Many states in the country are grappling with inability to pay staff salaries and meeting up with developmental challenges. One area states have been advised to look at is the tourism sector. Many have argued that the country has enormous potential, considering its natural and cultural heritage, tangible products and beautiful weather, which are predictable for tourism visits, but this goldmine is not properly tapped. While some countries and their sub-nationals in Africa are raking huge revenue from tourism and not relenting in their strategic policy formulation, as well as aggressively marketing their destinations to boost revenue from the sector, tourism stakeholders argue that states in Nigeria need to wake up to current realities and do the needful to earn more from tourism so that they could meet their expenditure demands.
For instance, when it comes to tourism in Africa, Kenya is a shining light. Kenya earned about 268.1billion Kenyan shillings, which is about $1.8b from tourism in 2022, representing an increase of 83 per cent compared to 2021, when the sector was still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. The tourism sector is a major contributor to the country’s economy, accounting for around 7 per cent of Gross Domestic product (GDP) and creating millions of jobs. Before COVID, tourism, the country’s authorities, said contribute about 10 per cent to the GDP. In this report, Gbenga Salau looks at why Lagos State should explore building tourism activities around the Onikan-TBS corridor of the state, as part of efforts to diversify its revenue base, provide employment and grow its economy.
TBS
At the end of second quarter of 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics revealed that Lagos State has a domestic debt of N996.44b, while the external debt is $1.26 billion. This is despite the state’s N651.15 billion Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and 160.93 billion, which is federal allocation in 2022 and N400 billion IGR as of half year IGR of 2023.
The figure for 2023 is not inclusive of its federal allocation, yet Lagos State revenue still falls short of meeting its expenditure, which necessitated borrowing. This also implies that the state still needs to further boost and diversify its income source.
Many have argued that with its water bodies, as a former colonial enclave and Nigeria’s former federal capital, Lagos State has a lot to offer in terms of tourism.
And Lagos State, whose population and economy could compete favourably with that of many countries in the continent, can learn from Kenya.
According to the Kenya Tourism Board, during the half-year of 2023, international visitor arrivals closed at 847,810, a 32 per cent increase compared to the previous half year 2022, which registered 642,861 arrivals.
The performance is a 92 per cent recovery when compared to 2019 performance of 929,814 arrivals same period. Of significance is that June 2023 arrivals closed at 168,051 reflecting a growth of one per cent when compared to 166,692 of the same period last year.
In the period, the Kenya Tourism Board revealed that holiday was the main purpose of entry, closing at 338,509 (39.9 per cent), Business & Meetings, Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) is second, closed at 226,908 (26.8 per cent), Visiting friends and Relatives (VFR) travelers is third with 213,417 arrivals (25.2 per cent), On Transit passengers were 44,620 (5.3 per cent) while others (education, medical, religion and sports) closing at 24,356 (2.9 per cent).
The board added that tourism earnings in Kenya rose 31 per cent in the first six months compared to a similar period last year as the sector benefited from the ongoing global recovery, disclosing that the sector booked Ksh152.6 billion ($1.06 billion) in the six months, up from Ksh116.2 billion ($807.79 million) in 2022.
While Lagos State has a ministry of tourism and has been making efforts in that direction, the gravitation is usually towards Badagry for historical tourism marketing.
But there is the argument that there are other spots within the state that can be tourists’ destinations, which the state is not exploring. One of such locations outside Badagry that some stakeholders feel the state could build tourism activities around is the Onikan-TBS corridor.
The Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) corridor, no doubt, stakeholders say, could easily be an attractive tourists’ destination, if the state government provides the enabling conducive environment for tour operators and stakeholders in the tourism industry to build tourism activities around monuments and historical buildings around the area.
Along this corridor are several monuments and historical structures that an average tourist, domestic and foreign, would want to visit, especially if appropriately marketed.
For instance, the Tafawa Balewa Square corridor is home to the Onikan Stadium. And opposite the TBS, where Nigeria marked its independence is the Catholic National Secretariat, as well as the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, which recently hosted the tennis-playing Williams sisters. To the left of the TBS is the City Mall, besides which is the National Museum. Opposite the National Museum is the JK Randle Centre. Some metres away from TBS to the left are also the Lagos Island Club and the Yoruba Tennis Club, which have some interesting stories to tell. Adjacent to the TBS is the Music Society of Nigeria (MUSON).
Directly behind the TBS are the High Courts, as well as the Independence Building. Opposite the Independence building is the Remembrance Arcade. To the right, though some metres away, is the old colonial prison yard, which has been converted into a recreational centre and now called the Freedom Park. Also within that corridor is the Madam Tinubu Square.
These, no doubt, are structures and monuments that have history behind them. So, efforts could be made for Nigerians and non-Nigerians, to see these places as interesting spots to visit, with their relevant stories packaged for people to listen to and learn one or two things about not just Lagos but how Nigeria has evolved as a country.
The Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS)
Nigeria’s existence as an independent nation can be rightly said to be closely tied to the TBS. It was where the crossover from a colonial state to an independent one was brought to live and celebrated. The country’s status as a republic was also celebrated there. So, Nigeria’s history cannot be completely told without reference to the TBS.
The then Race Course, which is now known as Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), hosted the symbolic transfer of power between both countries. The then Prime Minister of the country, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, announced Nigeria’s independence in his speech, which was read at the then Race Course, alongside Princess Alexandria and Sir James Robertson, on October 1, 1960.
The main arena of Tafawa Balewa Square now regularly hosts different public events. The Race Course was renamed Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) in honour of Nigeria’s first prime minister, and it is the country’s most known independence monument.
Before it was renamed, the Lagos Race Course was a sports field that hosted horse racing, with sections of it devoted for football and cricket. The land, according to history, was donated to colonial authorities by Oba Dosunmu of Lagos, in 1859. About a century later, the course was redeveloped to celebrate Nigeria’s independence and the lowering of the Union Jack.
TBS currently houses the Lagos Liaison Office of the National Assembly; an office of the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency, shopping centres, travel agencies, restaurants, parking lots, the zonal office of the National Broadcasting Commission; Public Complaints Commission, the Lagos office of the Federal Government Staff Housing Loan Board, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, and a bus terminal. Its open field, the main arena that usually hosts events has the capacity to accommodate 50,000 persons. The façade will surely elicit awe from visitors, for once visitors pass through the gates, they will see that the Square features several other dramatic buildings bordering it.
Tinubu Square
Among the landmark monuments that commemorate the country’s independence is the Independence Square built in 1960, and later renamed Tinubu Square in honour of Madam Efunroye Tinubu, who died in 1887. It is on Broad Street, Lagos Island, and the Lagos State government reconstructed it in 2007.
Tinubu Square served as a recreational spot and relaxation centre since it was first built in 1960.
Independence House now Defence House
The Independence House is a 25-storey office building said to have been commissioned by the British government as a testimonial to, and as a goodwill to support Nigeria’s independence in 1960. It was gathered that the construction of the building, which was once the tallest building in Nigeria, started in 1959 and was completed in 1961.
It was also learnt that the building was built of reinforced concrete, housing major corporations and the Defence Headquarters under the General Ibrahim Babaginda administration hence the name it now bears- Defense House.
Remembrance Arcade
The Remembrance Arcade, which is opposite the Independence House, now Defence House, contains memorials of those who fought during World War 1 (WW1), World War 2 (WW2) and the country’s civil war. Every year, the Armed Forces Remembrance Day is marked at the arcade.
L/Tennis Club
The Lagos Lawn Tennis Club
The club, founded in 1895, and which is said to be the oldest in Nigeria, occupies approximately 14,000 Sq metres of land.
