Chinweuba Okechukwu
Recently, president Bola Ahmed Tinubu insisted that the heightened insecurity issues in the country were the handiwork of his political distractors, boldly telling the subversive elements hiding either as business men, religious leaders, sponsors of kidnappers and opposition politicians that he has the capacity to beat them all to the game.
Like his emilokan declaration some years back, the president frank and bold confession that he is aware of the plans of his enemies to bring down his government, is a grave concern for patriotic citizens of a greater Nigeria.
Unfortunately, due to its soft power and cultural opportunities, the potentials of the tourism industry to breed and instigate great damage to the security of Nigeria has failed to attract serious security scrutiny and interrogation.
Today, Nigeria does not have a verifiable register of hospitality, Travel, logistics and boat operators. The country parade a mixture of quacks and half baked operators, pretending as professionals but cleverly subverting all efforts of government to strategically connect to global cultural tourism and creative economy best ethics.
Recently, the Nigerian Drugs laws Agency (NDLA) has made substantial arrests of illicit drug traffickers who hide as hotels and hospitality investors, most using their facilities as holding bays for kidnapped Nigerians and foreigners, thus giving the country a bad name.
No day passes with the security agencies, bursting rings of occult men and women pretending and operating as “travel agents”, with fully furnished offices, most kingpins of human trafficking and transnational enablers and cartels of all manners of illegal businesses.
But for the careful nature and detailed investigations behind tracking and arresting such subversive elements, if full disclosures are thrown into public space, only God knows those who are genuine trade operators.
Indeed, lack of operational register and data of professionals in the sector has made it not only difficult but tough and expensive for our security agencies to track these subversive elements.
There are indications too that our aviation sector, particularly the non scheduled operators are dressed up as cartels, using their private jets to ferry around all kinds of unregistered cargo, human and materials, fueling insecurity in the country. Though, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority not too recently, inaugurated an intentional inventory and registration of private jet owners, sanitising that area of our aviation transport ecosystem cannot be over emphasised.
On our inland waterways, to curb the nefarious activities of smugglers and smuggling by the subversive elements parading themselves as boat operators, government through National inland waterways Authority insists of a mandatory registration of all boat owners, their operational vessels and jetties. Specifically, all un manned and illegal jetties across the country are tracked and subsequently shut down, with the navy, marine police, NDLEA and Nigeria immigration service patrolling our vast waterways to discourage enemies of Nigeria from turning our maritime opportunities into gateways for subversive activities.
On our highways across the country, the increased checks and stop and search of inter state transportation operators, is clear indication that Nigeria is threatened by these cartels and subversive elements who have deliberately chosen the soft belly of our entire enabling environment to grow tourism and travel, to upend our national development.
Let me shock and if you’re in doubt, go check the growing ambush and seizures of illegal exports of fuana resources, some unknown to science by the Nigerian Customs service. Though Nigeria, surrounded by many west coast and central neighbours,has been a transit route for illegal transportation of rare species of fauna resources, the country in recent times and due to activities of non state actors and militants groups hiding in our forests, suddenly became notoriously attractive for cartels and illegal merchants of not only our flora and fauna resources but also our our mineral resources
To check these debilitating tendencies, the government of president Bola Ahmed Tinubu insisted that a network of reforms across board must drive a new Nigeria socioeconomic and political development, strategically encouraging all government ministries and agencies to cause an audit of the mandatory delivery ecosystem. While the aviation and marine industry seems to braced for reforms, our sector parading an alarming entry and exist regime without coordination and official register of operators and trade stakeholders, has witnessed the emergence of cartels and trade fly by night operators instigating resistance to head count and professional competence valuation.
It’s has always our trade mark of our own cartels and mafia to ambush government policies and it didn’t start today. To cut these subversive elements to size, the Buhari regime inaugurated an enabling and duly sanctioned act of the National Assembly to empower National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism ( NIHOTOUR) to sanitise the sector and power a veritable register of authentic professionals and the hospitality facilities across the country.
Indeed, the anxieties and crafted gross misinformation out in the public space by a section of the industry against the nihotour regulatory reforms is instigated by those afraid to stand up for public scrutiny.
Their fear to join and support government reforms of hospitality sector, would expose their illicit activities, and blow up their covers as tax evaders, pimps, brothel operators and enablers of subversive elements.
The Inspector General of Police should detail a thorough investigation into this sector, and in collaboration with other sister agencies, particularly immigration, customs, NDLEA, team up Nihotour and the Ministry of Justice to clean up the industry.
In an industry parading over twenty three associations, with ninty percent operating as ghosts and special purpose vehicles to rig industry associations elections, time has come for the federal government to audit the activities and operational leadership of the associations and where they are found wanting, de register them and withdraw their certifications if any.
The funding of these associations should also interest the federal government and including their registered trustees, if any. A situation where unregistered immigrants and questionable ” investors ” would front Nigerians and instigate them to ambush government policies and developmental strides, is very worrisome and must be fully addressed before another war will break out from our hospitality and tourism sector.