Lagos will be Africa’s tourism hub – Ambode reaffirms

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has restated that his administration remains totally committed to developing the tourism, hospitality and sports potentials of the State and make it a must-visit and Africa’s best tourism destination.

The Governor who said this while flagging off the Agege leg of the just-concluded One Lagos Fiesta (OLF) at the Agege mini-stadium, explained that the event, which has become an annual event in the tourism calendar, is aimed at promoting arts and cultural potentials of the State.

He said the event is also aimed at encouraging youths to develop their talents in the creative and entertainment industry to compete favorably with their counterparts from other parts of the world.

Represented by the State Deputy Governor, Dr. Oluranti Adebule, Ambode added that the State government planned to use the platform to grow the local economy and encourage the development of small-scale businesses, stressing that the annual event is remarkable for promoting the growth of local entrepreneurs since it started three years ago.

Ambode expressed happiness that the annual fiesta was embraced by residents especially the youths while assuring that the government would continue to run an all-inclusive government where everyone is a stakeholder in the administration of the State.

Ambode emphasized that the event which is staged in all the five administrative divisions of the state is free for all the residents to attend irrespective of their tribe, origin, ethnic background, colour or language, adding that ‘one of the strongholds of the success of the present administration is the peaceful coexistence of the people of diverse backgrounds living together in peace with one another.’

The event was well attended by people from all walks of life while different artists/ musicians staged live performances to entertain the audience.

1.8bn tourists set to travel world by 2030

Outgone Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Dr. Taleb Rifai, has disclosed that an estimated 1.8 billion tourists are expected to be on the move by 2030 and this could be a “disaster” or a long-lasting “opportunity” for the planet.

Rifai in his valedictory speech at the UN Headquarters in Geneva, penultimate week, said that new data showed people made more than 1.1 billion international trips in the first 10 months of 2017 – a 7 per cent increase on the same period in 2016.

However, Rifai further added that ‘it’s all up to us to ensure the trend translates into positive change in line with the UN-led Sustainable Development Goals agenda.’

Rifai, many believe, changed the UNWTO and what it is during his term, while others posit the Jordanian raised the bar of the UN agency very high and has built a legacy for himself like none of his predecessors had.

In his final speech, he addressed not his legacy, but the legacy of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

“I have been touched by every person I have met throughout my humbling, rewarding yet challenging journey and deeply moved by many of the tourism stories I have come across around the world.

“I want to thank all those who make our work meaningful every day. I also wish to thank all our Member States, Affiliate Members, sister UN Organizations, industry leaders and their teams, associations and global bodies for their support to me and to the mandate of UNWTO throughout these years. It has been a truly humbling experience.

“I wish to say a very special thanks to the UNWTO staff that made possible every success that the Organization has enjoyed over the past years. I am extremely grateful to everyone I have worked with. It has been a privilege to serve as Secretary-General, not the least because of the diverse breadth of exceptional colleagues I have had the pleasure of working with.

“I wish Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili, the incoming Secretary-General, every success in continuing to drive our sector forward to a better future,” Rifai said.

Meanwhile, in his New Year Message, new Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, assured of his commitment to continue in the legacy of Rifai as he pledged to ‘building partnerships with public and private sector, fostering jobs and opportunities for all, mastering technology and innovation and advancing sustainability and the fight against climate change.’

“It is with a sense of pride and humility that I assume my post as Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for the period 2018-2021. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you my strong commitment to make of UNWTO an ever more relevant Organization for the benefit of the sector, our Member States and its people.

“As we move towards a future guided by the universal 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), I take upon me to lead UNWTO with a strong focus on building partnerships with public and private sector, fostering jobs and opportunities for all, mastering technology and innovation and advancing sustainability and the fight against climate change,” he said.

NCAA, NAMA lower minimum visibility for 18 airports

VICTOR NZE

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in conjunction with the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) has lowered minimum visibility for takeoff and landing of flights for 18 airports which have improved navigational aids, including Performance Based Navigation (PBN) and other equipment that enhance visibility during inclement weather.

This new minimum visibility will take effect from Thursday.

Before now, the average minimum visibility was 800 metres below which flights were not allowed to operate to the airports, but now flights can operate when visibility is about 150 meters, depending on the available navigational aids.

