A Cultour Agenda For Abia Governor-Elect – By Chuks Akamadu

In my soon-to-be-unveiled book titled “Harnessing Cultour for Economic Growth”, I minced no word in forcefully arguing that “the single greatest challenge besetting the cultour sector is the perennial failure or obstinate refusal by successive governments – with a wide range of stakeholders as accomplices – to see it, rightly, as a fertile economic land, both in theory and praxis, with potential to de-escalate the current unemployment crisis in Nigeria. It is therefore the aspiration of this book, in the main, to challenge the status quo, through a compelling thesis, with an ambitious eye on relocating the sector from the fringes of our national economy to a deserved place of prominence and priority.”

This same reality is applicable to Abia State and several others. Abia’s is, however, a unique case, in the sense that it is not only blessed with abundance of touristic products and choice tourism destinations, it, unlike her sister-states, sits on unique tourism monopolies that ought to confer on her obvious economic advantage over others.

From the cultural flank, Ikpirikpe War Dance of Ohafia is a peerless cultural tourism product in both Nigeria and on the entire continent of Africa. The only slave route east of the Niger is found in Arochukwu. The only blue river in Nigeria is in Azumini, just as Umuahia plays host to the only war museum in Nigeria. And somehow, these cultoural assets are spread across the three senatorial districts of the state. It is only in a state like Abia that government would allow these cash-cows sleep and even snore, even in the face of mounting economic challenges. I shall return to this shortly.

There is yet another pitfall that Dr. Alex Otti should be mindful of. In our clime, the word “culture” evokes a sense of celebration, beautiful costumes, artistic displays, sound, dance and sundry artforms that verge on aesthetics. It could also encompass tradition, values and norms we hold dear to our hearts. This is arguably the furthest it can travel. On its part, “tourism” in both the conscious and subconscious of the average Nigerian refers to travel and tours simplicita. So, the predominant perception of the different layers of the society, therefore, is that “culture” and “tourism are social activities – or essentially so. This is the identity they carry.

This explains, in large parts, why they are not considered, generally speaking, as notable economic frontiers. Worse still, they are in certain cases viewed as luxuries by both the public and private sectors, to the detriment of the economy. This is a limitation which ironically is not universally obtainable. For, elsewhere culture and tourism play major economic roles which include foreign exchange earnings, stimulating and/or enhancing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, job creation etc.

On the contrary and quite instructively, too, the 2022 edition of Nigeria’s annual Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST) had “Using Culture to Unite the Nation” as its theme. For a nation’s flagship cultural fiesta – which otherwise should be a major tourism stampede – to be simply passed off as a “tool for unity” clearly betrays Nigeria’s predilection for viewing cultour as a mere social pastime.

Having identified this identity concern as a gap, more so when it has to do with a struggling economy such as ours, it behooves us to seek a home-grown solution that suits our local conditions for the purpose of optimal exploitation of culture and tourism as fertile economic grounds. The identity has to change for them to be perceived rightly as potential economic pillars.

It is with the above in mind that I would like to argue that culture and tourism are practically inseparable, with the latter being, in a sense, a subset of the former, which is why an attempt to put them apart always results in blurring their inherent economic potentials. As an item, “cultour” (culture+tourism) presents an obvious economic face that does not only compel attention, but also makes a very strong case for its prioritization. Here lies the difficulty in discussing one without the other.

It should be noted that by their very nature and given the peculiarities of our environment, culture nourishes tourism and vice versa; that means attempting to separate the two would naturally lead to mutual loss of nutrients. This has been our bane! It is for this reason that culture and tourism social utility value is not only very pronounced, but obscures their vast economic potentials.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for instance, and consistent with the cultour philosophy, the Department of Culture and Tourism (short of using the expression “cultour”) was established in February 2012 by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, to replace Abu Dhabi’s two main tourism and culture agencies, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage. This clearly attests to the validity of the cultour model. Is it any wonder therefore that UAE’s economy which flourishes on the soil of cultour recently had Dubai ranked among the top 10 financial centres of the world? Food for thought.

Back to Abia. The task before God’s Own State under the in-coming administration of Dr. Otti, therefore, is its ability to view cultour from a different lens – a lens that captures it rightly as a veritable economic tool that has the potential to significantly jerk up the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the state and considerably address the unemployment crisis currently rocking it.

