Following the sack of the former director general of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC, Mrs Sally Mbanefo, by the federal government on Wednesday November 30, tourism stakeholders in the country have urged the federal government to appoint a competent replacement from experienced and tested Nigerians in the tourism industry.
The stakeholders observed that this has become necessary if the plan of the government to tap from tourism which has been described as one of the low hanging fruits in this time of recession.
The stakeholders noted that the appointment of an experienced official to man NTDC at this time the organisation is at its lowest ebb and the marketing of Nigerian tourism potential is at zero level, will be the panacea needed to revive the agency and reposition Nigerian tourism.
According to the stakeholders, the government should learn from the past mistake made by the appointment of a banker who was thought will make NTDC a money spinner with her banking experience, but she ended up failing.
Speaking on what qualities and experiences required for the incoming DG of NTDC, Dr Mubo Eniola, the former permanent secretary Kogi State ministry of culture and tourism and a seasoned tourism expert by qualification and profession, condemned past appointments in NTDC, saying they did not meet the criteria and did not impact on the industry.
He observed that everything has been bad in NTDC right from the beginning as such appointments were ridiculous, not solid and did not make the desired change.
Dr. Eniola stated that anybody that should be appointed as the NTDC boss must have the professional and administrative capabilities to do the job very well.
He pointed that the job of the DG of NTDC should be given to a core professional, no matter his tribe or ethnicity or connection, as long as he/ she is qualified and can do the job well.
“The job should not be given based on connection or party affiliation or because the appointee is a girlfriend of those in authority, but just a quiet achiever that will make things work. The government should do a proper interview on the right people based on their experiences, qualifications and pedigree,” he said.
On whether he can suggest likely names of people he thinks might be capable of doing the job, Dr. Eniola said most of the people he knew in the industry are now old and as such cannot recommend anybody.
He said: “You know that am supposed to be appointed as the director general of NTDC, but some people who do not want me there, did everything to stop me from becoming the DG and I would have made the difference based on my pedigree as a Phd holder in tourism and as an experienced practitioner.”
He berated the federal government for merging the Ministry of Tourism to Information thereby by making tourism irrelevant.
The former permanent secretary of Kogi State ministry of tourism urged the government to retrace their steps by restoring the ministry.
He stressed that Nigeria needs to promote more of domestic tourism than the promotion of international tourism, adding that things must be on ground before promoting and marketing them.

In his contribution, the president of National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies, NANTA, Mr. Bernard Bankole stated that the country’s tourism stakeholders need to consulted on the choice of the next DG of NTDC.
The tourism industry needs a person with passion for tourism and with the right exposure and not just a newcomer, Bernard said.
According to him: “The appointment of who becomes the next DG of NTDC should not be a party thing, but a core professional in the industry who will help in moving tourism forward. If I should call names now, people would say am biased. The person should be well travelled, experienced and above all, have passion for tourism.”
Speaking also, Mr. Frank Meke, a tourism Journalist stated that what is required is more than experience and expertise to revive the agency which was run down by the former director general.
He explained that the agency needs to be overhauled completely as the workers morale has sunk to the lowest ebb in recent years.
The person for the job needs to be a fast thinker who will be able to change things by bringing money to the agency, because since the government is not releasing money again, the person must be highly connected to bring result to the agency.
He said though this is not going to be an easy job.
“You need a kind of new orientation for the workers who have lost confidence in the agency, it needs a lot of work, more than experience is needed here to change things in NTDC, because a lot of damage has been done.
Meanwhile, some of the stakeholders who do not want to be named for obvious reasons listed some of the leading names in the industry as highly qualified for the job.
The names include:
Mr. Ikechi Uko, the organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Lagos and organiser of the Seven Wonders of Nigeria, Gabe Onah of Carnival Calabar, Stella Obinwa of Dubai Tourism, Ayo Olowokporoku of HSSL and former head of Vision 202020 Tourism Committee, Kabiru Malan, Nkereuwem Onung, the president of Nigeria Association of Tour operators, NATOP and Fatima Garbati, former director of consumer protection of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA and a tourism expert.
According to them, these people have knowledge,exposure and connections which is key for the business.