The implication of this is that flights that were hitherto stopped from operating to airports when the visibility were below 800 metres can now operate; so even at the height of harmattan haze last December, airlines would have operated with the minimum visibility.

In the statement signed by NCAA spokesman, Sam Adurogboye, the regulatory authority said it carried out a review of Aerodrome Operating Weather Minima for 18 airports in Nigeria in recognition of improvements in visual and navigational aids within the affected airports.

NCAA said the review was in compliance with the provision of Part 8 of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs Part 8), and in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Doc.9365.

“In this review, the Regulatory Authority took cognisance of improvements in visual and navigational aids within the affected airports. The reviewed Aerodrome Operating Minima would serve to enhance the operating capacity of the aerodromes. This is due to the fact that it will avail the operators with improved minima for low visibility operations,” the regulatory authority said.

According to the review, the landing minima specified for all the 18 airports were determined based on applicable criteria as defined in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations and these includes all relevant amendments, as well as available navigational facilities, including Instrument Landing System, Voice Omni directional Radio Range and Distance Measuring Equipment (ILS,VOR/DME, etc) or PBN Navigational Specification (RNAV/GNSS).

“On the other hand, the reviewed operating minima provided for a performance based takeoff minima for the affected aerodromes in Nigeria is determined by available visual aids for takeoff. These are Runway Centre Lights, Touchdown Zone lights, Runway Edge Lights, Threshold Lights, Runway End Lights and Runway Surface Markings.

The 18 aerodromes where the operating minima and takeoff minima have been reviewed are Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Dutse, Eket and Enugu. Others are Gombe, Ilorin, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Owerri, Sokoto, Uyo, Yola and Zaria,” the statement said.

NCAA said the last time weather minima were actually reviewed was in 1983, but a semblance of revision undertaken in 1993 only stated that the takeoff minima shall be equal or greater than landing minima at all airports.

“This is to allow for an air return to the same airport should there arise an emergency,” NCAA said.

“However, this present review allows for takeoff as low as 150 metres Runway Visual Range (RVR). While some airports in the country with Category Two Instrument Landing Systems (ILS Cat II) can permit landing with 300 metres Runway Visual Range (RVR).

“Before this review, the lowest visibility with Category Two ILS in the nation’s airports was 800 metres/550 RVR (Runway Visual Range). Based on the review, the following airports now have ILS Cat II approach and landing minima, Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Ilorin, Gombe, Owerri, Sokoto, Uyo, Yola, Dutse, Calabar and Enugu,” the regulatory body said.

NCAA said the implementation of these revised aerodrome operating minima (both takeoff and landing) shall be based on compliance with applicable Standard Operating Procedures for Low Visibility Operations at the affected airports, adding that this is executed by Flight Crew, Air Traffic Controllers (ATC), Aerodrome Operators and the Meteorological Agency.

“To ensure the seamless operation of these revised minima, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) shall continue to ensure prompt and regular provision of required meteorological information. These will include flight visibility and Runway Visual Range (RVR) values to all ATC units in the airports. Thus NiMET and NAMA shall ensure constant updating of the Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) with the available RVR values as appropriate.

All airlines, Aerodrome Operators and Air Navigation Service Providers are required to ensure adequate training of their personnel and flight crew that would be involved in low visibility operations. The Air Navigation service provider is expected to ensure regular flight calibration of all available navigational aids. This is to ensure safe and efficient flight operations, especially during low visibility operations,” the statement also said.

The agency added that with this review it has provided a pragmatic solution to the incessant flight delays and cancellations occasioned by inclement weather, noting that it is expected that passengers can now heave a sigh of relief as their travel plans would now be in real time.

NAIA’s new terminal requires additional funding – FG

Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja

Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, has proffered reasons causing the protracted delay in completion of the new terminal building at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, (NAIA), Abuja, explaining further that additional funding was now required to see the project through.

The NAIA new terminal project is part of the US$500 million dollars loan from Chinese EXIM Bank and 100 million dollars counterpart funding from Nigerian government.

Sirika, while inspecting the project, Tuesday, told newsmen that one of the causes of the delay was a foundational issue which had altered the master plan of the airport, as he explained that the planning of the project did not envisage that the building would lead to additional works, power and water supply.

Sirika added that it was also discovered that the building would block both the control and fire towers which would require relocation.

He said that additional work was also required to link it with the existing terminal as well as expanding the apron to accommodate bigger air planes.

