|
|
|
I
am Abuja, Nigeria ... "I am Abuja,
federal capital of Nigeria since 1991. I am located
in the heart of Africa's most populous country, and
confident about my future as a world center and
magnet for cultural, adventure, educational and
leisure tourism in the magical lands of Nigeria
beyond my borders. My broad, well maintained paved
streets, attractively landscaped boulevards and
modern overpasses keep the traffic flowing at a
smooth pace, morning, noon and night - and with
wide cinemascopic vistas in every direction,
there's no feeling of being hemmed in by gridlock.
Being in the Nigerian heartland, I am adjacent to
the states of Kogi, Niger, Kaduna and Nassarawa.
During Carnival week festivities in late November,
visitors will see the culture of all 36 states on
display in rhythmic, pulsating music, durbars on
horseback, camels from the far Sahara, and exotic
tribal dances. It's an unending kaleidoscope of
colorful regalia, fun activities, parade floats,
tribal masks and costumes unique to the various
states. Born in 1976, I am considered a model city
for all of Africa, and one of the world's handful
of totally planned
cities. Editor's
note: We have interviewed many individuals and
government officials during our stay in Abuja,
before, during and following the Abuja Carnival.
This will be part of a special edition of Africa
Travel Magazine and Air Highways to
Africa. That
explains why, right from the beginning of his
administration, he had a vision of pursuing
agriculture and tourism as the centerpiece of his
program of developing Cross River State and the
seed seems to have germinated with the prospect of
bearing good fruits. Today, there is the Tinapa
project in Calabar, the Ranch Resort Project in
Obudu, the Nkarassi Monoliths as well as the State
National Parks. Each of these projects is expected
to generate revenues that would drive the economy
of the state. The agricultural project completes
the picture. Duke is no doubt a man of ideas and
this can easily be seen with the strides he has
taken in Cross River State, which has become a
tourist haven in Nigeria both for the citizens and
foreigners. For these not-so-giant, (but
commendable) strides, Duke is nominated from the
South South region as Governor of the Year.(Thanks
to Ogo Sow, Mr. Africa for sending us the above
item). See
Nigeria I
AM CALIBAR ... What about my
mission for the new millenium?
I
was selected host city for the Africa Travel
Association's 10th Cultural and Ecotourism
Symposium, a prestige event that attracts tourism
industry executives from North America and the
world. What was the key factor for this decision?
•
Calabar, capital of Cross River State, Nigeria was
selected as official site for the Africa Travel
Association's 10th Ecotourism Symposium, an annual
international event that attracts travel agents,
tour operators, tourism industry executives and
government officials, including Ministers of
Tourism.
Calabar
is a strategically located seaport on the Atlantic
Coast, a short distance from the Cameroon border in
the south eastern corner of Nigeria.The Calabar and
Great Qua rivers plus several creeks of the Cross
River serve the city, which for several centuries
was an active slave trade port.Continued That
explains why, right from the beginning of his
administration, he had a vision of pursuing
agriculture and tourism as the centrepiece of his
programme of developing Cross River State and the
seed seems to have germinated with the prospect of
bearing good fruits. Today, there is the Tinapa
project in Calabar, the Ranch Resort Project in
Obudu, the Nkarassi Monoliths as well as the State
National Parks. Each of these projects is expected
to generate revenues that would drive the economy
of the state. The agricultural project completes
the picture. Duke is no doubt a man of ideas and
this can easily be seen with the strides he has
taken in Cross River State, which has become a
tourist haven in Nigeria both for the citizens and
foreigners. For these not-so-giant, (but
commendable) strides, Duke is nominated from the
South South region as Governor of the Year.(Thanks
to Ogo Sow, Mr. Africa for sending us the above
item). See
Nigeria Excerpts
from the book (left) by Ayo Fagbile Nigeria:
A tourism destination full of challenges I had the wonderful
opportunity to participate in a Familiarization
(FAM) Tour to Nigeria, West Africa this past
October as a member of Tourism Consortium
International (TCI). The overall purpose of this
trip was to experience the level of readiness of
Nigeria's travel and tourism infrastructure to
include its hotel accommodations, air and road
transportation, hospitality amenities and security
services. This journey was made possible by the
efforts of Chief Margaret B. Fabiyi, Nigeria's ASTA
Chapter President, who was able to have KLM Royal
Dutch Airlines and the Nigerian Tourism Development
Corporation (NTDC) co-sponsor the two-week program.
Click
here or on
above photos for more pictures and
captions. Two weeks of
discovery Discover
the Slave Route in
Nigeria A
darker historical era saw many people of West
Africa leave their shores for plantations in
Europe, North and South America and the Caribbean.
The infamous slave trade in Nigeria is not known to
many people like the slave trade in Ghana, Senegal,
Togo and Benin. Nigeria and Ghana were former
British colonies. Senegal, Togo and Benin were
former French colonies. In
December 2000, I attended the Fourth Eco-tourism
Symposium in Nigeria as a delegate of the Africa
Travel Association. The Lagos State Waterfront and
Tourism Development Corporation invited conference
delegates to a two-day pre-symposium tour of Lagos
States. On the first day, we toured the city of
Lagos. On the second day, we toured the town of
Badagry and learned that Badagry was an important
slave route in West Africa. Badagry is one of five
divisions created in Lagos State in l968 This
ancient town of Badagry was founded around l425
A.D. Before its existence, people lived along the
Coast of Gberefu and this area later gave birth to
the town of Badagry. It is the second largest
commercial town in Lagos State, located an hour
from Lagos and half hour from the Republic du
Benin. The Town of Badgry is bordered on the south
by the Gulf of Guinea and surrounded by creeks,
islands and a lake. The ancient town served mainly
the Oyo Empire which was comprised of Yoruba and
Ogu people. Today, the Aworis and Egun are mainly
the people who reside in the town of Badagry as
well as in Ogun State in Nigeria and in the
neighboring Republic du Benin. Continued |
||||||||||||||||
Nigeria,
Donald Duke Named Governor of Year.
To
honor and encourage governors who are oasis of
integrity in a desert of corruption and who are
doing something uniquely different to empower their
people. In terms of available resources,
Cross River is the poor cousin among the Niger
Delta States in that it receives, alongside Edo,
paltry sums off money. But Governor Donald Duke,
like the Biblical servant with two talents has been
faithful to its management of what it has. What set
Duke apart are his ideas to tap into the huge
potentials in Cross River, rather than rely on
statutory allocations from Abuja, to generate
additional revenue for the socioeconomic
transformation of his state. 
I
am Calabar, an historic seaport city and former
slave trading post, strategically located on the
Atlantic Coast near the Cameroon border. I am
capital of Nigeria's Cross River
State
and
considered the future superstar of West African
tourism. That bright, shiny future is just around
the corner according to the Governor's active
timetable. In
terms of economic potential, I am located near Port
Harcourt, heart of Nigeria's petroleum industry, a
magnet for business travelers from all corners of
the world. 
The
answer lies in the federal and state governments'
new focus on 
Nigeria,
Donald Duke Governor of Year...