Nigeria! Yes, Nigeria! A country rich in human and natural resources, blessed with abundant talents, skills, abilities that transcend all spheres of human study and understanding. Nigeria, a country with geographical area of about 923.8 thousand square kilometer with a terrain which ranges from the southern coastal swamps to tropical forests, open woodlands, grasslands and semi deserts in the far north, the highest region which remains Jos the Plateau state capital with an altitude of about 1200-2400 meter above sea level; a country with climate of annual rainfall ranging from 381cm along the coast to 640cm or less in the far north with a population of 148million as at 2008 which translates to a population growth rate of 2.2% as at 2007. Nigeria, a multi ethnic country with over 250 ethnic groups with each ethnic group sprouting with fountain of diverse tourism potential which if properly harnessed will not only put such an ethnic group amongst the would best hospitable community but would most certainly place Nigeria at the top of the world tourist food chain by the year 2020.
The rhetorical question is: what can we do, develop, master and by the year 2020 teach the rest of the world as a leader in such field? And in consonance with the catch statement: “ you use what you have to get what you want“ it’s now eminent that what we have at our finger tips (`Rural tourism`) is our leverage to getting better and in the nearest future teach the world how this works.
First and foremost what does the phrase “ Rural tourism“ mean? This is comprised of all that interests us and makes up for our day to day living in that minute, probably unknown rural community or village we all hail from as Nigerians. These sources of interest can probably be our: dance, music, fabrics, art and craft, food, herbal medicine, language, etcetera, etcetera. What amazes me most is, how underutilized these valuables are and our gross inability of turning nothing to something. There are no doubt whatsoever that the 21st century is the century when all the world microscopic lens is directed towards Africa, coming from the fact that Africa as a continent is the only place blessed with little or no natural disaster, a continent where all natural resources, from oil and gas to arable land for Agriculture, human resources and most especially tourism, (Rural tourism) is at its highest peak. Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa and rightfully placed at the center; making it the heart of Africa, enjoys all that Africa as a continent offers and the more reasons why “Rural tourisms“ should be developed, mastered so we can go ahead to teach the world by 2020.
Going back to history the then rural northern communities but now cities of kano and katsina states, recorded history dates back to about 1000 AD. “ In the centuries that followed these Hausa kingdom and the Borno empire near Lake Chad prospered as important terminals of north-south trade due to its various sources of indigenous tourist interest and encouraged visitors such as they `North African Barbers` and Arabian traders who exchanged ivory and kola nuts for salt, glass beads, coral, cloth, weapons, brass rods and cowry shells used then as currency. Coming down towards the southern part of Nigeria and the south west Yoruba kingdom of “oyo“ , founded about 1400 AD from the 17th to 19th centuries, it attained a high level of “Rural tourism“ of which impact extended as far as current modern day Togo.“
Taking a critical look into the south central part of the present day Nigeria, “as early as the 15th and 16th centuries, the kingdom of Benin had developed an efficient army an elaborate ceremonial court, which was the envy of all visitors that came close to such rural communities, as the kept wondering and imagining the high leveled organization of such a people“. Ask me: and I would authoritatively tell you that “Rural tourism“ but unknown to the people did the magic. Today in any museum in Europe, either in “Wallace collection London“ or “museum of Britishness“ and those in America, what you would see are art pieces of ivory, wood, bronze and brass all from Nigeria, which were fraudulently carted away by the British empire at the turn of the 17th and 18th century, in what was termed “punitive measure“ in February 1897 where they made away with over 3000 artifacts belonging to the Benin kingdom, the most famous being the “Festac 77“ mask also known as “Queen Idia“ mask, which sits conspicuously in the museum and only to have innocent people pay through their nose to watch our own works. (“The figure generated by the British museum for the Benin artifacts alone is conservatively estimated at around 100 million pounds (N25 trillion) not a single penny has been given to the oba“)
Refusing to cry over spilt milk in regrets; there is no doubt obviously that in every rural community in Nigeria today, lies artifact more valuable than those stolen and the more reason why “Rural tourism“ if developed properly and managed well, should be used as a tool to attract direct foreign investment in the tourism sector whilst in the nearest future we would teach the world how it worked for us.
The uniqueness in African dance, especially those coming from Nigeria to be precise is currently undergoing study in many universities in Europe and America with many foreign students coming down to Nigeria to learn more about how these great skill can be better learned. Unconsciously it might seem, but as you can see our attitude to teaching the world our unique dance is already ongoing but the one thing needed now is a constructive branding of these unique creativity under the envelope of “Rural tourism“ to attracts international tourist to our remote villages.
Ironically, the international community and especially the first world countries of Europe and America are gradually getting used to their own kind of tourism, which is mostly manmade, artificial and containing little or no iota of nature and now focusing its tourism interest on Africa and the more reason why “Rural tourism“ a laudable idea should be embraced in its entirety in Nigeria.
Taking our local cuisine for instance, it’s a well known fact that they over 250 ethnic groups we have in Nigeria, prepares hundreds of indigenous local cuisines, (ingredients, many of which are readily found in our home backyards at no cost). From research I discovered, that what is now popularly known as “Chinese restaurant“ spread all over major cities in the world, started actually from just one village kitchen in china, and simply because of branding, and continuous rebranding its now an international brand loved by all and sundry. Same goes for our local cuisine if well branded from the local front, (using Rural tourism as the conduit pipe) especially now that there are numerous offshoot of Nigerian restaurants in Europe and America. According to records due to colonization and the invasion of Africa, its cuisine have been badly influenced by other cultures, for instance: “ eastern and southern African cuisine have Indian/European influence so are cuisines from northern Africa with lots of influence from the middle east and Asia“ however west African cuisines and particularly Nigerian cuisines remains the least touched or mutilated by any external culture but which promises to give an authentic undiluted African taste and flavor“. African history points out that West African cooking has created or influenced culinary in other parts of the world especially cuisines from the west Indian islands of north and south America which shows similarities to Nigerian cooking particularly those referred to today as: “Creole, soul and Cajun“ In spite of all these facts, Nigerian cuisines remain untapped and undiscovered, which calls for “ Rural tourism“ as our only savior to salvage these rich heritage.
The international fashion scene of Paris, London and New York which are today worlds fashion capitals are the richest cities when ever fashion is mentioned anywhere. With this in mind, stakeholders in the industry are constantly looking out for newer fabrics so they could replace obsolete and not so fashionable once. Virtually every ethnic group in Nigeria does all types of weaving and equally produces fabrics of different texture. “Aso oke“, for instance one of Nigerian most famous fabrics woven by the Yoruba ethnic group of western Nigeria had been sustained for decades due to product modification and socio cultural factors but in spite of its standing popularity “Aso oke“ has a number of negative attributes specifically; foreign consumers would be more satisfied if weavers would employ only color fast yarns in weaving and produce lighter weight “Aso oke“ fabrics that suit all purpose and also shrinkage resistant; and this is exactly were “Rural tourism“ comes to play.
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