Hyacinth Eku
Abuja
Nigeria’s culture has again been identified as a key driver of tourism development, after scoring highest among seven pillars used by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations to measure the country’s reputation perception globally, according to a press release from the NTDA Press/Public Relations department on Friday.
The NIPR President and Chairman of the Governing Council, Dr. Ike Neliaku, disclosed this on Thursday while receiving a delegation from the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority, NTDA, led by Director General Mr. Ola Awakan. He said culture ranked top in the reputation index compiled by NIPR’s Nigeria Reputation Management Group, NRMG.
Dr. Neliaku agreed that culture remains the cornerstone of tourism development. He commended Awakan for deploying storytelling to promote Nigeria’s vast cultural and tourism assets, noting that both are intertwined and inseparable in shaping how the world sees Nigeria.
The PR expert said NIPR will collaborate with NTDA to redefine Nigeria’s narrative internationally. He charged Nigerians to be good ambassadors of the country, stressing that reputation is built daily through conduct, communication and perception management.
“Tourism is a soft power of influence that we must take full advantage of,” Neliaku said. He urged NTDA to lead the agenda, especially when engaging celebrities and influencers who have the capacity to amplify wrong narratives about the country. “We must ensure those who tell our story do so with facts and pride,” he added.
On his part, Mr. Ola Awakan thanked NIPR for hosting the NTDA team. He said Nigeria has a pivotal role to play in Africa’s tourism space and that PR professionals are critical to achieving that purpose. He disclosed that the government has dedicated platforms like NITOUREY, which President Bola Tinubu will commission soon, to tell Nigeria’s stories.
Awakan said NTDA will continue to engage the private sector through viable Public-Private Partnership initiatives to ensure sustainability in tourism development. The visit ended with both institutions agreeing to deepen collaboration in reputation management and cultural diplomacy.
