Sesan Laoye || The federal government is not serious about his diversification from oil to other sectors to boost revenue generation.
The National Vice President of the Hotelier Association of Nigeria, (South West Zone) and the President of the Association in Lagos State, Aare Tola Odunuga, has challenged the Federal government over its diversification policy, from oil to other sectors to boost revenue generation in Nigeria.
Aare Odunuga, in an exclusive interview with Alabingo.com, argued that since the past two years of the Present federal government there are no signs that the government is serious in developing other areas for revenue generation,
According to him, the government was only paying lip service that it wanted to diversify from oil, saying, that as far as their association was concerned, the country may remain where it is if immediate measures are not taken to address the issue.
He pointed out that as a matter of fact, people in the tourism business especially those of them in the hotel sector felt relief when they were told that t hotel and tourism would be developed to facilitate tourists into the country, but up till now there were no indications that the government is ready to commit anything to tourism, which to him was a sad development.
He said that the government has been under rating the potentials in the tourism sector to boost the nation’s income. Tourism he argued was taken seriously in some of the country of the world, and made specific reference, to countries in the Caribbean, North and South America and some countries in Africa like Kenya, Uganda, and Egypt where big money is made from tourism.
According to him, ’’those of us in the hotel business, cannot flourish, especially where e there are tourists centres if the government failed to pay serious attention to tourism and develop the tourists centres to international level that could attract people all over the world to visit them.
He pointed out that there are many centres calling for attention, while he referred to the Bilikisu at a village in Ijebu area where there is the Tomb of the Queen of Sheba, who was linked with King Solomon in the Bible. He said that for the mere fact that the government has failed to pay attention to it, and give it adequate publicity, many people are not aware that she died in Nigeria and buried here in Ijebuland.
‘’As far as we are concerned in our sector, I will say that that the government has not kept to all the promises concerning the diversification of the revenue base from oil to other sectors that can equally fetch the country good foreign exchange. Since this government came into power two years ago, nothing has been practically done to show that Nigeria is serious in developing, tourism, which could boost hotel business nationwide. We believe that by now the government should have taken the issue of infrastructure especially road construction seriously, to facilitate movement of tourists who may be coming into the country. Again in some states and at the federal capital Abuja, government only concentrate on helping big hotels and those who are well connected for loans and other facilities to encourage them, while they ignore small hotels, who are actually located at the centre of the tourist attractions in the country. No one knows why this is so, but what we small and medium hotels could say is that properly because some of the big hotels are owned by those who have been in government before who has big money to set up big hotels and as well using their contacts in government get patronage’’
The president of the Hoteliers in Lagos also frowned at the ways; government is treating his members over what he described as multiple taxes being imposed on them. He argued that they are not enjoying anything from the government but ‘’when they need money that is when they remember us. We are calling on government to help us and grant us free interest loan so that many of us would be able to expand our business beyond what we have now.’’
