Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti’
A Professor of Geography at the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Prof. Funso Afolabi, has expressed fear that the future of Nigeria is gravely endangered, with the economy resting solely on oil for survival.
Afolabi made the remarks at the EKSU while delivering the 54th inaugural lecture of the university under a theme, Tourism Entrepreneurship: Putting Profit After Suitable Location and Sustainable Hotel Operations’.
The don said the country’s economy “stands the chance of being ruined with gradual slump in crude oil prices at the international market and decline in daily crude production due to the drying off of oil wells without commensurate efforts to diversify to tourism.
Afolabi, who specialises in Recreation and Tourism Management, said Nigeria could have been a better and more prosperous nation, if huge investments had been deployed by federal government in tourism and hospitality businesses.
He noted that the federal government “is not doing enough to diversify the economy away from oil. I do not know what Nigeria will become when this oil dries off. We have to plan ahead. I do not think it was right for us to have neglected other sector like tourism, this is sad.
According to him, time has come for tourism and hospitality to be seen as a real entrepreneurship. We are clamouring for profit to be able to attract private investors.
Before the country can achieve this goal, he said the hotel owners “must look for good location, spacious environment, erect good architectural masterpiece, good delicacies, free business from legal encumbrances and above all must put in place good security. These are the drivers of the business”.
The don appealed to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to also give financial support to run the business, the way it has been doing in other sectors of the economy.
Afolabi observed that time “has come for Nigeria to perceive tourism and hospitality as real and veritable entrepreneurial ventures.”
He urged the National Universities Commission (NUC) not to delay in overhauling the curriculum taught to students in all universities, saying students as prospective wealth creators should not be half baked.
He said: “Entrepreneurs and employees are the lifeblood of any tourism and hospitality operation, with them ill-prepared and ill-motivated, that aspect of the economy will stand still.
“Most of the courses that ought to introduce students to see hospitality and tourism as real businesses are not taught and entrepreneurial success and likely failure theories that can make learners appreciate realities more meaningfully are not in place.
“Even in most of the universities, entrepreneurial courses are not well taught due to underfunding. The need for operators to respect the culture, traditions and way of lives of customers must be introduced into the curriculum”, he stated.
Afolabi stated that Ekiti could have been better now in terms of internally generated revenue if the tempo brought by Governor Kayode Fayemi in developing tourism and hospitality businesses was sustained by the immediate past government.
“We knew the facelift the governor brought Ikogosi warm spring and Ikogosi resort centre in 2011, things could have been better in that sector if such investment had been developed further”.
State.
During the visit, the governor held discussions with youth volunteers under the Civilian JTF, who had been helping with community policing. The volunteers complained about lack of patrol vehicles, and the governor promised that two brand new patrol vehicles would be given to them.
