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Opinion: Madam, Let’s Cook the Tourism Food!
By Frank Meke
There is no doubt that Minister of Tourism, Madam Lola Ade-John would need good and experienced hands to navigate the Nigerian tourism ocean. It is a war-like situation, a national tourism emergency campaign, and if we ignore it, we perish.
It’s indeed, a matter of serious concern that she must intentionally get into the grove on the right side of the business and the first thing to do is to evaluate the human capacity availability needed to drive the process.
Madam Lola Ade John is on the short take in this area and there’s no denying that it’s a huge burden. So how do the industry and the federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria help?
However there are those who may point to the existence of ntda and Nihotour, the only two agencies the ministry of tourism inherited from the old Ministry of Information, culture and national orientation. How that even came to be is a subject for another day, but be it as it may, both Nihotour and ntda have their own short supply of adequate and competent manpower.
It’s critical to also access, evaluate and determine the quality of staff needed to engage properly and deliver on the national tourism space.
We have seen some kind of presidency expectations and target deliverables from other Ministries with performance bonds signed by ministers and their subordinates trailing their target assessments and expected contributions to socioeconomic advancement of the country
Yes, our madam minister was not on the field when those processes were made the face of performance ecosystem by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it however does not mean that Tourism was exempted from being one of new economies calibrated to create jobs and empower the people.
Madam Lola Ade John must first let us know the expectations of this administration on the basis of those two economic deliverables, the tourism jobs to be provided yearly and other empowerment metrics for Nigerian people.
How much can tourism generate to the economy in material terms and value, including jobs openings and rural development in six months, one year or so on?
What drives it and how much do the ministry need in from each budget circle to deliver on the national expectations?
Indeed tourism budgeting is unique in its own and sometimes difficult to defend due the variables associated with its profiling.
So madam Lola Ade John needs serious help to engage all the needed enablers to power the sector to certain realities that can excite the president and Nigerians at large.
It would be suicidal to just leap frog into the dynamics of the sector, with unknown portfolio shenanigans or be influenced with eurocentric blue prints as no tourism development and marketing plan bears same stamp of sensibilities.
Honestly, it would have been a step in the right direction if those who managed our tourism issues in the old contraption, did have a hold on its metrics or rubrics. Unfortunately, they failed and that’s why when president Buhari came with his brooms, he found am empty cupboard in the tourism ministry and swept us into the information conundrum.
If I were madam Lola Ade John, I will be circumspect when the ” left over staff” from the old ministry put forward memos to me. Seriously, I doubt if our minister apart from inheriting ntda and nihotour, really have any serious well trained and exposed tourism hands to run the ministry.
At the on set of the creation of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture during President Obasanjo era, ntdc( I doubt the wisdom behind ntda) had some of the best industry technocrats. Then we could count and rely on the wisdom and expertize of Mr Christopher idu, irrepressible John Adzer, and Bade Adelegbe
These gentlemen are still alive today and made a ntdc the dream government tourism agency. I recall that our first minister, late Ojo maduekwe relied on the competence and administrative knowledge of Christopher idu to flourish the set up that ministry.
Two decades after or more, the scenario has changed. Ntdc ( ntda) has lost the services of the experienced and upright technocrats either due retirement windows or outright neglect to expose the staff to training and restraining opportunities.
In this business, highly dynamic and scientifically evolutionary due to various socioeconomic, political and health variables, some unpredictable, training and consistent retraining of tourism personnel within and outside the country should top sustainable industry management ecosystem.
Unfortunately, that muddled up the human capacity requirements and availability in government tourism circles, particularly between 2013 till date.
Ntdc ( ntda) which used to be the hunting grounds for experts has been run aground by the most despicable political elements appointed and selected to run its affairs since 2013.
I need not waste my ink to state that madam Lola Ade John should not waste valuable time, hoping that the leopard at ntda will bear any tourism magic. He aren’t got the will or zeal to bring about anything worthwhile.
The guy is a time waster and should be ignored and allowed to mark out his remaining ten months in office in his delusional prison. What a shame!
It is ok for the minister to confess that the assignment will be tasking since she doesn’t have the background, it is worrisome that the permanent secretary is also a freshie. That not withstanding, both can search out for competent and tested hands on tourism with civil service orientation to help bear directions and organize development strides.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is showing example in this regard, wooing experts and hunting for their experience to bring about solutions to our national problems.
Apart from the Bade Adelegbe, Christopher idu and John Adzer, earlier mentioned, Ashamu fadipe , a former tourism centric permanent secretary in Lagos ministry of Tourism with deep academic and practical exposure to local and international tourism development can be invited either on a short or long term as consultant to calibrate the ministry.
Before I am accused of shopping for jobs for these guys and others, it’s also important for madam minister to sit down with ftan to look at the private sector for those with verifiable experience and deliveries on tourism matters and tap from their successful blueprints and abilities.
If madam minister fails to get the best hands, independent minds to help her navigate this process, then we shall be back again to the tourism wilderness conundrum and we have ourselves to blame, not the president or the devil either.
The British music icon, Sir Elton John, has shared a heartbreaking revelation on the loss of his eyesight after battling a severe infection.
Elton John disclosed this during a recent public appearance at the charity gala performance of The Devil Wears Prada: “The Musical,” staged at the London Dominion Theatre on Sunday.
The 77-year-old, whose revelation stunned many at the gala performance, said he did not watch the show due to his failing eyesight.
He said: “As some of you may know, I have had issues, and now I have lost my sight.
