By Margaret John
A senatorial aspirant from the Central Senatorial District of Cross River State, Barrister Wilfred Usani has stated that the disparity between Federal and State Government tourism policy pose a threat to the development of tourism in the country.
He stated this while speaking to CrossRiverWatch TV in Calabar, where he expressed the need for the government to fully exploit its resources in the area of Tourism.
Barrister Usani who is also a former Special Adviser on Tourism Development to Senator Liyel Imoke, the immediate past Governor of Cross River State, averred that, tourism is a potential earner that can contribute immensely to poverty alleviation in the nation if fully maximized adding that the sector engages people in meaningful economic activities, in employment and entrepreneurship.
According to him “I feel very strongly that our people are living largely in poverty, and this poverty is not what ought to be. It can be alleviated if the potential we have in this two principal economic sectors tourism and agriculture are fully enhanced for the benefit of our people.
“So what I Intend to do when I become the Senator is to sit down and look at this issue of this bigger frame work and see how Nigeria as a country can develop a National Tourism Policy and a National Tourism Law that takes into account the various States that includes the various things because the tourism sites are located in various States.
“It is the State Government that is in charge of them, the Federal Government has to come up with a National Tourism Policy which will enjoy the buy in of all the States and this National Tourism Policy should be backed up by a Nigerian Tourism Development Law.
“That is what is needed to provide the legal framework, from the National level, cascading down to the trans-national level, so one of the things I want to do is to see if Tourism sector can be classified as a priority economic sector for Nigeria, by this in my area people will have direct benefit.”
He called on the masses to support his aspiration to restore Nigeria to its place as a Tourism destination.
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