Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Mrs Toke Benson-Awoyinka, speaking duing the tour around the Onikan axis of the state, flanked by the Managibg Director of Sterling Bank, Mr Suleiman and the NCMM Director General, Mr Holloway, Wednesday morning
Tourism is business,’ as Lagos Govt woos investors for sector’s development
[By VICTOR NZE]
Managing Director of Sterling Bank Plc., Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, has stated that tourism is a business venture that also requires investment in order to raised standards for expected returns to flow in.
Remarking after a tour of notable culture and tourism assets located on the Lagos Island axis of the state conducted by the state’s Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism, Mrs Toke Benson-Awoyinka, Wednesday morning, the Sterling Bank chief maintained the private sector is set to mine the sector’s business opportunities for job creation, economic empowerment and also project Lagos and Nigeria in the proper perspective.
The Lagos commissioner had conducted the Managing Director of Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Suleiman along with the Director General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Mr. Olugbile Holloway on a tour of key culture and tourism destinations on the Island, including; the Onikan House, J.Randle Centre for Yoruba Culture, the National Museum, and the Freedom Park on Inner Marina.
“Tourism is also a business. The way you grow tourism is the way you grow arts and culture and the creative industry and that is to make sure that there is enough resources to invest.
“It is only when you have invested that you can then raise standard that people from all over the world can see and be willing to come here.
“If you go on this tour and you see the incredible wealth and history that is hidden, that is just waiting to be put out there, you will understand that there is a lot of business opportunities for job creation, and to also project this city and this country in the right light. That is what we are trying to do,” Suleiman said.
According to the Sterling Bank boss, his financial institution is exploring opportunities in the tourism industry, which, he added, explains the rationale for the tour of key tourism and culture assets in the state.
“As we go long, we imagine ourselves providing funding to those who are trying to grow tourism, invest in hospitality, invest in hotels, invest in the transport that connect them.
“And in some cases work with museums and monuments and ensure that we can preserve this thing in a form that is not just for our enjoyment, but also for the future generation,” he stated.
On his part, Director General of the NCMM, Mr. Holloway harped on partnership between the state and federal governments, as according to him, ‘ss far visitors are concerned, they don’t have any business knowing whether it is state or federal. They just want to come and enjoy themselves.’
Holloway noted that the federal government now needs to showcase Lagos state as a destination.
“The National Museum itself is a national monument. By partnering with Lagos state we can make the national museum a tourist hub in a wider ecosystem of cultural tourism. Onikan itself is a cultural hub.
“By working with the Lagos State government and incorporating the museum, it is obvious that gone are the days when you will say this is state, and this is Federal Government because as far visitors are concerned, they don’t have any business knowing whether it is state or federal. They just want to come and enjoy themselves,” the NCMM boss said.
Speaking earlier after the tour, the commissioner declared that the government is ready to partner with the private sector to grow tourism and culture in the state in changing the tourism and culture narrative of the state.
Explaining the decision for the tour, the commissioner said it was intended to ‘show
Lagosians, and to show the world the potential of Lagos tourism, the potential in showing off our heritage, and also of us telling our history, and not being told by other people.’
According to Benson-Awoyinka, the tour ‘is also to show our children that there is so much embedded in Lagos. There is so much culture, there is so much heritage. It is to showcase what you can do on a normal day in Lagos.
“Lagos state is about live, work and play, that is what have come out here to show you all,” the commissioner stressed.
Continuing, the commissioner stated another reason for the tour was to engage and commit the private sector players to buy into the Lagos tourism venture, as according to her, ‘government has no business being in business but would rather create a condusive environment for business to thrive.’
The commissioner added that the choice of Sterling Bank was reinforced by the fact the institution has a track record in the tourism industry, just as she disclosed that the company represented the private sector, while the NCMM stood in for the public sector.
She reiterated that collaboration between the state and the Federal Government was critical to the success of the tourism industry in the state.
“It is collaboration. Government is supposed to create an enabling environment for business. We are not supposed to be the ones doing the running of the tourism business. So, Sterling Bank is here, showing us what they have done and what they have done in that space to enhance and to boost tourism,” Benson-Awoyinka said.
The commissioner restated the readiness of the state government to collaborate with the organised private sector (OPS) towards growing the tourism and culture assets of the state, even as she assured providing a conducive environment for such partnerships to thrive.
“Lagos is open for business and Lagos is open to promote tourism. Lagos is open to showcase our arts and our heritage, our culture. We are in embedded with rich culture.
“We are going to create that enabling environment for all the businesses in Lagos, for collaborations, for people, for young people to thrive.
“If you look around us, we have demography of very young people who waiting out there seeking for us to hold up that arm, and we are ready for them now,” the commissioner stated.
