AS a follow-up to the 2012 budget defence exercise presidede-over recently by the lawmakers, the House Committee on Culture and Tourism has commenced a tour of the Ministry and its parastatals. Having interacted with culture and tourism helmsmen while defending the implementations of previous year's budget, the legislators considered it necessary to ascertain the level of performance through their oversight function.Divided into four groups, the Committee visited the main ministry and six of its agencies in Abuja including National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) and National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM). Others are National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), National Gallery of Art (NGA) as well as National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR).At NTDC, the Director-General, Otunba Segun Runsewe, described the visit as a new beginning in the history of the corporation and the entire tourism sector.He added that the visit has provided another platform for the corporation to highlight some of its products to the legislators for onward promotion in their respective constituencies.'One does not sell a good product by hiding it from buyers. This is another opportunity for us to market tourism in Nigeria', he said.Runsewe stressed that the nation's enormous tourism potentials has remained untapped for too long and it was time to give the industry necessary attention if government's clamour for diversification of the economy was anything to go by.Reminding the committee of their expectant role in assisting to enhance the budget of the corporation for effective execution of their mandate, Runsewe presented items including tourism directory and a book containing the compilation of tourism destinations across the country to committee members.In his response, Dr. Sokonte Davies, leader of the team said the purpose of the visit was to ascertain the level of implementation of the previous year's budget, especially as the National Assembly was in the process of allocating 2012 budget.'We are in the process of appropriating money to parastatals and it is necessary to visit these agencies to see how they are performing. We must take the oversight exercise very seriously this time because the National Assembly has been accused of apathy in the discharge of its oversight functions.'The lawmaker also agreed that developing and promoting tourism in Nigeria must go beyond lips service, adding that most nations of the world live on tourism.'The contribution of tourism to London economy is very high and we have come to realise that we must do something in order to benefit from the sector. Our role includes allocating appropriate funding for tourism development.'He noted that Nigeria was so blessed that there was no state without huge tourism potential. According to him, there was the need to promote tourism products nationwide so that in the absence of oil, the county could be sustained on revenue accruing from tourism.'If oil dries after 25 years as was projected, what will sustain us' We have wide range of eco-tourism and this is what attracts people to other parts of the world. We must make efforts to develop our eco-tourism.'The lawmaker also dismissed insinuations that the security challenge confronting the nation was enough to scare tourists. According to him, terrorism phenomenon is a global issue and has not deterred people from one country to another.'The point is that while these challenges are being tackled, we must develop our tourism potentials.'Before departing the tourism village, the lawmakers took time to tour various facilities in the premises.The Chairman of the Committee, Honourable Ben Nwankwor was received at the National Gallery of Art by its Director-General, Mr. Abdallahi Muku and other directors.After briefing lawmakers on the activities and programmes of the Gallery, the D.G also intimated them of the Gallery's plan to increase the number of its outstations across the country from its 17 to 28. This according to him will necessitate the recruitment of more hands, thereby contributing towards reducing social vices by taking youths of the street.On the degree of implementation of 2011 allocation, Muku blamed low performance and the agency's inability to executive most of its programmes including the African Regional Summit and Exhibition on Visual Art (ARESUVA) on poor budgetary allocation.He however appealed to the Committee to assist in enhancing this year's appropriation and release to enable the visual art community feel the impact of the agency through its programmes and activities.Responding, the Committee Chairman said the oversight was not a witch-hunting exercise but aimed at evaluating the relationship between 2012 project proposal and the agency's strategies towards implementing it.'We will be looking at how you have spent Nigeria's money allocated to you last year. We will also evaluate your contributions to the growth of visual art industry in Nigeria and your agenda for 2012.'The Chairman however warned that the committee might be forced to invoke its power of reviewing the budgetary allocation of parastatals with level of performance as the yardstick.He explained further 'We are out to save money from recurrent to capital budget. Our knife is sharp enough to know where to cut from and where to add. We are out to make Nigerians feel the impact of art and culture in the overall development of the country's economy.'After thorough inspection of the agency's financial records, the chairman opined that it has not performed poorly considering its meagre allocation in 2011 fiscal year.At the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), the Committee listened with apt attention as the Executive Secretary, Dr. Barclays Ayakoroma, took members through the institute's programmes and activities as well as some ongoing projects including the construction of permanent site and auditorium complex, which was embarked upon few years ago.Ayakoroma however noted that with the meagre allocation budgeted for 2012, the institute's dream of relocating to the site in the nearest future might be an illusion. He added that even when the project was completed; accessing the structure from the major road may pose another challenge to workers.In his reaction, the leader of the team, Honourable Muniru Abiodun AbdulAkeem blamed some of the difficulties encountered by chief executives in implementing their projects on lack of synergy between them and the legislators.On the issue of access road to the permanent site, the committee pledged to liaise with the Committee on FCT. It also assured the institute that the question of poor allocation would be addressed with the Committee on Appropriation to enable them complete on-going projects.'The only thing we will do is to go back and interface with the House Committee on FCT, then take the issue of allocation to Appropriation Committee and educate them on the need to provide funding to complete the infrastructure. By so doing, the Abuja Central would be decongested.Adding: 'As a matter of necessity, we want to move money from Re-current to Capital budget. That is what Nigerians are yearning for and that is what they will see. We will do all we can to ensure that their requests are met.'The Committee also urged the Institute to initiate a Bill that would enforce the use of indigenous languages in school as well as encourage an indigenous dress culture for Nigerian workers.
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