At the recently-concluded World Travel Market in London, United Kingdom, a London-based African Market Tourism CEO, Ben Omoakin-Oguntala, spoke with Funke Olaode, on why Nigeria needs to join the global train of tourism
The early morning winter which blew relentlessly welcomed this reporter to the meeting point with Ben Omoakin-Oguntala. Oguntala is a tourism promoter and advocate of good life for the less privileged. He is the CEO of African Market Tourism, a platform in which he wants to promote local tourism. With recession facing many countries and the dip in oil prices, many countries now gravitate towards tourism to boost its economy and he wants his community to join the train.
For Oguntala, charity they say begins at home and in his new foray, he wants to embark on local tourism through Ode Remo Development Project. Throwing more light on what it entails, he said it is about starting a development job in the community of Ode-Remo based on an initiative being put together by the African Natural Rulers, founded by Oloni of Eti Oni, Oba Dokun Thompson. It is an initiative to bring development to rural areas in Africa. Ode Remo is just one of the pilots.. “What we want to do is to convert all the Ode-Remo (my home town) natural assets into a platform where commerce and trade is promoted, which I believe in the long run will boost the local community economy.
At the end of the exercise, I am sure 10,000 jobs will be created. For instance, we are going to showcase agricultural raw materials from the land to various unique attributes of Ode Remo that is of interest to other communities. How do we intend to create 10,000 jobs? The idea is that when we identify 500 raw materials, we will create development projects out of them. We are proposing an errand project that will involve Ode Remo citizens in the Diaspora. We are creating about 500 online businesses and will use technology to get it stationed at Ode Remo. If this project is successful, the Ogun citizens in the Diaspora will engage the locals in Ode Remo to start the services.
It means money is transferred to errand services if you need any help within the community. Also, we are starting a project called ‘Virtual Doctor.’ It is a kind of tele-medicine services where members of the international community would provide medical assistance via tele-conferencing. Ode Remo will start by having the largest concentration of medical doctors by providing medical assistance for the locals. For instance, international medical personnel who want to render a service need somebody to monitor it. So, youths are engaged in the process using the internet facilities.”
Speaking further on how he intends to set up a technology training centre for the project, “One of the colleges in Ode Remo, Sapade Secondary school is being considered as a training ground. If we turn a school to a resource centre that will host a training centre for the project, it will be sustainable. We intend to train the people and give them time to acclimatise to what is coming. Again, you cannot do that in isolation – we want to do it with trade. For instance, if I am going to start my business in Ode Remo, I will have a payment service that can allow people to make payment online. In the process, I will become a payment consultant, which means 50 payment consultants exist in Ode Remo, every single trade that needs my services I will make it available to them.”
Abeokuta is renowned for its tourist attractions in Nigeria, like the Olumo rocks and other recognised national festivals. Oguntala says the new initiative is not to outshine the already known destinations. “The aim is not to outshine the existing tourism projects. As far as I am concerned, tourism can be initiated from any part of Nigeria and not Ogun State alone. Ode Remo is just one of the communities. In this case, there are many Ode Remo citizens outside the community who are interested in what is going on and they believe they can bring about financial traffic. If we can generate commercial traffic that can generate financial gain, it is for the benefit of the community. The immediate and future gain of this initiative is to attract traffic to Ode Remo and similar communities in Nigeria. In Atlanta, for instance, we have people who are from Sagamu and want to take part in this project. About 30 doctors have volunteered to provide medical services on this platform. It means that Ode Remo will have the highest concentration of qualified international medical doctors providing medical services for locals. What it means is that my organisation is going to provide a centre where people will converge for this medical assistance. The Alaye of Ode Remo is providing a hub where the project will be flagged off. There will be a local medical practitioner who will work with the international medical personnel. Tele-medicine is already being used in many African countries,” he assured
Is the project going to be a public-private partnership? “The project is privately funded. The idea is that if you are an indigene of Ogun State in the Diaspora, whatever service you want to render in Ode Remo, we will provide the enabling environment and the local resources to execute the project. It is privately funded at the moment. We have professionals who have put their resources together. For instance, a group wants to start a microfinance bank in Ode Remo and then builds it up from there. If you are starting a development project and looking for a fund from an external sources it doesn’t go far.”
While many projects have failed woefully due to lack of planning and environmental factors, Oguntala promised that the Ode Remo Development project is achievable because one of the concepts of the The African Natural Rulers is embedded around the traditional rulers. “Natural rulers last longer than government and they are closer to the community and this kind of project that will be of interest to the rural communities. So, it is an initiative that is revolved around Kabiyesi.
The purpose of this new initiative is to promote local tourism. Oguntala highlights some of tourism opportunities that Ode Remo can benefit from.
“Apart from medical tourism and natural resources that are being promoted, there are other opportunities. As Oba Dokun Thompson always says, there are two or three things that make Nigerians move from one place to another: religion, party, and cultural activities.
A lot of people move to different parts of the country either to visit relations, for parties or religion. All these are tourism. What we want to do as a body is to look at every street in Ode Remo and create a digital road map, which means you are able to navigate the area. There are other good things about Ode Remo that you can discover on your phone. By providing that digital concept it means you have knowledge about what Ode Remo has to offer. Again, there are abandoned houses in the community that people don’t use anymore. We can convert them to places of hospitality; somewhere people can lodge – that will draw traffic to the town. It doesn’t have to be a five-star hotel.
In terms of medical tourism, provision of services that have never existed in any part of Nigeria will become a reality. I have 50 medical doctors in the US that are ready to work (in Ode Remo). The question is that, are there people who need medical help? The answer is yes. And as long as such people exist, the project will sustain itself. Likewise, as long as raw materials are available and people are willing to trade, the project will continue. We believe in private sector initiative and we will copy Aliko Dangote’s principle (which says trade thrives in the hands of private sector). My aim is to inject change, because if you create an environment that promotes trade and employment it will alleviate poverty.”
Commenting on how tourism can boost economic development in Nigeria, Oguntala says until Nigeria understands her tourism potential and stop pain lip service. “I understand Calabar is one of the tourist hubs of Nigeria. How many people have been to Calabar? The problem is that we don’t know ourselves and our tourism potential. Going forward, I will suggest that all these tourist sites should be documented online so that those who are far away can explore the tourist resources in Nigeria without being there physically. To get to many places in Nigeria you have to go by road. There is security challenge.
I will suggest that tourism should be brought online for the outside world to see. Even if it is subscription service alone Nigeria will make money,” he concluded.
