The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, has underscored the commitment of the present administration
towards exploiting the full potentials of the tourism sector as part of
the efforts to diversify the economy.
The Minister, who was represented by the Permanent
Secretary of the ministry, Mrs. Ayotunde Adesugba, said at a workshop on
'Mainstreaming Tourism into the Economic Agenda of Government' in Abuja
on Thursday
that oil revenue could no longer provide resources to meet the growing
and competing demands of the nation, hence the need to explore tourism
as catalyst for economic growth and job creation.
“The experience of the past three decades clearly
highlights the shortcomings of a development strategy that places
premium on foreign exchange earnings from non-renewable natural
resources, especially oil and solid minerals
''The economic and social dislocation that has been the
country’s experience from the 1970s right from the first decade of the
country had its origin in the collapse of the international oil market.
Our experience in the recent past also clearly demonstrates that oil and
mineral resources are non-renewable and have very limited potentials
for addressing the development challenges that face the country today
over the medium and long-term period,” the Minister said.
Alhaji Mohammed expressed the conviction that the nation’s
diverse and unique cultural heritage, the flora and fauna as well as the
historical sites that abound in the country are capable of driving
tourism to create a sustainable economy that provides jobs and income
for the nation.
“The uniqueness of tourism as an important economic sector
is evident in its ability to employ the skilled, semi-skilled and the
unskilled manpower, while its resilience is proven by the fact that
despite wars, political turmoil, natural disasters, medical scares,
terrorists attacks and economic and energy crises in various parts of
the world, international trade in tourism services has grown
spectacularly since the 1980s.
“Today, as the nation grapples with the daunting challenges
of re-strategizing the gains of our democracy and also occupying its
pride of place in the comity of nations, tourism has been identified as a
veritable option for sustainable development,” he remarked.
The Minister, who restated the Federal Government's
determination to create a more conducive environment for tourism to
thrive in Nigeria, highlighted areas of improvement to include
infrastructural development, curbing youth restiveness, which scares
away tourists, enactment of a sustainable institutional framework for
Public-Private Partnership and the establishment of a national carrier
to fly the nation’s flag.
He also advocated the establishment of a Tourism
Development Fund to serve as an incentive to encourage private sector
participation in tourism development.
Segun Adeyemi
SA to Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
Dec. 18th 2015
SA to Hon Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
Dec. 18th 2015
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