Another reason according to Sirika, is the insufficient capacity of the existing power and water supply in the airport to cater for the new building.

He said that all the challenges would result to requiring additional funding. According to him, the project is being funded through 500 million dollars loan from Chinese EXIM bank and 100 million dollars counterpart funding from Nigerian government.

The quality of work is acceptable but the pace of work is not acceptable because this project should have been delivered by now.

“The contractor has told us some of the challenges he has been facing regarding some of the components of work and some additional works required for this project to be put into use. Unfortunately, some of these components are complex which would delay this job and some of them are from the foundation like that of the sewer and water.

“There is also the problem of the control tower blocking the access into the terminal apron and also the inadequate nature of the apron itself. All of these are not small works to be done but the intent of the government is to fast track the construction to ensure that it is being utilised soon.

“I am very disappointed that all these problems could not be factored in during the planning stage of the procurement. It is a 600 million-dollar project based on the initial arrangement but because we now have additional works to be carried out to be able to complete it, there is need for additional funding,” he said.

Sirika said that the Abuja light rail that was almost completed would terminate at the airport which would not be utilised if the terminal building was not completed.

He said that government could not give any specific date for its completion, considering the amount of funds required to correct all the anomalies since it was a loan project.

According to him, government is committed to the project to ensure its completion as soon as possible and the contractor has given his word that if the power issue is resolved, part of work would be completed before March.

Managing Director, Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC), Mr Jack Li, said the work was about 88 per cent completed, noting that the cause of the delay was occasioned by external factors not included in the contract, as he also added that it was the responsibility of the government to make provision for the power and water supply.

He, however, promised that the project would be delivered within the year if the issues concerning power and water were resolved.

2017 safest year ever for commercial air travel – Group

Zero deaths were reported for passenger jet travel in 2017, making it the safest year on record for commercial aviation, according to the Dutch aviation group To70 and the Aviation Safety Network (ASN).

Reports released from the two groups, Monday, said that there were no deaths aboard commercial passenger jet airplanes in 2017.

“2017 was the safest year for aviation ever,” said To70’s Adrian Young.

For cargo airplanes and commercial passenger propeller airplanes, there were 10 fatal incidents in 2017 resulting in 44 deaths on board aircraft and 35 deaths on the ground.

The deadliest aircraft-related incident of 2017 occurred in January, when a Turkish cargo plane crash landed in Kyrgyzstan, killing four crew members and 35 people on the ground.

Young also cautioned that the risks involved in aviation remain high, as evidenced by the Turkish crash and other more minor fatal incidents last year.

“The risks to civil aviation remain high as shown by the seriousness of some of the non-fatal accidents,” Young said, adding: “It is unlikely that this historic low will be maintained; in part, these very positive figures rest on good fortune. Nevertheless, the safety level that civil aviation has achieved is remarkable.”

Fatal incidents involving passenger jets have been falling steadily for decades. Reuters notes that as recently as 2005, 1,015 deaths occurred on commercial passenger flights around the world.

The last fatal commercial jet crash in the U.S. occurred in 2009, when a passenger jet crashed in Clarence Center, New York, killing 50 people. The last fatal commercial jet crash worldwide occurred in Medellin, Colombia, in November 2016 and killed 71 people.

Aero completes C-Check, test flight on Boeing 737 aircraft

Indigenous carrier, Aero Contractors has become the first airline to successfully conduct a C-Check of an aircraft in West Africa following completion of the test on its own aircraft at the airline’s hangar in Lagos.

The airline, Thursday, also finalized a test flight on the 737aircraft which was completed by Captain Gabriel Ayeni with co-pilot Wale Awojebe and C-Check Manager, Engineer Claude and the crew.

”This is the first C-Check ever done in the region on the Boeing 737 Classics, this is very good news and is good for the aviation industry in Nigeria. It shows we have the capacity to conduct the C-Check. We are not going to rest on our oars, we are going to improve on this so we can carry out C-Checks on the Next Generations (NG). We will go further to create capacity to carry out checks on Airbus, this is a stepping stone for the organisation,” said Managing Director of Aero, Captain Ado Sanusi.

It would be recalled that in December, Captain Sanusi had stated that the airline would complete the C-Check on its aircraft and deploy same aircraft for operations.Aero Contractors was granted approval by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to carry out C-Checks on Boeing 737series along with its maintenance of the Bombardier Turboprop airliner series.