“I have enjoyed listening to the performance, even though I haven’t been able to see it.”
Sir Elton John even gave his husband, David Furnish, who was present at the event, credit for supporting him through the hardship.
“To my husband, who has been my rock, because I haven’t been able to attend many of the previews because, as you know, I’ve lost my vision, so it’s difficult for me to see them, but I love to hear them.
“And tonight it sounded great! Alright! I appreciate you coming,” he added.
The highbrow Banana Island in Ikoyi, Lagos, was literally transformed on Saturday night as Globacom joined the community to mark the commencement of the Yuletide season.
The company sponsored the community’s Starlight Night organized by the Banana Island Property Owners and Residents Association Lagos (BIPORAL).
The 2024 Starlight Night, which was the fifth in the series, was an evening to usher in the Yuletide season with families and friends as well as “a day to reflect on how the year has been, and be thankful for where we are under a beautiful weather”.
Globacom, in a statement, expressed delight in sponsoring the celebration to spread the festive cheer as well as the lighting of a Christmas tree and street light boxes across key locations around Banana Island.
“Christmas is a time for unity, joy, and togetherness, and as a company, we believe in contributing to the communities where we operate. This is our way of giving back and spreading joy and hope to our fellow Nigerians, especially as we prepare to enter the new year”, the company disclosed.
The special event brought together local residents, friends, community leaders, and corporate partners, and witnessed electrifying performances by entertainment groups, Art Afrique and SPAN.
Starlight night ended with Christmas fireworks which lit up the sky with dazzling bursts of colour and sparkle, adding a vibrant and festive glow to the celebrations.
The event will culminate in the illumination of street light boxes which will be strategically placed throughout the island’s key streets.
Globacom’s sponsorship of the Starlight Night has added a touch of festive season to the Banana Island neighbourhood, reinforcing the company’s commitment to bringing joy to Nigerian communities during the festive season.
Quincy Jones, the multi-talented music titan whose vast legacy ranged from producing Michael Jackson’s historic “Thriller” album to writing prize-winning film and television scores and collaborating with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other recording artists, has died at 91.
Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, says he died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, surrounded by his family.
“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”
Jones rose from running with gangs on the South Side of Chicago to the very heights of show business, becoming one of the first Black executives to thrive in Hollywood and amassing an extraordinary musical catalog that includes some of the richest moments of American rhythm and song. For years, it was unlikely to find a music lover who did not own at least one record with his name on it, or a leader in the entertainment industry and beyond who did not have some connection to him.
Jones kept company with presidents and foreign leaders, movie stars and musicians, philanthropists and business leaders. He toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged records for Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, composed the soundtracks for “Roots” and “In the Heat of the Night,” organized President Bill Clinton’s first inaugural celebration and oversaw the all-star recording of “We Are the World,” the 1985 charity record for famine relief in Africa.
Lionel Richie, who co-wrote “We Are the World” and was among the featured singers, would call Jones “the master orchestrator.”
In a career which began when records were still played on vinyl at 78 rpm, top honors likely go to his productions with Jackson: “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad” were albums near-universal in their style and appeal. Jones’ versatility and imagination helped set off the explosive talents of Jackson as he transformed from child star to the “King of Pop.” On such classic tracks as “Billie Jean” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” Jones and Jackson fashioned a global soundscape out of disco, funk, rock, pop, R&B and jazz and African chants. For “Thriller,” some of the most memorable touches originated with Jones, who recruited Eddie Van Halen for a guitar solo on the genre-fusing “Beat It” and brought in Vincent Price for a ghoulish voiceover on the title track.
“Thriller” sold more than 20 million copies in 1983 alone and has contended with the Eagles’ “Greatest Hits 1971-1975” among others as the best-selling album of all time.
“If an album doesn’t do well, everyone says ‘it was the producers fault’; so if it does well, it should be your ‘fault,’ too,” Jones said in an interview with the Library of Congress in 2016. “The tracks don’t just all of a sudden appear. The producer has to have the skill, experience and ability to guide the vision to completion.”
The list of his honors and awards fills 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography “Q”, including 27 Grammys at the time (now 28), an honorary Academy Award (now two) and an Emmy for “Roots.” He also received France’s Legion d’Honneur, the Rudolph Valentino Award from the Republic of Italy and a Kennedy Center tribute for his contributions to American culture. He was the subject of a 1990 documentary, “Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones” and a 2018 film by daughter Rashida Jones. His memoir made him a best-selling author.
Born in Chicago in 1933, Jones would cite the hymns his mother sang around the house as the first music he could remember. But he looked back sadly on his childhood, once telling Oprah Winfrey that “There are two kinds of people: those who have nurturing parents or caretakers, and those who don’t. Nothing’s in between.” Jones’ mother suffered from emotional problems and was eventually institutionalized, a loss that made the world seem “senseless” for Quincy. He spent much of his time in Chicago on the streets, with gangs, stealing and fighting.
“They nailed my hand to a fence with a switchblade, man,” he told the AP in 2018, showing a scar from his childhood.
Music saved him. As a boy, he learned that a Chicago neighbor owned a piano and he soon played it constantly himself. His father moved to Washington state when Quincy was 10 and his world changed at a neighborhood recreation center. Jones and some friends had broken into the kitchen and helped themselves to lemon meringue pie when Jones noticed a small room nearby with a stage. On the stage was a piano.
“I went up there, paused, stared, and then tinkled on it for a moment,” he wrote in his autobiography. “That’s where I began to find peace. I was 11. I knew this was it for me. Forever.”
Source: APnews
