By Frank Meke
She is clearly the misplaced figure in our quest to find proper footing to advance Nigeria cultural tourism economy. Hannatu Musa Musawa choice and appointment as Nigeria minister of culture and creative economy, lately Tourism added to her portfolio has added more to our fears that she was merely chosen to fail and fall like Humpty Dumpty.
And with President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who appointed her, openly romancing and testifying of the quality and deliveries metrics of few Ministers such FCT Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike, Bosun Tijani of Communications and Dr Olubunmi Tunji Ojo of Interior, who have brought immense political gains to excite APC leadership of this country, we cannot but believe that Hannatu Musa Musawa headship of the ministry of culture and tourism is surplus to requirement towards the growth of Nigerian economy.
From day one and to no one’s making but to the true intent of Hannatu Musa Musawa hidden past and possibly her worldview, she opened her flood gate of controversy with an appearance over National Youth service call up storyline, a national embarrassment to which has become like her shadow, thus questioning her true cultural tourism leadership of our country.
Our heritage norms and culture as a people indeed frown at storylines of individuals and institutions with a history of manipulative shenanigans, unfortunately the political class to which our pretty queen of poetry, oil, and gas legal ethos, belonged has turned our culture and heritage ethics on truth, posterity and family values to shredded pork meat.
And with the President in France to take a serious look at the performance of his aides and appointees in the past two years, I submit that Hannatu Musa Musawa has brought nothing innovative to this government. No plaudits from her boss and industry stakeholders, with her beat at the lowest rung of socio-economics growth ranking , Hannatu’s achievement is merely making up the number at the table of the federal executive Council. confusion.
Every week, we waited and looked forward to new changes but got nothing in return except a sad reminder that we had a storyteller as minister of culture and tourism.
I hate to add that despite the obvious failings of our dear Hannatu Musa Musawa, it also quite glaring that our dear president has not truly made up his mind on what to do with our cultural tourism economy, at least in hunting for the best brains to push cultural tourism globally accepted findings of stimulating Jobs creation and impacting revenue stream growth into the consciousness of Nigerians.
If NNPC and the oil sector have the same contributory economic impact values with cultural tourism economy, we wonder why the President is foot dragging on processing a surgical procedure to remove the threat posed by Hannatu Musa Musawa cancerous management of our cultural tourism economy?
We had thought that the President would apply the same swift measures which rid the tourism sector of Lola Ade-John to the controversial Hannatu Musa Musawa, sadly her miserable staying power after the removal of Ade John is clearly a disservice and unproductive to a President eyeing a reelection some two years away.
We don’t need any prophetic assertion to convince even the blind that our pretty minister of culture and tourism is not fit for this job. She is clueless, arrogant, and lacking the cultural tourism depth to turn around the fortunes of the sector and bring about political gains to APC as a party and to the president who has stood with her for whatever reasons which may have nothing to do with the performance health shown by the likes of Wike, Bosun Tijani, Dr olubunmi Tunji Ojo and Festus Keyamo.
It is absolutely the right thing to do by the President to shop for new hands to run the cultural tourism trade in Nigeria, critically desirable now that a 14 per cent tarrif has been imposed by President Trump on Nigeria exports and another five per cent by the sahel countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. No doubt, Nigeria can use its cultural tourism and creative economy to gain advantage and balance trade tariffs imposed by other countries if we can get the right leadership for the industry now,today, and not tomorrow..
We are aware that the President has the capacity to get us the right persons to do this all important job just as he recently did to oil sector, so why keep a cultural tourism threat, mushrooming dislocations and failing at every level of performance. Why keep Hannatu Musa Musawa to continue to ridicule and punish us.
This industry deserves some sense of serious leadership and impactful revival. We are not by any measure bereft of midas hands, individuals with capacities to turn around the tide. We are tired of being made to cry like orphans and to clap for the likes of Hannatu Musa Musawa, who from all indications is neither popular with industry practitioners nor with the ministry staff.
If anyone is in doubt that Hannatu is a threat to the sector, we should refer such optimistics persons to go fact check all the proposed manipulative shenanigans rolled out as projects by Hannatu Musa Musawa since her appointment and tell us the impact of any of such projects?
I won’t bother recapping some of those Hannatu’s borrowed and intentionally deceptive barman tales and moon light projects, what usually rake me is the backing of such mundane efforts with statistical flowery that could engender mob reactions.
Mr. President, please help us remove this cancerous threat and deliver our cultural tourism economy from stagnation. Hannatu Musa Musawa can be redeployed to the Ministry of Waste disposal. Our highways and public spaces need the like of Hannatu Musa Musawa to come clean. It is a job fit for beauty queens and not for a serious economy such as culture hospitality, tourism and creative arts which requires a strong willed goal getter, a powerhouse of robust creative skills with history of verifiable developmental milestones and strides in the industry. This industry, dear president, is tired of having misfits such as our minister threatening our cultural tourism advantages and possibilities.
