NTDC DG condemns indecent dressing

By Wale Ojo-Lanre

Turai Yar'Adua, Nigeria First Lady and Otunba
Olusegun Runsewe, DG, NTDCTHE Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, has attributed the incessant rape cases among youths to the adoption of western culture and indecent dressing. The NTDC boss said this recently in Abuja at the launch of Turai Umaru Yar’Adua Center, in collaboration with Zahara Children Foundation.

He blamed most of the rape cases on the indecent dress code of young ladies who practically expose all the vital parts of their body in the name of fashion and modernity. He blamed mothers for allowing western culture and exposure to becloud their sensibility and judgement.

The NTDC boss who was the chairman of the occasion, stressed that as Nigerians, “we must key in to what we call our own.” He added that “if we don’t address what is going on, this country will pay dearly for it.”

He explained that if everybody should take care of his or her own children, crime would be reduced in Nigeria. He called on Nigerian women to urgently address their dressing pattern before the situation would get out of hand. Otunba Runsewe commended northern women for their decent mode of dressing and called on other women from other parts of the country to emulate them.

The NTDC helmsman described as unacceptable, the feminine appearances being displayed by some young men who take pleasure in putting one air rings and plaiting hair. He equally condemned homosexuality in its entirety.

Zahara Children Foundation is a Canadian based NGO incorporated since 1999, with its headquarters in Montreal, Canada. The foundation was founded to provide a safe and secured accommodation where AIDS orphaned and vulnerable children will have access to education, healthy meals, sporting and agricultural activities. It also tends to provide free medical, psychological and legal services to rape victims and make available educational programmes and public awareness in schools, and communities in order to eliminate all form of violence.

The relationship between the foundation and Her Excellency, Turai Umaru Yar’Adua dates back to April 2008, when the foundation conferred on the First Lady, the “2008 North American philanthropist of the year” an award she accepted, and was received by the Nigerian High Commissioner in Canada on behalf of the First Lady.

The founder of the foundation, Rosemary Mukore, thanked quests for gracing the occasion, especially the NTDC boss, who despite his busy schedule, was able to chair the occasion. She said she was spurred to set up the foundation out of the need to correct the social maladies that have almost engulfed the youth. She thanked them for their support and encouragement.

Media 15900 takes 10 vips to mystery destination

MEDIA 15900 in an effort to promote domestic tourism among Nigerians, recently took ten finalists of the Celebrity VIP weekend, “Text and Win” winners a to mystery tourists destination to enjoy and experience the tourist sites that abound in Nigeria.

The maiden edition of the celebrity VIP weekend, which was flagged up at a cocktail, organised by Media 15900 to unveil the ten celebrity winners at the Aquatic Hotel, Water Parks, Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos, was to bring together, the winners and prepare their minds for a package that will blow a life time tourism mind in Nigeria.

According to the Chairman/CEO of Media 15900, Mr. Toye Arulogun, was to redirect the mind set of Nigerians on the need to patronize the tourists’ destinations in the country by giving them a sense of belonging through VIP trip treatment package.

“Nigerians travel alot, all around the world, but they do not know any tourist destination in Nigeria and this is where we come in with the concept to promote domestic tourism through the television,” Arulogun explained.

Arulogun explained further that the ten lucky winners who emerged from the text and win celebrity weekend would enjoy treatment, ranging from exclusive flight trip on board Virgin Nigeria Airline to a choice destination, first class entertainment, lodge in luxury room in the best hotel, standby destination chauffeur, body guards, stationary television cameras for live coverage to be beam on local and international televisions among other prices at no cost.

He added that the project has been fashioned to be a continuous event, which will also produce one true celebrity monthly and at the end of every year, Media 15900 would package a foreign trip for winners to also experience other wonderful destination of the world.

Speaking at the venue, one of the celebrity VIPs, Rev’d Solomon Okoro said, “It is a privilege to experience Nigeria, which ordinarily, one cannot just do without proper arrangement. The programme is real even when we are yet to know the destination, but from the preparatory treatment given to us here in Aquatic Hotel. There is an assurance that it will be memorable.”

For Prince Adeyemi Ogunyemi, an employee of PHCN, ut was a surprise package to me because it came as a birthday gift. The organisers called me a day to my birthday to inform me that I was one of the winners and I came to confirm the reality, and behold, I am a VIP.”

