, can she achieve these good intentions? Well, this is a matter of debate. But there are some little things she hasn’t done.

Has the DG thought about accompanying Buhari in his numerous foreign trips? If there is one thing Nigeria can sell to the outside world and make quick money, is its art masterpieces. Last month, Kia Motors in conjunction with Arthouse Contemporary Limited held an art auction and recorded over $155,250 as sales. If Sally can key into Buhari’s entourage to market Nigeria’s masterpieces, chances are that some Europeans and Americans might want to visit Nigeria to see where this masterpieces are coming form. If you think this might not earn us much forex, what about the next idea.

Since nobody seems to have told President Buhari to include the repatriation of artworks as part of Nigerians stolen funds that need to come back home, Sally-Mbanefo should tell him. This will enhance tourism and generate a lot of forex for Nigeria. Did I hear you say Wole Soyinka has mentioned something like this? A report states that Nigeria has over 2400 bronze masterpieces in museums in Berlin and London- this is equivalent to some billions of naira stashed abroad. Little wonder that our museums are empty and are not well kept. Hope you know that as tourist in any European city, the first place you are encourage to visit is the museum.

There is one area Sally-Mbanefo seems to have overlooked in revenue generation in her tourism drive. Have you noticed that most expatriates that work in Nigeria hardly spend those huge sums they earn in Nigeria – except those that have Nigerian girlfriends. The DG should partner with some of these multinational oil companies to make sure these expatriates are taken to tourist attractions in Nigeria, every weekend. There could be some security implications, but this is the best way to promote tourism, in my view. When these people leave Nigeria they might have reasons to come back. Nigeria is a very beautiful country, never mind there is so much suffering in the land.

You might not know what you have in your country until you interact with some Europeans. Many years ago, I saw a colleague of mine, who is an Italian, running after a lizard and taking pictures of it. It took me years, which is after I went to Europe, to realize why my friend was chasing agama lizards in Nigeria- I am not sure if you can find agama lizard in Italy.

Please madam, there is no need to argue with the NBS for now, tourism contributes less than 4% to our GDP – in some cases less than 1.6 %. In the UK, tourism is estimated to contribute 11% to GDP and it’s estimated to provide over 3.8 million jobs. We need you to increase the contribution of tourism to our GDP.

I believe the President really believes in Sally- Mbanefo. Madam, I believe you can make it. By the way, what is the name of the minister overseeing tourism? I hope he is not carried away by providing information and forgetting that culture is part of his mandate.