PRESS RELEASE
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has expressed its readiness to partner with the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) in re-engineering the tourism sector of the economy to attain international standard.
Acting Registrar-General of the CAC, Lady Azuka Azinge made this known when the Director-General of Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), Mr. Folorunsho Coker and his team paid a courtesy visit to the Commission recently.
The NDTC was in the Commission to seek among other things synergy to sanitize the tourism industry in the country as it requested that the two organizations partner in areas beneficial to both agencies, particularly in service delivery, statistics gathering and crime control.
The Director-General NTDC stated that his agency was re-engineering tourism in Nigeria and has been able to review and change 40 years law in the process.
He regretted the misconception in Nigeria that tourism is a leisure, saying, tourism is a business of hospitality that adds value to the economy.
The DG NTDC said that his organization had gone to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to ascertain tourism data as without it, the Corporation cannot make demands for funding and others, even as the industry requires funding.
He disclosed that the Corporation went to the Senate to sign tourism bill and the bill has gone to the House, hopefully NTDC would begin to operate like
other tourism industries all over the world. He also said that his organisation had started training its staff and acquiring equipment to operate in line with the global best practice.
He therefore stressed the need for synergy between stakeholders in the tourism industry particularly the CAC and FIRS for security and financing, adding, the collaboration would enable the Corporation do things cheaper and seamless. This according to him was aimed at sanitizing the tourism industry.
Mr. Folorunsho Coker reiterated that the data that would enable it achieve this feat could be accessed at the CAC, hence the need for synergy with the Commission. He therefore appealed to the CAC to ensure that those coming to register for tourism business were true professionals and not quacks that eventually reinforce negative conversation about Nigeria.
He stated that as part of the new tourism law, his organization was going to accredit hotels by alliance, meaning that those who want to register such business should be accredited by the NTDC. The measure he explained was to enable people get value for their money, such that when people pay for 5 Star Hotel, they get facilities of a hotel of that standard, hence the need to work closely with the CAC even as he requested for synergy.
The Acting Registrar-General of the CAC, Lady Azuka Azinge commended the NTDC for the gesture as well as the review of Tourism Law that paved way for the industry to be at par with tourism industry in other parts of the world.
She highlighted some of the reform initiatives of the Commission that enabled the country to move upward on its ranking on the Ease of Doing Business Index. Adding, the Commission was honoured with three awards recently, by the Nigerian Technology Development Agency (NTDA), as well as for being a star agency and as the Best Performing MDA by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osibanjo.
She therefore advised NTDC to step up its monitoring and enforcement as more creative way of addressing gaps in the tourism subsector.
The Acting Registrar-General pointed out that the Commission would be open to collaboration in areas such as interface like FIRS, an up-to-date
platform that would be compatible with the CAC system as well as the use of Public Search Window, the Commission created for the public, free of charge.
She however, cautioned that the Commission under its current reform initiatives had timelines for its services and would not want to delay registration for approval from other quarters. The CAC would be indicted by the public for indulging in such activity as well as being seen as not fulfilling its mandate on ease of doing business.
SIGNED:
Godfrey Ike
HEAD, PUBLIC AFFAIRS
