The tourism industry is a very sensitive sector as it relies heavily on certain external factors to thrive. Image, perception and how the rest of the world sees a place are major factors in driving tourism in any country.
So, a country might have all the best tourist attractions in the world- interesting historical sights, superb landscape and scenery, great culture, festivals, warm, welcoming locals and others. But no tourist will willingly visit if the image of that country is all wrong.
That is the dilemma of Nigeria. It has all it takes-in terms of culture, natural wonders and a warm people- to be a major tourist destination, attracting people from all over the world and earning the country more money than oil. But with the way the country is perceived by outsiders as a very unsafe, corruption and crime-riddled place, Nigeria is a hard sell, tourism-wise. Ok, the Federal Government through its Ministry of Culture and Tourism is striving to place the country on the world tourism map with its launch recently of a tourism brand identity termed, ‘Fascinating Nigeria.’
There is nothing wrong with the name. In fact, the brand experts can even call it ‘Mesmerising Nigeria’ or ‘Intoxicating Nigeria’ but what’s the use of a beautiful brand name when other essential factors for attracting tourists are missing? Travelers to a country want to experience something new particularly the local traditions and culture that are usually different from theirs and interact with the locals in a safe, secure environment.
Now, every Nigerian knows, this is not one of the most secure places on earth. Even we, Nigerians are sometimes scared of our own country and think twice before venturing to certain parts. Not surprising with the insecurity in some parts of the North, kidnappings, armed robbery, ritual killings and other crimes prevalent today.
The reality is that a tourist who wants to visit Nigeria needs a crocodile-thick skin and an ability to cope with tenth rate infrastructure and social amenities, the type that advanced countries grappled with over a 100 years ago and have since made tremendous progress.
So, let’s get things right first. Create the enabling environment especially with good infrastructure and security and you won’t need a fancy brand name to draw in the tourists. For the truth is that, from my visits outside the country, many foreigners already find Nigeria a very fascinating though scary place. And one of the things that has aroused this interest in the country is our movie industry, Nollywood.
Several years ago, a workshop I attended for female journalists in an East African country, gave me an idea of the strong hold these movies have especially on the African continent and the diaspora. When some of the participants at the programme found out I was from Nigeria, they got really excited and started bombarding me with questions. Most of them were related to our movies and some of the stars.
“How’s Genevieve Nnaji? What about Omotola and Rita Dominic? We want to meet Jim Iyke! Can you link us?” they demanded. In my mind I was like: “Shuo! Wetin you dey find Jim Iyke for? Abi beating dey hungry una?”
The way they were talking, it was like I live with these movie stars or we interact every day. They don’t understand that these people have their own lives to live and I have mine. And the only time I get to see or even meet them is during work like in one-on-interviews, press briefings or on the red-carpet at shows, movie premieres and other such glamorous events I attend especially during my days covering the fashion and style beat.
Anyway, one of the participants, I think a Kenyan woman later complained about the ‘negative’ effects of our movies on marriages in her country.
“Your films are causing marital discords in many homes!” she declared. When I asked why, she explained:
“Some housewives sit all day watching these films and their house work suffer as a result. They won’t cook or clean the house. And when the husband returns from work in the evening to a dirty house with the wife looking unkempt herself, and no food, what do you expect? Quarrels and fights!”
From this, Nigeria is lucky to have a powerful tool like a film industry that has created awareness about the country and which can benefit the tourism sector. For instance, through holding film festivals and other movie-related activities that will draw in movie buffs from all over. Movies and (other forms of popular culture like pop music) are powerful medium which create potent images about a country and its people. The images could be good or bad. For instance, many Nigerians got their first perception of America through Hollywood. Through many of their films, America was portrayed as an Eldorado, a land of ‘milk and honey.’ It’s only when you travel there, you realize its all propaganda, that the U.S is not the perfect place or ‘heaven on earth’ it’s portrayed to be.
So, how do outsiders see us through the eyes of Nollywood? We are viewed as a money-mad, criminally minded, desperate people who would do anything including committing the most heinous crime for money. This perception was got from the themes that run through most of the films such as rituals, voodoo and witchcraft, crime, 419, kidnapping, assassinations, armed robbery, prostitution and others. They don’t understand that just like in other countries, we have good as well as bad Nigerians. They only see the bad ones who taint the rest with their ‘badness.’
This is something producers, directors and other stakeholders in the sector need to look into so the rest of the world don’t see us as the voodoo capital of the world. I think that title rightfully belongs to our neighbours, Benin Republic where voodoo is like a state religion and there’s even an annual voodoo festival there.