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THE TOURISM POTENTIALS OF NIGERIA'S CULTURE...
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By Prof. Wande Abimbola
With over 300 different ethnic groups and languages, Nigeria is one of the richest nations in the world as far as culture is concerned. Each ethnic group has its own language, its own dance, music and musical instruments and its own religion and tradition.

“The most important potential of Nigeria's culture which can be developed for purposes of tourism is the rich and diverse culture of Nigeria's peoples.” It is therefore important for us to encourage each ethnic group of our country to preserve their culture and nurture it in a way that it can be exhibited to a wider audience of tourists who would come from every nook and corner of the world to enjoy our culture on a continuous basis.

We are, however, faced with a Herculean task when we examine how to move forward to preserve our culture. As a result of the propaganda of the two world religions, Islam and Christianity, which have demonized every aspect of Nigeria's culture, some of our country men and women have been persuaded to believe that to participate in the culture and traditions of our people is ungodly and satanic. Perhaps, a way out of this problem is for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to open up a dialogue with the leaders of the two world religions mentioned above with a view to convince them that not all aspects of our culture should be forgotten. Another way out may be the introduction of courses at all levels of our educational system designed to promote our culture and encourage our younger generation to participate in aspect of our traditions.

While efforts are going on to promote and preserve our culture, there are certain aspects of our traditions which have survived and which we may need to project and exhibit to tourists allover the world. One such area of our culture is our festivals. Every region of Nigeria has one major festival that we can proudly present to visitors. One such example is the annual Argungu Fishing Festival of Kebbi State. Efforts should be made to make this an international event which will be advertised in the mass media throughout the world. Needless to say that we would need to make adequate arrangements for hospitality to receive tourists coming to Argungu to witness the festival. Another example, like Argungu Fishing festival, is the annual Osun Osogbo celebration which takes place in August of every year. During the last Osun Osogbo festival, I was privileged to attend as the representative of Mr. President, and I noticed that there were hundreds of people who came from the United States, Europe and other places to witness the occasion. I am positive that with a little bit of support from the Federal and State governments, the annual Osun Osogbo festival would become such an international event that will rival the Indian Ganges river celebration which is already well known to tourists allover the world.

Nigeria is one of the richest countries in the world when we speak of cultural dances, music, musical instruments and chants. A few examples will suffice. The Ekpe dance of the Efik and Ibibio, the Atilogwu dance of the Igbos which are already well known and the Swange dance of the Tivs in Benue State are few examples of what we can easily exhibit for visitors to enjoy. Another example is the Durbar assemblies of the Hausa Fulani in Kano, Katsina, Kaduna and Borno. It is a well known fact that this colourful exhibition of royalty and the culture of the ordinary people of those places is an important aspect of the traditions of Northern Nigeria during which beautiful chants in Nigeria languages; horse racing, dances and traditional music of Nigeria can come to the fore front.

Nigeria is blessed with many historical sites, cities, settlements, towns and villages which we can prepare for tourists to see from time to time. One such place is the historic and beautiful city of Kano. Another place that is full of history and tradition is the ancient city of Ile- Ife. To mention only a few more, we may turn our attention to places like Lokoja, at the confluence of the great Niger and Benue rivers; Calabar in the extreme south-east of Nigeria; Enugu, the coal city; and Lagos State which is full of islands, peninsulars, lagoons and a number of ocean beaches. The city of Jos has always been important to tourists largely because of its climate, while Benin-city is an important destination for people interested in visiting a modern city which has preserved a lot of its traditions. In this regard, we should not fail to mention Abuja which is today one of black Africa's most beautiful and well laid-out cities. Inspite of the fact that the garden city of Port-Harcourt is a major center for the production of oil and gas, it has remained an important tourist destination in Nigeria. Nor can we overlook important places like Obudu Cattle Ranch where tourist facilities are already being made available and Bida where there are important artifacts, such as pottery, beads and bronze objects which have continued to attract tourists.

