Tinubu believes tourism could lead Nigeria's revenue - Tourism minister

Ade-John stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja, in commemoration of Tinubu’s one-year anniversary in office.

She said the administration was sustaining growth by ensuring that the standard of living improved in the next few months. According to her, the present administration inherited a lot of issues from the previous administration and it’s doing all possible to fix the country.

She said that some difficult policies and decisions have been made, adding that such policies and decisions had brought a trying time for every Nigerian.

"But on a positive note, the president has been very empathetic, doing his best to ensure that at least in the next few months things will improve,” he said.

The minister said that the tourism industry has suffered setbacks in the past due to lack of focus.

“Now, President Tinubu has seen that the country needs to diversify its source of revenue generation.

“He also strongly believes that tourism can be the number one revenue generator for the country, which is part of his "Renewed Hope Agenda", she stated.

Ade-John said that inadequate tourism infrastructure, and insecurity among others were the challenges confronting the sector. She added that providing a "Tourist Help Desk" would foster good relationships and friendliness for tourists and help to grow the industry.

“Nigerians are naturally friendly and hospitable, but tourism is much more than this.

“We need to be soft-spoken, helpful, be our brother’s keeper at the community level but not just in the cities.

“For us as a people, we need to work on what it takes to be a real Nigerian. I think that it is the most important challenge that we have,” she added.

According to her, tourism is about stories, communities and people, which is the main reason why we need to work on ourselves to boost the sector.