Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation Director General /CEO, Barrister (Mrs.) Sally Mbanefo talks candidly on how Tourism Industry is the alternative to oil in Nigeria. Read on…

Who would have guessed that you are such an accomplished artist, please tell us how this came about especially your interest in the human form?

This is a natural flair that I have. I paint and I sculpt as well. Don’t be surprised if one day you see me in a movie as an actress because I have been relating with Nollywood in recent times. Anyway, back to arts, as a single girl, I was a loner. So, I spent my spare time painting and reading instead of moving up and down as young people do.

But my art tells a story. I have landscapes as well as human form. These are traditional art works that take up 20 to 24 hours to do. Most of them were done in the 80’s when I still had time. Getting married and raising children, my subject matters became different.

Once, I had an exhibition where I displayed my works; landscapes, still life and few of my human forms. All the men wanted to buy were the pieces on the human forms. They did not want to buy my other works. So that has encouraged me to paint in that line. Very soon, I am going to paint some of the tourism sites that I have visited. That is my next phase.

You’ve been at the helm of NTDC for a while now. What new thing would you say you have brought on board?

I’ve come fresh from a totally different sector; banking, manufacturing, oil and gas, a strict private sector background. So, what is new is that I’ve come with a very fresh attitude and open mind towards tourism. The approach that I am taking is different and I’m aggressive pursuing it. The new message is that tourism is the alternative to oil. We all just need to put our hands together and make that effort. With the campaign that I am carrying out, the whole expatriate community is running after me. Cuba is running after me, Venezuela, Mexico, France, Germany because they are seeing a different perspective.

Talking about the alternative to oil, what tourist attractions do we have that is well developed?

There are so many developed attractions that you can conveniently visit in Nigeria today. The Ikogosi Warm Spring is well developed. The governor has made an effort to improve upon it so that people can enjoy it. The whole idea of tourism is to have enjoyable experience because that is what they take away and they live and die with that experience. Ondo State has beautiful hills, mountains and you don’t have to trek that far to get to them. There are good hotels around. There is a beautiful golf course and you also have medical tourism in Ondo State. In fact, that is what the state will be marketed for. You don’t need to go to India or South Africa anymore. Go to Ondo State. And guess what, Nigerian doctors in the diaspora that have come home are the ones running it for the state. Everything is there. They have a trauma centre for burn and trauma centre for accident where you can be operated on the spot. That is Ondo State for you. The state is unique. What is even more unique is that the governor is a medical doctor, the king is a medical doctor and the Chief of Staff is also a doctor.

It is not just site we are looking for. Tourists need to know that if there is an emergency, there is somewhere they can go to. Soon, we would be talking about medical insurance. So, there is a phase for everything. I am very methodical in my approach that is how we operate in the private sector. We are bringing in an insurance company so that tourists know if anything happens, their medical is covered.

In the north, Kaduna has a team chukka, like an estate. Polo on one hand, spas and everything on the other hand. They have series of huts and proper chalets, hotel standards beautiful with everything modern in it. Every year, the team entertains foreigners, but nobody knows about it. That is why I am going to all these places. I will tell you something, I went to Wukari in Taraba. I saw the king who told me a story about a certain king who lived too long so that the people were not happy with him. One day, they just took him from his throne to an evil forest and dumped him there to die. He did not die immediately. He lived up to 106 years. If you don’t go there, you won’t get to hear these stories.

We have the famous Mabila Plateau. But what is interesting is that when you go there, you’d find other nice and interesting sites. Listening to the traditional rulers, you know the things that they are passionate about.

You are sure they are doing well?

Yes they are. Some of them just need upgrading or just a little infrastructure. Others also have the advantages of the airports being near like Calabar. In Calabar, within 10-15 minutes, you are at the airport, the same with Enugu. Those are part of the things that reduce the burden of travelling.

What partnership do you have with the private sector seeing that that is where you are coming from?

My first three months in office, I went to the private sector very aggressively. For three months people were busy looking for me. I was busy closing deals. By the end of the third month, the press was asking, ‘where is this woman?’ I surfaced with five MOUs. Two alone are on transportation; Arik Air and ABC Transport. What this means is that if people are going to fly to these destinations, the airline is committed to subsidize flights and if it is by road, ABC Transport is also ready to reduce fares.

Do you have companies that organize tours?

