The Federal Government has said that Nigeria is safe to host the first Global Conference on Cultural Tourism and Creative Industry scheduled for Nov. 14 to Nov. 17 in Lagos.
This is according to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this when he featured on a phone-in programme of the Radio Nigeria monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
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The agency reports that Nigeria was given the hosting right for the maiden global event by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) at a meeting held at the organisation’s headquarters in Madrid Spain on April 19.
The Minister said the insinuation in certain quarters that participants and tourists would not attend the conference because of stories of killings and kidnappings in the country are erroneous.
“The security challenge Nigeria is facing did not start today and I must say the Federal Government is rising very stoutly to it.
“We cannot say just because we have insecurity challenge, other sectors of the economy should not be developed.
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“The entire world is aware of the challenges we are facing, yet we were singled out for the hosting of the very first global conference and that speaks volume.
“That is why Nigerians should get out the negativity and look at the positive aspect of it,’’ he said.
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The minister said that insecurity is a global challenge and countries with worse situation than Nigeria were developing their tourism potential.
“Britain for instance, for more than 40 years, was in the grip of the IRA and that did not prevent the country from hosting global events.
“I recalled that even before the call for peace process in June 1997, Britain bided for the world cup 1996 which, though they lost.
“During our meeting in Spain, there was no issue raised on insecurity in Nigeria as a barrier. “On the contrary, the UNWTO was even expanding the scope of the conference and they did not make a mistake in choosing Nigeria to host the maiden conference,’’ he said.