The airline received certification to handle C-checks on Boeing classic series B737-300, B737-400 and B737-500 at the airline’s terminal effective from September 12, 2017 thereby domesticating maintenance that is the major bane to almost all domestic airlines in the country.

This is a major feat for Aero, and the first by a flag carrier in Nigeria. It would be recalled that Aero had earlier received an AMO certification from the NCAA in 2011 which allowed the airline to carry out third-party maintenance for other airlines.

The B737-300, 400 and 500 series are popular among domestic carriers in Nigeria, excluding Dana which operates the MD series.

Nigeria aviation in 2017: Slowly recovering

By VICTOR NZE

The country’s aviation sector beyond the ever recurring labour crises, flight delays, shortcomings in infrastructure, and government’s ill-advised decisions, appeared to have taken a back seat in the year 2017 as appreciable improvements were recorded both by the government and the airline operators.

The face-off between labour unions and the federal government over the concession agreement for the four viable airports in the country, namely; the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, the Port Harcourt International Airport Omagba, and the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, continued into the year as protests dominated discourse all through the year pitching the various labour bodies in the country with the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika.

The controversial concession plans has dogged the tenure of Hadi Sirika since his appointment two years as Minister of State for Aviation, when the arrangement was first announced to stakeholders, as well as the plethora of meetings which followed aimed at wooing the various parties.

Originally listed for concessions were the country’s high revenue yielding airports in Port Harcourt, Kano, Lagos and Abuja, which committees including; a Project Steering Committee, and a Project Delivery Committee, have already been inaugurated with a directive to commence implementation of the process.

However, despite the outcome of previous meetings and negotiations yet unresolved, the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in 2017 moved ahead to announce that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the concession of both the MMIA and NAIA airports to ‘improve their efficiency and service delivery.’

“We are working hard to make the airports more passenger friendly, but then we have several issues. Infrastructure is in a terrible state and we know that public sector has a poor record on maintenance of facilities.

“Partnership with the private sector is not only a policy, it is the most sensible thing to do and our approach is to engage, work collaboratively to take criticisms and suggestions seriously and to respond,” Osinbajo said.

Commenting, Comrade Ahmed Danjuma, Chairman Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said concession was not the way out of the present challenges facing the agency.

Ahmed said misplacement of priority and politicians’ intervention in the running of the system by flooding the agencies especially FAAN with workers employed without consulting the management of the organisations.

The union leader explained that most of the airports were built for political reasons without considering the economic benefits to the nation adding that most of these airports depended largely on the viable airports to survive.

According to Ahmed, airports in other countries survive because they are maintained with the revenue generated by the same airport saying that reverse remained the case in Nigeria.

“Airports across the globe survive because they sustain the airport with generated revenue by those  airports but in Nigeria, we use the generated revenue from international Airport Lagos, to maintain others.”

Also, Secretary General Association of the Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP), Comrade Abdulrasaq Saidu, pointed out that the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Airspace Management Authority (NAMA), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the igerian Meteorological  Agency (Nimet) resolved at their Zonal Council meeting Tuesday,  to oppose any form of concession in view of past and present corrupt tendencies being applied to favour few individuals

“We say no to it and shall fight it with the last blood of our Union, we wrote to PMB (President Muhammadu Buhari) of the danger to security of Nigeria. We asked questions unanswered which must be given full details,” Saidu said.

Stressing that almost all the revenue points at the airports have been concessioned, Saidu raised the alarm that that nothing was left.

However, Chairman of Air Peace , Mr Allen Onyema, backed the Federal Government move, saying that the decision was a step in the right direction on the grounds that the ‘Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 that is being run privately, is the best airport in Nigeria.’

“Government has no business in doing business and that is the truth: If the Federal Government now decides to concession the airports, that is the right thing to do. Look at the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2 that is being run privately, it is the best airport in Nigeria,” Onyema said.

Onyema noted that the only fear was that some of the workers might lose their jobs due to the fact that the investors would streamline operations to cut cost.

For, Chairman of Century Security, Group Capt John Ojukutu (rtd), however, there was no clear terms as to what the government want to concession, even as he called on the government to declare the areas it wants to concession, warning that the airside was a no-go area for them to concession.