We have them but they are not encouraged that is why I am not just partnering with the private sector but with private sector operators. Never in their lives have tour operators been invited to a forum. I invited them, I invited the airlines. Before now, they were always fighting. I brought them together to dialogue. The tour operators said the airlines don’t give them tickets, they don’t give them credit and they’ve had this problem forever and nobody ever addressed them. But when I did, they were so happy because they could voice out their opinions to the airlines and that made them feel cared for.

This is just the foundation. Before the end of the year, we are going to launch domestic tourism officially which means all those tour operators will be booking Nigerians and foreigners. So the tour operators who think they are jobless now will be so busy. They will be booking flights within Nigeria and tours within the country with proper buses. I have signed MOU with ABC, I am also talking to Chisco.

What are the challenges of your job?

Getting the private sector to take ownership of tourism is a challenge. I have said it often times that tourism is a private sector activity. Therefore, it should be driven by them. This is not about CSR. This is about patriotism. I want to prick their consciences and I want them to wake up and say yes, we would do it. Oloibiri is there for example. The private sector has not thought of branding it by building something beautiful on it. PTDF is now doing a beautiful project to showcase Oloibiri.

Of all the places you have visited in Nigeria, which one would you consider your favourite spot?

I like Ondo State because it has a lot of varieties. I like the mountains. They have a festival called Mare held at Idanre. The beauty of the place is that the hill is within the community where the people live. My mother is Swiss, they have huge mountains, but it is a journey to where they are. But in Idanre, it is special because the people live around the mountains. So you just come and blend into it and you become part of the community. It is very romantic.

What I love about Nigeria tourism is that we have beautiful sites which people don’t know about and there are festivals built around these sites. So if you went for Mare festival for example, you can go mountain climbing, you can run around it, you can go swimming all at the same time. The golf course is a mass of beautiful green grass. Tourism in Ondo is about the love and care the governor has for his people and he does it with so much passion not like someone who will leave office at the end of three years.

Are other governors committed to tourism too?

That is the amazing thing. Everywhere I go, the governors are so excited to see me and to show me what they are doing. This is why I am preaching domestic tourism for three main reasons. We want to empower the grassroots, empower the local communities and also stop rural- urban migration. If you can create jobs where people are, they can stay in their villages and enjoy their lives and not crowd the cities. Again, I also want to see integration of north, south, east and west. I want the people in the north to visit the south. This way, we would appreciate our culture better. When this happens, there will be less tension amongst the people.

Can we track our tourists’ sources?

The Turks are here. In Abuja, there is a Turkish hospital and now they are talking about building hotels in Nigeria. The beauty of all this is that, none Nigerians are investing in the economy. I think one of the exciting things about tourism is that it touches all sectors; there is business tourism, eco tourism, the Nollywood tourism. We have created a desk called the Nollywood desk where anything that the Nollywood people want is attended to.

What we are trying to do is to romance the commissioners of tourism, governors and the private sector on infrastructure. We would sit with the governors to ask for what they need. Like Idanre hills, they need cable cars, so I go to the private sector to ask for who can get us cable cars. Cross River State is made. The governor of Akwa-Ibom is very aggressive to develop tourism. Lagos state is fully prepared. The governor has consciously made the state beautiful. I love what he has done for the state.

What are you doing about security which is a challenge even for the country at the moment?

For me, I feel very safe in Nigeria more than in South Africa but people are going there. There is a way you can make tourism pleasurable for people and they will come.

How is life in tourism?

It has been very exciting. I have reached a level of contentment where a job for my country is truly because I want to serve. So no matter the discomfort, the anxiety or lack of anything, I will continue because I went in to serve.

Initially, it was a culture shock, moving from private sector to government. I think the shock was about the mindset of the people. But it’s changing. Members of my staff are hard working people but you still have those who still expect to get something before they work. There are lots of changes I have made that I could not have done without carrying people along. I am really enjoying the job. The more I stay, the nicer it is becoming. People are appreciating me more and my people are surprisingly adoptable.

Where is your favourite destination?

For international, I would say South of France and Ondo State is my favourite in Nigeria. I can go there without being scared of my health. The education is excellent. You don’t see children roaming about the street.

What is your style?

I am creative and expressive. I like my clothes to tell a story and the colours should reflect my mood.

What do you like to wear?

With this new job, wherever I go, they give me clothing. So that really helped my wardrobe because I didn’t have a clue about fabrics until now. Before when I am given a fabric, I will frame it and put on my wall. I didn’t know I could wear them. But now because the king of a particular Taraba community gave me a fabric, I made it and whenever I wear it, I remember my visit there.

My wardrobe is made up of clothes made from fabrics collected from visits to various parts of the country.

Courtesy: Allure