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Federal government, Monday, hinted that Nigeria’s music and movies industry and other tourism potentials which is currently taking the world by storm, are set to further explode on strong government interventions and support.
President Muhammadu Buhari dropped this hint on Monday, while speaking at the 61st meeting of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Commission for Africa (CAF) at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, saying that the world is yet see the best of the creative young talents in Nigeria.
The tourism potentials remain limitless coming from a robust population of over 180 million people, with over 250 ethnic groups, each with a unique story, that finding expression in movies, music and many other creative ideas.
Speaking on the theme: “Tourism Statistics – A Catalyst for Development” , Buhari who was represented by Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha, listed efforts by government to boost the sector to include providing “Pioneer status to all major tourism projects; Minimum tariff on imported tourism equipment, amusement park equipment and materials for hotel construction and furnishing, dedicated transportation for tour operators and equipment for restaurants not manufactured in Nigeria”
He noted that government is committed to providing Public safety and security to all Nigerians, investors and tourists.
“Government is also investing a lot of resources into building the inventory of equipment and capacity of security agencies to keep the country safe”
Others include allowing minimum duty on Casino equipment; Work permit for foreign workers with specialized skills within the industry; and Land at concessionary rate by state governments to tourism investors.
Government said it is also deepening the legislative and institutional capacities for the protection of intellectual property rights in Nigeria, which he said ” Will give all investors the assurance of security of their rights especially in the creative industry”
Buhari had noted that the meeting could not have come at a better time than now, considering the significance of Tourism Statistics and Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) in measuring the contribution of the tourism sector to the national economy.
“The importance of tourism and its potentials to national economies cannot be overemphasized”
“Tourism, as we all know, contributes to the wealth of nations and the well-being of citizens, largely through foreign exchange earnings, generation of revenue, creation of employment, knowledge, cultural integration as well as increase the GDP of the country”
Government said it is making steady efforts to diversify the economy through agriculture, solid minerals development and tourism.
“We are also investing heavily in infrastructure to promote tourism. This administration has injected about US$9 billion to strengthen its investment in power, roads and railway in the past two years alone.”
According to the President, “government is investing in Social Investment Programme (SIP) to promote human capital development which has benefitted over 9 million people”
“These programmes include our Home-Grown School Feeding Programme that is providing one meal a day to 7.4 million pupils in 22 states of the Federation; N-Power programme that has employed 200,000 university graduates and is about to employ 300,000 more; the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) under which some 297,973 poor homes are receiving 5,000 Naira monthly; and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP) that has provided loans to hundreds of thousands of small business owners.”
Tony Ailemen, Abuja
