Amachree Urges Nigerians to Elect Candidates that Can Develop Tourism

Justina Uzo

 Chairman, Brooklyn Group of Hotels and the Father of Nigeria Tourism, Chief Mike Amachree has called on the Nigerians to vote only candidates with agenda on how to improve and develop tourism at all levels across the country.

In a press statement, he said in the light of the importance of the tourism industry all over the world, it would not be in the interest of the country to elect candidates that have no clue on how to harness the vast potential of the tourism sector in order to boost the nation’s  economy.

He said: 

“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to Nigerian electorates to be wise and only vote in candidates that would help and develop Nigerian tourism.  Our current revenue from oil is unreliable and the overdependence on oil is doing great harm to the nation’s econom.”       Nigeria, he said, has a huge abundance of tourism endowments both at the level of culture and eco-tourism: “This has not been effectively tapped. So, it is important the country elects leaders that would help develop our tourism to attract both local and international visitors. This is the only way the country can generate revenue from it.

“As you may be aware, tourism helps to drive industrialization as most investors first come in as tourists before seeing business opportunities to exploit and establish in that country.

“When tourists come, the country benefits not just from the immediate form influx of cash from their expenditure while on tour, tourists help to industrialize a destination. When they come, they see business opportunities to invest and also build industries and also invest in agriculture.  This help to bring foreign investment into the country. So, it is very important the country vote in a government that will not pay lip service to tourism.

“In addition to this, the lack of stand-alone tourism ministry has also stunted the development of tourism. It is very important that the government, as a matter of urgency, create a tourism ministry which is not attached to any other ministry to oversee and supervise the growth and development in the sector.

“Because of the importance of having a stand-alone ministry of tourism, I was among those that continue to put pressure on the military government for a tourism ministry until it was finally created during the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.”

He however regretted that tourism is not being giving priority attention by the current government.

“Unfortunately, the present administration lumped tourism under the Ministry of Information and Culture.  This has negatively affected the growth of tourism in the country. The government should as a matter of urgency re-establish the rested ministry of tourism and culture,” he said.