The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has expressed satisfaction with the level of preparations going on for Nigeria’s hosting of the United Nations World Tourism Summit.
The minister gave the assessment on Friday when he inspected the venue of the event at the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that Nigeria last year won the right to host the World Tourism Organisation Commission for Africa meeting scheduled for June 4 to June 6 in Abuja.
Mohammed said: “I am very satisfied and I want to take this opportunity to thank the committee and the various sub-committees that have been responsible for this arrangement.
“We have been working very closely with the management of Transcorp in the last two and a half months, and we are satisfied with what we have seen.
“So what we have come to do is just to ascertain that everything is in place and adjust what is necessary, and you can see that we have made some adjustments because we looked at how practical the arrangements are.”
Mohammed used the occasion to highlight the giant strides of the Buhari administration, especially in the area of tackling insecurity.
He said Nigeria would use the opportunity offered by the meeting to tell the world that the country is at peace.
The minister said that the platform would tell the story that Nigeria is ready to host the world, particularly having recorded tremendous success in defeating insurgency.
He said: “It’s a global platform for you to tell your own story.
“We are telling the world that in the last couple of years, especially three years, Nigeria has been on the mend.
“We made tremendous progress in our fight against insecurity. We have made progress in revamping the economy and in governance.
“But for the efforts of this government in the area of fighting insecurity, nobody will be hosting this meeting here.”
The minister said that since culture drives tourism, Nigeria would also use the occasion to showcase its rich and diverse culture.
He listed some of the cultural performances billed to feature at the event as the Seki Dance Drama from the South-South, Bolanle Austen-Peter’s ‘Fela and the Kalakuta Queens,’ the Ikemini drummers from Akwa Ibom and the Virgin Dance from Ebonyi.
NAN reports that the minister was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Grace Isu-Gekpe, and some management staff of the ministry.
NAN also reports that no fewer than 180 foreign delegates, including 26 Tourism Ministers from Africa and the entire secretariat of the UNWTO, have confirmed their participation at the three-day event.