The former Airport Commandant urged the government to invite the corporate sector players in the country to take over the management of the airport terminal buildings, even as he urged that anyone taking over the Lagos Airport and Abuja airports must also take responsibility of smaller airports under these two airports.

He queried the rationale behind the concession of only two airports out of the over 22 airports across the country, calling for the concession of all the airports in the country, noting that Federal Government was not concentrating on the real issues in the aviation sector.

However, the bright side remains the announcement by the Nigerian Civil aviation Authority (NCAA), through its spokesperson, Mr Sam Adurogboye, in January that Nigeria had climbed to Level 3 State Safety Programme (SSP) Implementation Process, joining countries like the U.S. and the United Kingdom in this echelon.

This in addition to the certification of the MMIA in Lagos and NAIA in Abuja by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), as well as the runway rehabilitation of the NAIA, and the commencement of the runway project of the long-maligned Akanu Ibiam Airport in Enugu which commenced in December by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

Perhaps, one of the biggest fallouts of the airport runway rehabilitation was the diversion of flights to the under-utilized Kaduna airport that has now seen the facility continue to attract the patronage of airline including the Ethiopian Airlines, which assured its commitment to remain on the route.

In addition, the United States-based carrier, Delta Air Lines, announced its readiness to open a new Lagos-New York route to complement the existing Lagos-Atlanta route, which it said was in fulfillment of its target to expand the Nigeria-United States market.

However, issues revolving around airport security and baggage handling blighted the year’s achievement for the industry in the face of luggage thefts that rented the media space in December following latest complaints by top music acts in the country who raised the alarm over loss of their personal effects to which the FAAN unprofessionally labeled as ‘baseless.’

While the FAAN may have come under heavy stick for its shocking reaction to the incident, complaints over lost luggage at the nation’s airports have become a recurring one which the recent directive by Vice President Osinbajo’s on Ease on Doing Business at the airports should expectedly have addressed in the year.

For some indigenous carriers, 2017 was a positive one as though the recurring complaints of over-taxation remained, they also found time to celebrate industry achievements. Dana received its long-expected Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) Certification of the International Air Transport Association (IATA); as well as new entrants, Air Peace, all in 2017.

This is also as another indigenous carrier, Med-View, commenced international flight operations to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, with plans to head to Europe. Air Peace also expanded operations across the West African sub-region with commencement of the Freetown-Banjul-Dakar flights.

Air Peace plans route, fleet expansion in 2018

Air Peace has pledged to end the air travel woes of most underserved destinations in Nigeria and the West Coast of Africa and offer the flying public a preferred alternative on some key international routes in 2018.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema gave the assurance at the airline’s end-of-year management session held on December 27 in Lagos to review the airline’s flight operations in 2017.

Commenting on the carrier’s operations in 2017, Onyema insisted that the airline deserved commendations for rescuing the Nigerian aviation industry and giving air travellers hope in the period under review.

He said he was quite satisfied that Air Peace was able to expand its fleet to 24 aircraft despite the economic downturn the country and its aviation sector experienced in 2017.

He attributed the airline’s success in the three years of its existence to the unflinching support of the flying public and the quality leadership of its management team.

The Air Peace boss said the airline would remain grateful to its customers for their patronage over the years, urging the flying public to continue to trust the carrier’s services. Air Peace, he assured, would continue to strive to sustain its uncompromising approach to safety, prioritisation of the comfort of its customers and job creation.

The airline, Onyema however said, still had a lot of grounds to cover in its vision to transform air travel experience in Nigeria, the West Coast of Africa and the Dubai, Guangzhou-China, London, Houston, Mumbai and Johannesburg routes.

He charged the carrier’s management to brace up for the challenge of implementing the airline’s plan to deepen air connectivity on many routes in the North of Nigeria, including Kano and Yola, and other domestic routes.

He regretted that industrial unrest by Air Traffic Control in Senegal compelled Air Peace to suspend the launch of its Freetown, Banjul and Dakar routes planned for December 15, 2017.

Onyema, however, assured that the carrier would soon announce a new date for the launch of the three suspended West Coast routes.

He said the airline, which commenced flight operations to Accra-Ghana on February 16, 2017, was determined to expand to about nine destinations on the West Coast of Africa.

The airline, he added, was awaiting the delivery of the two Boeing 777 it recently acquired to start its flight operations to Dubai, Guangzhou, London, Houston, Mumbai and Johannesburg.

