Principal and key tourism associations have
concluded plans to dump the Federation of Tourism
Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) for a new effective and
purposeful private sector tourism organization to be
known as Legacy Tourism Association Forum (LTAF).

The deed which was a clear response to the many
sins of Tommy Akingbogun led FTAN, was sealed and
signed in Jos, capital of Plateau state last week.

Last week, the outgoing president of FTAN was in
Lagos to woo the Nigerian travel press to support his
game plan to transfer power to an anointed candidate
who incidentally was also in Jos to witness the
inauguration of the new tourism body.

Going by the various commitments and assurances by
the various tourism associations’ leadership at the Jos
forum, FTAN as presently constituted is as good as
dead and buried, maybe with Tommy Akingbogun and
his cohorts as undertakers and mourners.

The Jos tourism political coup was long in coming,
considering several warnings and signs that FTAN
needed rebranding, re-jigging and re-motivated to
confront the many challenges facing tourism players in
Nigeria.

Significantly, the federation founded about 21 years
ago to address and wrestle the collective destiny of
tourism practitioners from the “Russian iron hold” of
Mike Amachree Presidency of the then Association of
Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN), the umbrella
body of all private sectors association, also has
21days from the time of the coup in Jos to finally hand
over the baton to the real owners of tourism
associations in Nigeria.

Indeed and possibly true is that the planned
convention of FTAN in Abuja on June 30th may end up
in fiasco and huge disappointment to Tommy
Akingbogun and his co-misadventures’ who are
frantically running around in the dark to find a way out
of whatever is left of FTAN.

Sources close to the power blocks which constituted
the new legacy tourism forum told me that the group
will not shy away in taking up any institution including
the federal and state governments on any perceived
policies that may affect the growth of tourism in
Nigeria, a positive feature of the advocacy timeline
that FTAN under Akingbogun failed to mainstream.

The legacy tourism forum will advocate and drive
Legislations that would address vexing issues of
multiple taxation, security challenges, sanitation and
environmental degradation, poor road networks and
absence of tourism human capacity building for the
sector.

It is also the dream of the legacy forum to demand
from federal and state governments, a clean sheet on
budget breakdown for ministry of tourism and its
agencies, and the institution of public hearing or town
hall meetings as a precondition to any agenda to
spend and execute public tourism projects.

To check the growing sad incidence of tourism budget
misapplication by the ministry and most of its
agencies, the forum will also set up and fund a private
tourism sector monitoring group to ensure that tourism
funds are spent as projected and allocated.From this
reporter’s close interaction at group and individual
levels, the forum may grow into a super agency of
tourism, a tourism government for tourism and for
tourism practitioners alone, a clear departure from the
failed

From this reporter’s close interaction at group and
individual levels, the forum may grow into a super
agency of tourism, a tourism government for tourism
and for tourism practitioners alone, a clear departure
from the failed FTAN experiment which was watered
down to accommodate fly by night tourism
consultants, portfolio investors, tourism racketeers
and their fronts in government tourism agencies and in
the ministry.

Those who doubt the influence and legitimacy of the
forum are in for big shock as the group pulled strings
to visit the deputy governor of Plateau State, Sonni
Gwanle Tyoden and the paramount ruler of Plateau
state and Gbong Gwon Jos, Da Jacob Buba to assure
the people of Plateau state that tourism will rise again
in the land.

The Legacy Tourism forum expressed happiness at
the enduring peace in Jos under Simon Lalong,
governor of the state, and promised to help Jos
rebound as the tourism capital of Nigeria, a position
which it lost to seven years of unfortunate disharmony
in the land.Both the Deputy Governor and the Gbong
Gwon Jos called for
Both the Deputy Governor and the Gbong Gwon Jos
called for strengthening of tourism infrastructure in
Nigeria and enjoined the forum to bring all Nigerians
together for the sake of tourism growth and
development.

Plateau state deputy governor who was visibly
impressed by the Caliber and presence of members of
the forum, promised to work with the group to promote
the state tourism carnival and put Jos tourism back
on the front burner of tourism discuss in Nigeria.At
At the palace of the Gbong Gwon Jos, the group got a
standing assurance from the traditional ruler who
promised to help network and create an enduring
platform to which the forum and traditional rulers in
Nigeria can partner to market cultural festivals in
Nigeria.

For the records and put to rest the minds of doubting
‘Thomas’(es) on the emergency of this group, those
sighted and counted at the Jos meeting of the new
tourism association initiative include, Mr. Kabir Mallan,
President of ATPN, Bankole Bernard of National
Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Mr.
Nkerenweum Onung, President NATOP, Andrew
Ehanire, President Zoo Association of Nigeria, Gani
Tarzan Balogun, President ATBOWATAN, Rabo Saleh,
MD, All STATES Travel and FTAN President nominee,
Mr. John Likita Best, SA, Tourism to Plateau governor
and Ikechi Uko, Tourism trade expo facilitator and
publisher ATQ magazine.

TheCable