I received a mail and a telephone call last week from an aide of the Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation. It was an invitation to participate in a conference being jointly organized by the ministry and the National Sports Commission. The theme of the conference excited me. It made my mind race back in time to the period when I was Chairman of the Nigeria World Cup bid for 2010. On several occasions during and after that period in 2004 I have talked and written about the synergy between sports and tourism. I was made Chairman of the 2010 World Cup purely on the strength of my conviction that we could use a single sports event to precipitate a re-engineering of the Nigerian society. Since then, I have been to international conferences, read publications, and visited places that have promoted and exploited this synergy between sports and tourism to develop both industries and even more. I have often wondered that in spite of the glaring examples everywhere around us, why can’t people see and appreciate the potency of sports as a major economic and social tool for national development. For the 14 thankless months of my struggle to make Nigerians see beyond their pessimism and look at the prospects of using the World Cup to drive national and regional development.  It was painful to witness how the whole idea was ridiculed by a large segment of the media in particular pointing out how Nigerians do not have the patriotic zeal and moral capacity to do the ‘impossible’ and make Nigeria great again! Many Nigerians refused to see beyond the stealing and looting that characterize our daily life. I watched in despair at how we gave up such an opportunity without even trying. How I stood before Mr. President and listened to him tell me why the country should give up this dream because ‘Mbeki is my friend. Whatever he wants I give him. He wants the World Cup, I’ll give it to him’. My arguments were rebuffed.

I wrote columns and granted interviews. My greatest challenge was that no one was listening. It was like a death knell – the termination of what had the potential of forcing Nigeria to adopt measures that could have changed her forever. South Africa has become the beneficiary of Nigeria’s shortsightedness with the wholesome change that is going on there at the moment through sports!

I am glad that between the new ministers of Sports and of Tourism they have decided to look again at the relationship and exploit it. I met with the Minister of Culture and Tourism last week and he talked me into believing that Nigeria is ripe for taking our first steps on the path in driving the tourism industry through sports. The conference is the first step in creating public awareness. We must start to do in sports what Nduka Obaigbena is doing to the entertainment industry. As the events are organized structures and facilities are put in place to build the country’s hospitality industry as a whole of which tourism is a major part.

I cannot wait to tell my story and sell the agenda of a synergy between sports and tourism in Nigeria!