2017 Year Lagos dared Calabar in carnival rivalry

By VICTOR NZE

Issues relating to advocacy for a separate ministry for tourism, the disquiet in the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) as well as the conspiracy theories weaved around the shocking destruction of the iconic Abuja Art and Crafts Village tended to becloud the seeming gains recorded by the Nigerian tourism industry in 2017.

The year witnessed a spike in the country’s room capacity, with international brands raising their portfolios in the industry, as well as the emergence of a new competition for the Calabar Carnival in the form of Lagos State which raised the bar in the carnival entertainment, that was seeing a decline with the disappearance of top destinations like Akwa Ibom and Rivers states from the procession.

With an increase recorded in the country’s room capacity courtesy of the emergence of the United States-based hospitality giants, Marriott International, via its acquisition of an existing player, Starwood Hotels, in September 2016, increased its portfolios in the country by well over 1000 room keys, therefore giving it the single biggest stake in the industry.

The official signing of an agreement with the Landmark Africa Group for a 216-room hotel plus the 44-room executive apartments, in Victoria Island, Lagos, saw Marriott International add a total of 983 room keys to the Lagos hotel capacity alone by 2020.

Marriott Group also owns the Renaissance branded hotel in the Ikeja area of Lagos with 155 guestrooms including 17 contemporary suites which was the first of the hotel chain’s brands in the country, last December.

This in addition to the new 90-room Protea Hotel earlier opened in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

2017 was also the year that the Lagos State Government midwifed an open tourism and entertainment product that may well rival the Calabar Carnival after the seeming demise of the iconic Abuja Carnival which for inexplicable reasons by the Federal Government through its Ministry of Culture and Information failed to hold for the first time in about a decade.

Tagged the One Lagos Fiesta (OLF), the Lagos flagship yuletide revue held from December 24 till January 1, 2018, and followed the earlier Street carnival that took place also in December.

Over 100 artistes drawn from the contemporary to the old genre of the Nigerian music industry featured at the 2017 edition spanning eight days of non-stop Fiesta, in five different designated centres in Lagos simultaneously and drew an unprecedented crowd of music lovers and carnival enthusiasts, in a year the rival Calabar Carnival in Cross River State had trimmed its own repertoire from the original 31 days of musical stage performances to just two days of carnival and vehicular parades.

The Lagos event held across Ikeja (Agege Stadium), Badagry (Badagry Grammar School), Ikorodu (Ikorodu Town Hall), Lagos Island (Bar Beach) and Epe (Epe-Marina Beachfront), while the cross over night of December 31st into the New Year held at the Eko Atlantic City.

The OLF was specially designed to turn the five divisions of Lagos into a tourist destination for 8 days non-stop showcasing not less than 40 concerts all together across the city of Lagos while developing the local economy of these areas thereby making it self-sustaining during the festive period and after.

However, the year also saw a growing concern among stakeholders for a separate Ministry to be created by the Federal Government for the tourism industry, which had been under the Culture and Information ministry headed by Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

Stakeholder bodies such as the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA) and the Nigeria Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) stepped up their calls for better attention for the industry which opined a separate ministry would guarantee if created.

While commemorating the past 2017 International Tourism Day, NANTA President, Bernard Bankole said that a separate ministry would fast-track the development of the sector.

 

“Federal Government should create a stand-alone ministry for tourism so that all attentions and efforts will be concentrated on how to build tourism to generate revenue for the government and employment for Nigerians.

“Putting tourism alongside with others like information and National Orientation is going to frustrate the growth of tourism. “Everywhere in the world, tourism is a big portfolio that even people struggle to get appointment as Minister of Tourism because they know the value of the sector,” he said.

On his part, Mr. Nkereuwem Onung, President of NATOP called for the restoration of the Ministry of Tourism, to enable the tourism sector contribute effectively to the economic development of the country.

Onung said that the amalgam of the Ministry of Tourism with Information led to tourism becoming a department in the ministry noting that `this has not augur well with the growth of the sector’.

“So we are calling on the Federal Government to give us a separate ministry so that we can articulate issues of tourism very well. Nigeria now needs to get back to tourism in view of the global fall in crude oil price.

He explained that if the ministry of tourism is restored, it would assist in boosting the revenue of the country also fast track tourism development in Nigeria, adding further that this would also attract more foreign exchange to the country as well as create employment opportunities for the nation’s teeming unemployed youths.

