I am humbly elated that you are earnestly working yourself hard and trying to find other alternate sources of revenue for Nigeria.As one of those who have a strong conviction that your emergence as the president of this country from an unexpected minorityethnic groupis divinely processed, I so much have this belief that no matter the tribulations and man-contrived orchestrated conflicts and chaos aimed at diverting your attention from your vision,you are taking this country to greater heights. The French says; que sera sera, (what will be will be). And you will be. Amen.That was the reason I had to lambast a person, who described you as a son of a drunken fisherman.For, fishermen's sons are always strong, dutiful, highly responsible and agrarianly committed to whatever they lay their hands on as against the son of nobody who has no traceable pedigree, lacks home training, having the tendency of becoming a drug trafficker, forger and embracer of dishonorable acts which propelled him to open his mouthand haul insults at the President of Nigeria. Only a confirmed bastard does that.Kindly find the time to read this.Your Excellency, I have never been to Malaysia. I have read and heard a lot about the small Asian country which is proving to the whole world that smallness is not tantamount to stupidity, neither does largeness equate to wisdom.The first tale I learnt about this country that shares similar traits with Nigeria is that, shortly after our independence, some agro'tourist enthusiasts from the country visited some palm oil plantations in Nigeria and went away with some palm seedlings. And, in a couple of years after, this country became one of the leading exporter's world of palm oil, even, selling to Nigeria where it discovered the gold seed!But my insight about the country was further widened recently when the Tribune Tourism Magazine crew had an interview with the Malaysia's High Commissioner to Nigeria, HE Nik Mustafa Nik Ahamad, who, in the said interview, exposed the tricks employed by their leaders to push the country of just 27 million people into global reckoning.From the interview, one can deduce that to make Nigeria great and an economic giant does not require a rigorous religious sacrifice, neither does it call for any herculean task, but the ability to have a national economic vision and pursue it with all seriousness of purpose. The Malaysians have this and that is what is paving the way for them and their country now.Malaysia is a multi-export foreign earner country; it produces oil, tin, palm oil, timber, rubber and others in large quantities.But the economic recession of the 80s, which affected exportable products, forced the country to recoil into a thinking session and it decided to diversify.And it found out that for the diversification to be meaningful, sustainable and everlasting, the product to diversify on must not be a perishable or exhaustible good.The country picked on tourism, which is inexhaustible.And, according to statistics, 20 million tourists visited the country last year.This is a country of 27million population.Anybody who understands the import of tourism will be able to appreciate the economic manifestation of these 20 million in that country in just a year.And the magic is nothing fantastic other than having a vision, driving it with the right concept, people and passion.Malaysia looked inwards and realised that it could pick money easily, not engaging in burrowing the ground for oil alone, but by packaging the diverse cultures, peoples and norms to lure tourists to its territory.It also decided to enhance the craters, the gorges and valleys which years of massive exploration of tin had created, turningthem into goldmines. These hitherto environmental hazardous sites have been turned to resorts and artificial lakes, which are not only generating revenue for the country but empowering, mobilising wealth and employing thousands.And before one can say jack, tourism has risen from nowhere to become the second revenue earner for the country.See what power of vision, determination, seriousness of purpose and commitment to national aspiration can do.Malaysia got it right from the start without paying lip service to its vision of developing the tourism sector. It expended huge sum of money from oil, rubber, palm oil, and tin and injected it into the development of the tourism sector.Solid infrastructurethat could enhance tourism were planted, good roads with bays and rest stops were built generally and most especially along the tourism zones. It would be interesting to reveal that for the sake of tourists and others, Malaysia built 118 airports and 22 seaports!Just as the High Commissioner said, Nigeria and Malaysia are like Siamese twins, but the difference is while one is surviving in the East of Asia, the other is coping in the West of Africa.Sir, as you can see, Nigeria's fate could be likened to that of Malaysia in every respect. We both have the same resources, the same mega diverse cultures, customs, and amalgams of races. We both have oil and, at a particular point, the country determined to diversify, just as you are seriously planning to do now.Mr President, Nigeria started its tourism industry in the 60s, Malaysia started its own in the 80s. But where are we now'Tourism has been found to be the greatest stimulator and lubricator of the world'seconomy. There is no country under this firmament that is tagged developed, in which tourism is not a major player in its economy.We have all that is needed for this country to reap the benefits of tourism.The land, the sand, The sun, The water, The forest, The culture and the people.Ghana, Gambia, South Afica, Kenya, Zimbabwe, are no match to us in terms of tourism potentialities.Mr President, what we need now is a national vision and the political will to diversify to tourism .Sir, can we do it ' Yes. Sir, we have all that it takes as the goodluck is abiding with us now.Mr President, let us stoop low to learn and do a peer review on tourism and other allied matters with Malaysia, a country that is reaping from divesification to tourism.
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