NOVEMBER 21st, 2003

1) Can you give us a brief outline of the tourism sector in Nigeria and how it has evolved in the last ten years?

The tourism sector in Nigeria is a young industry and is not developed to the extent that we would like to. Nigeria is 43 years old now but our tourism industry has not yet been developed. There was a lack of political will to develop it, but now, the will is there and tourism is considered as an important sector for the economy of the country. That lack made it difficult for the Government to provide necessary infrastructure that actually could help to the development of tourism. Tourism is naturally a private sector driven industry, but it is up to the Government to provide an environment and infrastructure to make the sector thrive. Now that the President has declared it an important sector for the Nigerian economy, we are doing a conscious effort to actually provide the infrastructure for this sector to flourish.

2) Can you give us some figures of what this sector represents?

That is why I said our sector is a young industry. So far we are not able to give this kind of statistics as the instruments and manpower to compile this data is not yet there. It is part of our mission to analyse what we require. We want to build a statistical department that can tell us the amount of visitors we have as well as what the contribution that the industry makes to the economy of the country.

3) You mentioned tourism in a private sector driven industry. What are the incentives you give to companies willing to develop hotels and other tourism resorts?

For local entrepreneurs we are trying to promote the infrastructure. Once a waterfall or a beach front is accessible with water and electricity, then people will invest in restaurants, hotels and other facilities. Soon we are going to launch a development fund to ensure investors have access to affordable funding for their projects. As you know, tourism projects are capital intensive with long gestation period. Thanks to the fund we will de able to provide them with soft loans. As it concerns foreign investors who want to come to develop projects in Nigeria they have to realise that Nigeria is a liberalised economy, an investor can repatriate 100% of the profits without restrictions. There are no more cases of partial ownership, the totality can be owned by foreigners. Our gain from it is the development of the site and the local employment generated that will help the economy, the foreign knowledge will also help the capacity building. Those are the areas of interest for us.

4) In terms of tourist development, what regions of the country that can offer more possibilities for those investors and which ones have your priority?

We are not restricting anybody to any region. Nigeria is a vast country with a rich culture, what you have in the North, you will not have it in the South, the same goes for the East and the West, and each region has its peculiarity, having its own beauty. What we are trying to make is a calendar with all the details of the culture of Nigeria as well as showing where we have natural attractions and other interesting sites. Once this is compiled, we will distribute it through our embassies so people can decide what they are interested in as tourists or investors. We will portray our sites of eco-tourism, natural tourism, rural-farm tourism and other possibilities. We are also preparing a "cultural village" in Abuja where we will exhibit the potentials of every region in the area of culture, products and natural sites. So in terms of minutes or a few hours you will be able to see Nigeria in a site. This will give you the opportunity to know what you will be able to see when you visit a specific area of the country. On request, you will receive guidance on the different possibilities. The cultural village is already built and will open its doors after the CHOGM. This village will also give more social life to Abuja with cultural shows and exhibitions. It will also be a place to go to enjoy African cuisine and your weekends.

It all depends on the bilateral relations with other countries and the cultural agreements we might have with them. When a cultural agreement is signed, we do our best to have a cultural exchange. When those are not present, we make everything we can to actually establish contact to show case our culture to those countries. We are trying to publish as much information as we can to correct our image and work through our embassies. The Ministry is also about to launch an Internet site for culture and tourism potentialities of the country. We are putting together the basics. Once this is done, the cultural exchange between Nigeria and other countries will take place properly. We are also trying to formulate a policy to create a holiday period. We want to create something like the Summer holiday in Europe. We are going to start talking about the "Nigerian Harmattan Season Holiday,'' we will create this season during the months of November, December and January. Within this period we will enhance the interest towards our country with all kind of activities. This period is interesting, considering they are the cold months in Europe which will attract the tourists willing to escape the cold weather.

6) What is your vision for the tourism sector in Nigeria for the next 10 years?

If the tempo and the spirit as well as the political will are maintained, I believe within the next few years, Nigeria will make a great impact in the tourism sector. Before the end of next year the first step will be set and we will continue to go forward. All over the country we will have magnificent sites and wild lives to market as tourism destination. And all these assets are not only our strength. Nigeria's tourism is actually focused on cultural tourism; Nigerian culture is scattered all over the world, ¾ of the slaves leaving the shores of Africa were from Nigeria. UNESCO is interested into targeting Nigeria as a centre for heritage tourism, allowing people to trace their origins.

7) Can you tell us more about your own professional background?

I hold a Masters Degree in International Iaw and Diplomacy as well as a Degree in Business Administration. So when I talk about culture or tourism, I am talking about business. I have also been an Ambassador to Greece. Although, I don't have a Degree in Tourism it is in Greece where I learned everything about tourism. Furthermore, I am a politician and in the last four months I have held this position of Minister of Culture and Tourism.

8) What would be your final message for potential investors and tourists looking at Nigeria as a destination?

Nigeria is a country with great tourism potential. Nigeria is a hospitable nation with charismatic, warm and very hospitable people; we are ready to receive visitors. Our economy is liberalized so you can make your money and take 100% of it back home. Our country, compared to many other countries in the world, is safe. We don't have terrorism in our country. The Government is making conscious efforts to improve the main problem we have in Nigeria, which is electricity distribution. The door is open for investors to come in.