“Tourism runs through channels with statistics, it is not based on putting the right structures in place for tourism. We have the statistics; it is not about people coming to your country, it is about doing things that will appeal to people to come into your country,’’ he said.

With the rise in earning by the government and increased spending on capital projects and other infrastructure, Nigeria is projected to recapture its position as a preferred destination from 2018 with arrivals set to see an increase, according to projections  by major tourism and hospitality bodies.

Another downside to the outgone year was the fire incident that razed the iconic Abuja Art and Crafts Village last December, resulting in losses put at N400 million worth of precious artworks and textiles by the traders and craftsmen.

The decision by the managers of the complex, the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) to bar shop keepers and craftsmen from the keeping late at the village now remains at the centre of the controversy which has pitched the keepers and the NCAC, whose Director General, Otunba Segun Runsewe is accused of failing to explore amicable grounds for resolving the lingering impasse between  the parties before now.

The Abuja Arts and Crafts Village is located at the Central Business District in Abuja, behind the Silverbird Cinema. The village has three distinct craft sections: arts and crafts, painting, and textile.

“This place is a national monument. Our mandate is to protect, showcase, and enrich Nigeria’s cultural heritage,” Mr. Kennedy quickly adds with a winning smile,” captures Eguakun Kennedy, who serves as the Public Relations Officer of the African Arts and Cultural Heritage Association in the Arts and Crafts Village, Abuja.

According to eyewitnesses, the fire started late Friday night.

Many posit that Runsewe had not handled the resident craftsmen/NCAC relationship rather diplomatically in view of how previous DGs had found a way of navigating through the delicate waters of managing the craftsmen in the village, even as others have accused him of highhandedness in finding a common ground of co-existence between both parties.

“If he (Runsewe) had allowed us to continue sleeping inside the village with our artworks, perhaps that fire would not have gotten out of hand, because I recall that there have been similar incidents inside this village of electrical sparks resulting in fires which were effectively controlled due to the presence of craftsmen on site. But now because we are no longer there, this has happened. This is our anger,” Ifeanyi Obi, a crafts dealer lamented.

A security guard at the gate, who pleaded anonymity, said that the fire service was contacted immediately the fire started.

“Some people attempted to come in, but we were afraid of hooligans using the situation to loot and steal items from the shops. However, some of us attempted to control the fire, but it got out of our control because the shops’ roof was made of dried grass,” he said.

The Abuja Art and Crafts Village which was previously a property of the Federal Capital Territory in care of the Social Development Secretariat (SDS) was transferred to the NCAC which now reportedly owns the Certificate of Occupancy on the property that is decades old and houses artisans and craftsmen who have long existed and did businesses there.

Also in the year, the exit door loomed for Mr Folusho Folarin-Coker as the Director-General of the NTDC, as he may well have survived the coup staged by his staff who openly demonstrated against him over allegations bothering on mismanagement and misappropriation, last November.

While some observers believe the protests were stage-managed by outside forces bent on removing him from the position, others posit that the embattled Coker is the architect of his own problems having earlier falling out with many stakeholder associations who in turn accused him of reneging on agreements  reached with them, as well as encroaching on private sector operations instead of creating an enabling environment for a level playing field for all operators and also improving on the shortcomings in the industry.

Le Meridien Ogeyi Place launches wine collection

Le Meridien Ogeyi Place has launched a new French wine, branded; ‘Beaujolais.’

The event which took place at the poolside of the hotel located in Port Harcourt was part of efforts to bring the ‘French feel’ to international guests of the hotel.

“As part of our brand initiative, Beaujolais offers the opportunity to unveil our Le Meridien brand Summer Soiree culture. This program brings to our international guests the feel of French Beaujolais tradition, which is a truly home away from home experience in Nigeria,” said General Manager of the Hotel, Mr. Fabian Martinez.

Continuing, Martinez said: “In addition, our Hotel Executive Sous Chef, Innocent Anaemeje brings a very pleasant experience and opportunity to present French traditional delicacies with assorted French cold cuts” to further inspire the dining experience of our patrons.

“We have curated our campaign in a way that delivers to our guests yet another way to unlock their destination through French traditional celebration and a modern perspective on this quintessential theme night campaign. Le Meridien cuisine will enable us offer unique and memorable dining experiences.”