BusinessDay 08 Apr 2018

44
C002D5556 Sunday 08 April 2018
Travel
New NATOP sets to emerge in Jos AGM
…outgoing executive assures on sustainability of professionalism, feats
OBINNA EMELIKE
As members of the Nigerian
Association of Tour
Operators (NATOP) converge
in Jos, the Plateau
State capital, for their Annual
General Meetings (AGM) 2018
from tomorrow, stakeholders in the
Nigerian tourism industry hopes
for the best in the elective meeting,
especially for competent hands to
emerge and steer the association to
greater heights.
Well, the outgoing executive has
done well in repositioning the association,
seeking fruitful collaborations
in promoting Nigerian tourism and
exposing its membership to international
best practice in their business.
To sustain the feats of the association,
Nkereuwem Onung, the
outgoing president of NATOP and his
executive, are not leaving any stone
unturned at ensuring a smooth transition
of power and most importantly,
that competent hands take charge
after the AGM.
On April 9, 2018 at Hill Station
Hotel, venue of the AGM, Onung assures
that he will deliver a new and
more professional association to
members, Nigerian tourism sector
and the country at large.
However, the elective AGM is
going to be very interesting for
many things. First, this is the first
time NATOP is holding its AGM in
the Jos and in any northern Nigerian
city. Again, NATOP executives have
resolved to roll in younger leaders to
encourage the youths to take charge,
learn and impact the society better.
As well, the outgoing president
recalled the past, the feats and need
to achieve. From 15 professional tour
operators registered by NTDC in
2011 when other travel associations
had over 2000 registered members,
Onung is excited that today, NATOP
has grown to a national association
that is reckoned with by Nigerians.
Over the years, the association has
also become the voice of tourism
private sector and has engaged government
on contentious issues. Of
course, the growing relevance in matter
of tourism Nigerian has become
a thing of envy to other associations.
Onung and the entire members
of NATOP are grateful to Segun
Runsewe, director general, Nigerian
Council of Art and Culture, then the
director general, Nigerian Tourism
Development Corporation (NTDC),
who in 2011 officially registered tour
operators as professional tourism
practitioners in Nigeria.
“Let me use this medium to
appreciate all members of NATOP
especially the present executives for
their solidarity and steadfastness
that has been exhibited in the past
years. It has been a long Journey. We
picked up an association at a fragile
stage with very few members and
little visibility and have seen it grow
into limelight and prominence to the
extent that other associations feel
threatened.
We have witnessed desperate
Nigerian tourism media, experts decry wildlife depletion
Nigeria’s travel and tourism
journalists have collectively
spoken against the continuing
attacks on the local wildlife
population, calling on the government
and other relevant institutions
to take the problem seriously.
“As a nation we need to let people
know that these animals are national
assets,” says Ikechi Uko, publisher of
African Travel Quarterly (ATQ) magazine
and an influential voice on the
continent. “Nigeria needs to make
a lot more effort to protect the few
animals left by shaming the killers and
prosecuting some.”
Wale Olapade, Tourism Editor at
the Nigerian Tribune proposes stiff
penalties for indiscriminate poaching
Nkereuwem Onung
that goes on daily in Nigeria. “Also
there is need for a long-term campaign
on the importance of game
reserves and wildlife parks as it relates
to the socio- economic wellbeing of
Nigeria’s eco-tourism landscape,”
he adds.
“Nigeria is just full of people who
only think about what to eat today and
not how to feed a community for the
long-term,” says travel blogger and
author, Pelu Awofeso who has already
started a social-media campaign
#SaveNigeriasWildlife in the hope that
it will help draw more attention to the
issue. “Imagine how many more tourists
would be drawn to Idanre town if
they learned there was an Elephant
colony there.”Early in March photo-
graphs of a dead elephant, the hunter
who killed it and a crowd of onlookers
in Janiyi village (Idanre, Ondo State)
surfaced on Nigeria’s social media.
It became an instant talking point on
several online platforms and the focus
of newspaper editorials.
Oddly enough, this shooting happened
in the same week that the
international community marked
World Wildlife. According to news
reports, the locals claimed that over
time herds of elephants had repeatedly
strayed into the community, and
in the process destroyed crops and
houses, and trampled on people.
And so fed up with constantly being
in the mammals’ arms way, the locals
called on the hunters, who tracked the
elephants and eventually shot one.
