Vice President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Otunba Babatunde Adesokan, has lauded Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, for embarking on the upgrade of Ladoke Akintola Airport to international standards, saying the move will increase investors’ confidence in the state.
Otunba Adesokan stated this in an interview with The People’s Verdict.
According to him, “one of the key things investors think about before they come into your country is accessibility to your state.
“The first consideration of an investor in the UK or USA who wants to invest in a particular sector in Oyo State is ‘how am I going to access the state?’ Since we have an international airport, he will say, ‘I can fly directly into the state, do what I want to do and go back, rather than having a stopover in another state before driving an hour down to the state.’
“And bearing in mind the kind of negative stories they hear about Nigeria, they may be thinking that anything can happen to them between Lagos and Ibadan. So, having an international airport in Ibadan will definitely increase investors’ confidence in coming down to Oyo State to have their investment in the state.”
He added, “Remember that Ibadan has one of the biggest markets in Sub-Sahara Africa, which is Bola Ige International Market. I understand that most of the market women do ply their trade through China and Dubai. Having an international airport here in Ibadan will save them the cost of moving their goods from Lagos to Ibadan and also minimize the risk of plying the road at late hours.
“So, it is very important. We really applaud it and we appreciate it. In fact, my association, the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), was in support of the idea to upgrade the airport to international standards.”
While praising Governor Makinde for promoting tourism, Adesokan said, “When you consider what tourism has done for countries such as The Gambia, Kenya, South Africa and the likes, you will realise that it is important to promote tourism.
“Everyone knows that tourism is life, and that is the best alternative to oil that we are focusing on now. Today, what Dubai (UAE) gets from tourism is more than what it gets from oil. If Governor ‘Seyi Makinde can focus more on tourism as he is doing, the state is going to generate more revenue through visitors’ spending, through creating numerous job opportunities and tour spending in the state, through hotels, lounges, clubs etc.
“When people come into your state, they visit all these tourist destinations, sleep in a hotel, and eat your local delicacies, the revenue is going to increase and an average Oyo State indigene that sells and promotes tourism here is going to have something into their purse. So, tourism is essential, it is part of life. And it doesn’t cost anything for the government other than to provide the infrastructure, which Engr Seyi Makinde is already doing.”
He continued: “Let me appreciate and thank His Excellency, Engr Oluseyi Makinde for doing a great job, especially focusing more on the tourism sector. You can see that most of these tourist destinations are being developed.”
Talking about the performance of the economy under Governor Makinde, the NANTA Vice President said, “He came in and took the bull by the horns and has turned a lot of things around. First and foremost, he has focused more on infrastructure development.
“When you develop infrastructure in your state, it opens the state up to investors. I learnt through statistics that the number of visitors to Oyo State has increased from 3,000 to 18,000 daily. Out of the 18,000 visitors, definitely between 1,000 and 2,500 will have interest in one or two things to do here that will translate into financial profitability.
“So far in the last six years of his administration, he has been doing wonderfully well. The roads have been well rehabilitated, all the civil servants are paid as and when due, and those of us who are operating in the system are also having some benefits because of what he did in terms of tourist destination development. If you ask me to score him, as of today I can give him 75 percent.”
According to Adesokan, the governor has successfully created a business-friendly environment in Oyo State.
His words: “The number one thing anybody will think about is security when you are talking about how friendly an environment is. Engr Seyi Makinde has taken security as one of his core areas. Oyo State has been very safe in the last six years.
“There is one rating company that rated Oyo State the third most investment-friendly state in the country recently.”
His verdict: “Governor Seyi Makinde is a listening governor, very humane, understanding and friendly.”
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