I have already mentioned the Atlantic Ocean and its beaches above. Many tourists from Europe and the United States are looking for well developed beaches to spend their time in the sun. With a very long Atlantic coastline, our country is blessed with one of the longest beaches in Africa. We would need to spend some money to develop these beaches to an international standard which will be safe and beautiful enough for tourists to visit. We also have lakes, lagoons and dams such as the famous Kanji dam, which we should be able to develop for the enjoyment of tourists.

During the colonial period, a number of parks were created and preserved such as Old Oyo National Park, and Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi State. International visitors from allover the world are already used to visiting safaris in East and South Africa and other places to look at animals and the natural environment. We would need to publicize the existence of these parks and also develop other parks and gardens throughout the country where tourists who are interested in nature will congregate from time to time. In this regard, we may also mention some of our rivers, like Niger and Benue, warm-springs and waterfalls, which abound in this vast country. We also have many species of animals, birds, insects and trees some of which are native to our country. Some tourists are interested in climbing mountains and following trails of animals in the forest. Even though, this country does not have many tall mountains, but we have a number of significant hills high lands and Plateau which should interest people coming from other parts of the world.

A unique feature of Nigeria's culture is our markets. Every zone of this country has huge markets boistering with life and commercial activities. We should develop such markets for visitors to Nigeria to be able to mingle with our people, and buy the products of Nigeria both agricultural products and made-in-Nigeria goods. At this juncture, we may wish to expedite action on plans, which I believe are already being considered, to create one or two international free markets in Nigeria.

This country is blessed with a number of higher institutions which can be developed as places of excellence for tourists to enjoy. Such beautiful institutions include the famous Ahmadu Bello University, the well-planned and equally beautiful Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and others, which can attract tourists. We may also wish to encourage our Universities allover the country to establish summer courses on Nigerian history and culture for tourists to attend while at the same time enjoying the beauty of some of our campuses. The University of Ibadan is our first University and it has maintained its premier position in many fields of academic learning. Furthermore, the University of Ibadan has a famous Zoo, which can be developed for international visitors to enjoy. Before I end this short paper, I like to address the issue of the importance of Museums to tourism. We already have important museums in many areas of our country but I observe that we do not have a museum in Abuja. This is a lapse on our part, which we will need to quickly rectify. Museums tell the history of a people and their culture in such a visibly powerful manner that can hardly be equaled by any other medium of expression. We will need to find ways and means of developing the museums we already have and establishing new ones before we can be confident that the story of Nigeria has been told in such a way that it will have a lasting effect on the minds of our visitors.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasize the need for us to collaborate with the local authorities of our country in order to sell the idea of encouraging tourism and making adequate preparation for tourists. These local authorities include the officials of our local governments and our traditional rulers. When international visitors come to our country, it is people at the local level that they will interact with. We would therefore need to put our own house in order before we invite people from other parts of the world to visit us. There is no doubt at all that when our people to see the benefit of the huge dividends that tourism can bring to our country, they will begin to support measures being put in place by the authorities to boost tourism and to collectively develop our tourist potentials.

One serious draw-back on the issue of tourism is the all important question of security. It is not a secret that there are serious security problems in Nigeria today. The question then arises, "Is it wise for us to open up our country to millions of visitors knowing fully well that they may be at risk?" The answer to this question is that we cannot wait until a time when the country will be completely secure before we welcome visitors. As a matter of fact, such a time when there will be total security within our borders will never come. No country in the world is totally secure. What we need to do is to put in place extra measures for the protection of our visitors. One would also hope that when the ordinary people begin to reap the huge dividends of tourism, they will cooperate much more with the Police in what should be an on-going and determined programme for prevention of crime.

Development of tourism should not be an affair of government alone. It must be a partnership between the ordinary people, who will welcome and entertain the visitors, and the governments at all levels who will put in places measures to raise tourism to an international standard. There is no gain saying the fact that when the tourism potentials of Nigeria are well developed, this country will make much more money from tourism than we are now making or will ever make from oil and gas. We are all sitting on a gold mine. Let us all help to open up this gold mine in an orderly and efficient manner for the benefit of all our people.

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