The President Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) Dr Aliyu Badaki has has called on government and critical stakeholders in the tourism industry in Nigeria to change the narratives by putting proper structure in place that will enhance all businesses and also promote the country.
Badaki lamented that the tourism indusyry is not where it’s supposed to be today because of lack of proper structure.
He noted that Nigeria cannot continue doing the same thing the same way and expect different results.
Speaking at the 2026 Akwaaaba African Travel Market in Lagos on Sunday, Badaki stated that this lack of proper structure was what led him to introduce the Tourism Transformation Agenda as his campaign mantra when campaigning for President as a way to change the tourism narrative.
He said FTAN has been at the forefront tasking the government and critical stakeholders on the need to change these narratives by putting proper structure in place that will enhance and promote tourism.
Badaki stated that at 22 years Akwaaba has come of age as it’s no longer a teenager, but now an adult.
According to him, to be an adult, you know what it means organising this event for 22 years back-to-back, it is not funny.
“Just organizing an event for a year, you know what it means, but for one person to be doing this back-to-back for 22 years and to be able to encourage the whole West Africa to participate in one—under one roof—we really appreciate this, and we encourage others to keep on supporting this laudable event”, Badaki stated
He continued that “as the umbrella body of the private sector in tourism businesses, we’ll always lend our support to Akwaaba and well-meaning people that are into such a thing like this to promote our nation and West Africa in general”.