“There are many ways this is
wrong, but you can’t fix a problem permanently
if the origin of the problem
isn’t dealt with,” said the twitter handle
@LogicallySpeakn, reacting to a tweet
with hundreds of comments, likes and
retweets. “Are the agencies in charge
of wildlife in Nigeria ignorant too? It’s
easy to blame the shooter, what about
the people who let it happen?”
During the celebration of World
Environment Day in June 2016, Nigeria’s
former Environment Minister
and currently United Nations Deputy
Secretary-General Amina Mohammed
was quoted to have said: “The
status of wildlife in the country leaves
efforts by some individuals who are
not tour operators and some outside
forces attempting to scuttle and
hijack the association and crash it.
Thanks to a few dedicated members
of the association who stood
firm, supported and funded the association
up until now. I appreciate
them”, the elated outgoing president
explained.
He also noted that Plateau State
government should be commended
for accepting to host the AGM and
also making history as the first Northern
State to host the meeting.
“Plateau State Government, in
an attempt to refresh and highlight
“Destination Plateau”, has accepted
much to be desired, as the rate of
depletion of the population of animals
like the elephants, leopards, giraffes
and crocodiles amongst others are
frightening.”
Shocked and upset, Nigerians
chastised the “ignorant” hunter
for depriving the village of a potential
source of tourist dollars. Some
commentators called for him to be
prosecuted, arguing that his action
was ill-advised and dents ongoing
biodiversity conservation efforts in
the country; many called for hunter
groups nationwide and communities
to be better educated on the importance
and benefits of preserving the
unique animal and plant species in
their communities.
“It is a shame that a nation which
once had the most diverse population
of elephants in the world can now
boast only a few because they have
been hunted almost to extinction,”
writes ThisDay, a national newspaper.
“The Idanre Forest Reserve, where the
latest tragedy took place, covers 561
square kilometres and is a designated
nature reserve of the International
Union for Conservation of Nature.”
The hills of Idanre are also a UNES-
CO World Heritage Site, one of two to
be found in Nigeria, which has seven
National Parks. The West African country
is a signatory to the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES) and his laws—the
to host tour operators from April 7-9,
2018”, he said.
In appreciation of the gesture,
Onung said, NATOP has agreed to
partner with the government to help
grow another tourism destination in
Nigeria, thereby promoting domestic
tourism.
Speaking on the rationale for
moving the AGM to the northern
region, the outgoing president said,
“NATOP is a National Association and
as such, her AGM should be rotated
across the country.This will be my
last AGM as president, and as such I
invite all members to take advantage
of the event and promote tourism in
the Plateau”.
Highlighting some of his achievements,
Onung said he has grown and
stabilized membership of the association.
“Abuja is Nigeria’s federal capital
and should have a strong presence
of NATOP. The executive took the
initiative to set up a chapter in Abuja
because it is the duty of executive to
propel the association. After Abuja,
Warri/Port Harcourt and the South
East are the next in line for inauguration”,
he assured.
The outgoing president also appreciates
his predecessors. “I want
to use this medium to thank Fatima
Garbati who steered the ship of
NATOP in the past and handed over
to us. I believe that a new NATOP will
emerge after Jos AGM where young
professionals will be given opportunity
to participate”.
Tamukat Weli, Commissioner for
Tourism, Plateau State and her team,
wait to fete NATOP members and
Nigerian tourism stakeholders to the
hospitality of Plateau.
National Park Service Act, the Endangered
Species Act, The Forestry Act
and Wild Animals Act—to protect its
flora and fauna heritage. Apparently,
they’ve been largely overlooked.
There have been slaughters of this
nature in recent years, reported in
the media but largely ignored by the
authorities. In January, six chimpanzees
as well as a manatee were killed
in Delta State; conservationists say
that three manatees were also killed
in Lagos weeks earlier. In December
2017, local vigilantes killed an African
Civet in Benin City (Edo State). Back in
February of the same year, locals in
an Abuja locality captured and killed
a Hippopotamus; and whales that
washed up on the shores in Lagos,
Ondo and Akwa Ibom States were
cut in pieces and shared. In all of these
cases, the locals ate their catch.
Newspaper reports quote the
commissioners for environment,
tourism and culture in Ondo State
as saying they couldn’t be bothered.
Curiously, the public institutions with
responsibilities for tourism promotion
and development—the Federal Ministry
of Information and Culture (FMIC),
the Nigeria Tourism Development
Corporation (NTDC), the National
Parks Service (NPS), the Forestry Research
Institute, to mention just four
— have been mostly silent on these
developments.