It is true that overall, the sector is bleeding on account of an obsolete cultural policy. It is equally true that the Nigerian Tourism Development Masterplan (2006) is long overdue for review. Yes, neither the 35 year-old Cultural Policy for Nigeria (!988) nor the 17 year-old Tourism Masterplan can support optimal industry performance, but a leader that is genuinely committed to economic diversification through the cultour superhighway would take due advantage of the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) Act and the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) Act recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari. Whilst the former provides for robust and mutually-beneficial collaboration between the federal government and subnational entities, the latter has strengthened the institute’s capacity to effectively discharge it mandate of training and production of skilled manpower needed in the hospitality and tourism industry.

Let me, at this point, admit that with the current economic outlook highlights of which include incredible debt profile, backlog of salaries, gratuities and pension, inflation, infrastructural deficit and rising unemployment, it will be increasingly difficult for Abia to continue to rely substantially on its statutory share of the monthly Federal Allocation to meet basic financial obligations.

Consequently, there naturally would be the temptation to shore up the state’s internally-generated revenue base by resorting to more effective task regimes. In the days ahead, it won’t be surprising to see a good number of states considering this to be their low-hanging fruit. For Abia, this is highly unlikely to fly, because the desperate state of its badly-battered indigenes would make that option both disingenuous and counter-productive.

It is therefore imperative for Abia to primarily embrace the Cultour Theory and cease perceiving it as leisure embedded in luxury. For those who see cultour in error as mere sight, sound, colours and costumes, there is a need for immediate change of notion. It would also be infantile to argue that the current security situation in the land is a death sentence on cultour; for, history would not support this except “necessity” has ceased to be “the mother of invention”.

Rwanda is a case in point. During the Rwandan genocide that occurred between April 7 and 15 July 1994, which of course was an extreme case and nothing to be compared with our present security travails, the picture looked too harrowing that it did appear that nothing good could come out of that tragic experience. Sad as that occurrence might be, it laid the foundation for the Rwanda Genocide Museum in Kigali which has received and has continued to receive millions of tourists from all over the world with the attendant economic benefits. Note also that without that horrendous event, the world would not have had Hotel Rwanda – a movie that shattered the ceiling in the global film industry. A classic case of how to turn to adversity into fortune!

The challenge before the in-coming Alex Otti government is the ability to muster the requisite political nerve to prioritize cultour, by seeing it as useful economic mast. By prioritization, what is meant here, is that Abia States should henceforth begin to appreciate cultour as a major economic index and accordingly mainstream it into its development plans.

Let it be made abundantly clear, leaving management of the sector in the hands of merely local fabric-wearing individuals simplicita has become an obsolete policy choice. What should matter is the professional competence, experience, knowledge and exposure of cultour managers in the state. As a serious economic activity, Abia should painstakingly recruit experts in cultour, content development, management and development economists to jointly redefine the cultour sector mandates along the lines of greater economic role.

Thankfully, there are a number of countries that are shining examples of what cultour could do in the economic life of a society. Tanzania, Kenya, India, Uganda and South Africa are good examples in Africa whilst China, France, United States of America (USA) and Spain are among front-runners in the world. On its part, United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, Israel and Saudi Arabia are, in their individual rights, equally lasting testaments to the economic value of cultour.

Abia State is advised to send its freshly-recruited competent teams to understudy some of these countries and replace or enrich existing policies in line with their respective economic diversification aspirations. When competent hands are enlisted, the state should proceed quickly to include its heads as active members of the state’s economic management team (SEMT).

As members of the SEMT, they should be given specific tasks, targets and timelines that reflect the urgency of the times. This would naturally burden them – and for good measure. From their now vantage position, the life-threatening situation of the state’s economy would be better appreciated and they, of course, not have any option but to hit the ground running.

For purposes of economic viability and sustainability, Abia should bear in mind that it does not necessarily have to copy and paste what a sister-state has done or is doing successfully. What is important is for it to be guided by the wisdom in the theory of Comparative Economic Advantage. There is also need to thoroughly audit the sector, carry out needs assessment and do extensive SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis that would ultimately inform reform options to be settled for; and the attendant outcomes should be made to synchronize with the overall trade and commerce objectives of the states. For, only the fittest can survive the days ahead!

States that already have reasonable or heavy private sector presence may have little to worry about whilst those who do not – notably Abia – are now presented with opportunity to seduce cultour investors with incentives and very liberal terms of doing business, within the precincts of mutual profit, in their states. Make no mistakes about this, active involvement of the private sector and collaborative efforts of key stakeholders in the cultour sector are a desideratum.

Chuks Akamadu, MITPN, M.IoD

Managing Director, Afrocultour Limited