First Baba Isa|2 June 2017
26. "The Spirit of Enterprise".
After the rejection hoopla that greeted the new logo (I also wrote an article rejecting the logo. I still stand by that article), I spent some time reflecting on the message that underlined the new logo: the spirit of enterprise. That's something great. Who wouldn't want an enterprising spirit?
However, a casual investigation on what informed this "spirit of enterprise" thing and the accompanying explanations given by the governor's aides makes this new concept frightening.
It's sad, to say the least, that "the spirit of enterprise" is designed as a divorce proceeding to "Destination Cross River State". Tourism is being painted as something to break away from. One ignorant aide said we are moving from a season of laziness and leisure to that of hardwork and industrialisation. What blinking ignorance.
Is tourism not an industry? Dubai welcomes over 15 million tourists every year and makes over $90 billion annually and in Cross River State we are talking of abandoning tourism for industrialisation. I think Ayade is just trying to stamp his mark on the state and this is because he has allowed himself to be intimidated with the Donald Duke legacy. He is tired of wearing the shoe, since people don't want to stop pointing out to him who the original owner of the shoe was.
This is not just the problem of CRS, it's the problem of leadership in Nigeria: lack of continuity. Development begins every 4 or 8 years because every new leader wants to start something new that will bear his name. They abandon every project of the past administration, fix what is not spoilt, without minding the cost… And this vicious cycle continues.
27. Tourism is an industry, a very profitable one. And over the years, Cross River State has built a brand and a name in that regard. The "spirit of enterprise" should be introduced to make this industry flourish while building other components of a great economy, like Agriculture.
28. Those advising the governor to move away from tourism are pandering to megalomaniac urgings, peppered by economic buffoonery. How can you be building a garment factory and be talking of moving away from tourism? Fashion is a major component of tourism na. Cross River State has the potentials of being the number 1 tourism destination in Africa and one of the top 5 in the world in sub sectors like cultural tourism, historical tourism, agricultural tourism, sports tourism, intellectual tourism, etc in a few years.
29. Truly, the youths need the "spirit of enterprise" to even profit from the tourism ecosystem of the state. We should have programs that will sensitize youths in this regard. For instance, Cross River State has the most adorable and beautiful women in the world. Na me talk am. That's an aspect of tourism too. Every year we have countless numbers of beauty pageants to showcase these ravaging beauties. But 90% of these beauties lack the spirit of enterprise!
You will see a young beautiful girl, who is even a graduate, walks around with a sash, bearing "Miss XYZ", but bae cannot even draft a proposal or concept note. She doesn't know how to convert her beauty and platform into a cause, project or business. Beauty 10 – Spirit of Enterprise 0.
All they know how to do is pay courtesy calls; a euphemism for going from office to office begging for small change to buy make up and sanitary pads. These courtesy calls are even the initiatives of the so called organisers and managers of these pageants.
I wonder why these pageants organisers can't get an expert facilitator to teach these girls how to draft a proposal and how to build platforms with their crowns. I guess they don't even know any better.
30. We should imbibe the spirit of enterprise in all we do… Especially in tourism. And everything we do should be geared towards Destination Cross River.
#JustMyThoughts
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First Baba Isa (FBI)
Is an activist and legal luminary