Other celebrity VIP winners include Miss Judith Charles, Chris Kenedy, Adebayo Adelola, Adebayo Olajide, Alexandar Iberi, Henry Gajire, Wasiu Tajudeen and Michael Onasoya among others. - Wale Olapade

First Bank boosts Calabar carnival with N150m

Lyel Imoke and Joseph Ajekigbe, MD,
First BankPreparation for the 2008 one month long Christmas festival in Cross River State has received a major boost with one of the major sponsors, First Bank Plc, been the first to make a financial commitment put at N150 million. The melting point of the month-long festival is the Carnival Calabar street party and rally which has already attend international reckoning.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Local Government Chairman of Calabar South as part of the activities to mark this year’s World Tourism day, the Special Adviser to the Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Gab Onah, disclosed that Governor Liyel Imoke has confirmed the commitment of First Bank Plc to partner with the state in her determination, not just to make this year’s Carnival Calabar and the entire Christmas festival 2008 edition the best ever, but to take tourism in the state and in Nigeria to the next level.

He said apart from the N150million sponsorship from First Bank Plc, the state government has concluded plans to have a tourism development academy in the state and that after due process scrutiny, SO&U Scatche, scathe had been chosen as the preferred bidder for marketing and promotion of this year’s Carnival Calabar festival. Mr. Onah told the Chairman of Calabar South Local government council that the state tourism bureau has developed a module to promote community based tourism and that the state governor directed each local government area should identify one peculiar event or item that can be structured into the tourism promotion parkage.

He noted that most of the marine tourism promotion base in the state is in Calabar South and that the tourism bureau came to the council as a point of contact to inform and reach out to other local council areas. Responding, the Calabar South Council Chairman, Mr. Andem Ekpo Bassey, thanked the Governor’s Aide of Tourism for choosing to visit Calabar South as part of the schedules on the World Tourism Day programme in the state, pledging that his council was ready to partner with the state during the Christmas Festival and will particular take up the sponsorship of Ekpe Cultural Display to make it bigger and better in line with the state vision to make the tourism events in the state stand out.

According to him, Ekpe tradition was of Calabar South and it is the vision of the local government council to make Ekpe Cultural display a rich cultural event, saying that Tradition is static but culture is dynamic and Ekpe tradition with all it dynamism and dexterity will be promoted as one of the rich cultural events in Calabar South to attract tourists to the state as well as remain as an avenue to encourage the people of the benefits obtainable and inherent in their culture. - Gill Nsa-Abasi Calabar

Hospitality Watch tasks NTDC on tourism expo

THE National Coordinator of Hospitality Watch, Prince Adeoye Aderinwale, has called on the Director-General of Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, to save Nigeria’s image from being battered by the organisers of fake tourism and travel expos.

Prince Adeoye said his organisation was not happy about the damage being done to the image of Nigeria by some people who hide under “tourism exhibitions” to defraud foreigners. The co-ordinator of the only NGO in the tourism sector, described a recently held tourism expo as disgraceful and “one of those series of cleverly woven traps where unsuspecting tourism investors are being ripped off.”

Prince Adeoye pointed out that “We at the Hospitality Watch noted with mild satisfaction the alarm raised by Otunba Olusegun Runsewe on the activities of these unscrupulous tourism exhibitors and promoters but we encourage the corporation to go a mile further by ensuring that such exhibitions are publicly denounced and all promoter prosecuted.”

“We can not fold our arms and allow a growing sector to be decapitated by unscrupulous gadfly saboteurs who are out to milk the sector and truncate its development.”

Prince Adeoye said that “it is one of the duties of NTDC to scrutinize tourism exhibitions and support the genuine ones. We are not happy with the manners at which people just wake up on their beds to organise tourism events without any endorsement, regulations, monitoring from NTDC.” The NTDC must invoke the necessary apparatus to curtail this before fraudsters ruin the sector.”

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Columnists/Contributors

NTDC DG condemns indecent dressing

Media 15900 takes 10 vips to mystery destination

First Bank boosts Calabar carnival with N150m

Hospitality Watch tasks NTDC on tourism expo