The Federal Government on Thursday debunked recent negative reports by the U.S.government about the safety of citizens in at least 20 of the 36 states of the federation.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said in Abuja when he received a delegation from the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria that contrary to recent statements by the U.S. government, every state in the country was safe.
The minister said that the advisory published by the U.S. Embassy declaring 20 Nigerian states “unsafe and complete no go area” as incorrect.
Urging the media to desist from propagating negative reports about the country, Mr. Mohammed said such practice would discourage investors and counter productive to the country’s tourism growth.
“We are in Nigeria. How can we believe the claim that 20 states in Nigeria are not safe.That is not correct. There is no state in Nigeria that is not safe today,” the minister said.
“Is there any week they are not killing people in the U.S., by either shooting in schools or driveways or people committing suicide or mass bombing? How many of these stories do their media celebrate? If they want to tell their people not to come to Nigeria, it is not for us to help them propagate it,’’ he said.
The minister urged the media and members of the association to complement efforts of government to reposition the tourism sector, pointing out that tourism was driven by perception, rather than reality, while every Nigerian must invest in perception management for the country.
The minister also urged leaders in the public and private sectors to help promote local tourism by spending their vacations and holidays at tourist sites within the country.
He said that the ministry would soon embark on visitation of major tourism sites in the country to assess their potentials for development.
The National President of the association, Kabir Malan, who led the delegation, commended the minister for his efforts at repositioning the tourism sector.
He called for the review and implementation of the Tourism National Plan as well as the enactment of laws that would guide the operation of tourism practitioners.
Mr. Malan also urged the government to encourage investors to set up tourist camps across the country and make loans accessible to them. (NAN) Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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I wonder why U.S can't mind their business and leave other countries alone. They can't help us but they paint us in bad light. God bless Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you understand the writer
ReplyDeleteU.S is not talking to Nigeria but they are only warning ⚠ their own citizens because they are not careless about their citizens, try to understand before you will know what to say cause its not a must you comment
@anonymous 8:34 am, I think you too should try to understand the context of the news. The summary is that if USA is warning its citizens, its not the prerogative of Nigerian media to propagate that through our own channels.God bless us all.
ReplyDelete