Plateau State was once a thriving hub of tourism, renowned for its favourable weather and a magnet for foreign visitors. However, the rise in insurgency has disrupted this once-vibrant economic sector. In this interview with Isaac Shobayo, Chuwang Pwajok, General Manager of the Plateau State Tourism Corporation, discusses the government’s strategic plans to revive tourism, harness its vast potential for the benefit of the people, and address other pressing issues facing the state.
DESPITE Plateau State’s immense tourism potential, the sector has remained dormant for an extended period, with little activity or recognition in recent years. Unfortunately, the state’s reputation has been overshadowed by concerns about insecurity. Is the government taking concrete steps to restore Plateau’s lost glory as a tourism hub?
This administration, led by Governor Caleb Mutfwang, is doing quite a lot at the moment to rejuvenate this sector. Plateau State has been consistent in celebrating its potential but has not taken deliberate steps to translate this potential into value-added products that can drive the tourism sector to take its rightful position. This sector has the potential to become a leading sector in generating revenue for the state. Some of us have often said that Plateau, over the years, has behaved like the servant in the Bible who was given talents and decided to bury them, thinking the master wanted to reap where he did not sow. Plateau has buried its talents for a long time.
While that was happening, we also had the misfortune of being tagged as a crisis-prone state. Many of these negative reports are largely exaggerated and blown out of proportion. Often, the media has accepted a stereotypical definition of Plateau State as a crisis-ridden area. Any minor incident, regardless of its scope or location, is often generalised as if Jos is already boiling again.
However, presently, and thankfully, with the coming on board of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, the approach has been very deliberate. We recognise that to counter negative stories, we must bring the good things emerging from the state into the spotlight.
Regarding tourism, Plateau is now making conscious efforts to transform its resources into viable economic platforms. The government has taken a proactive approach to chart a clear course, and the state has been fortunate to attract willing investors. For instance, Plateau State recently signed a concession agreement for the redevelopment and management of Hill Station Hotel. Last month, we signed another for the Plateau Hotel, and soon, we expect to finalise a concession agreement for the Solomon Lar Amusement Park. Efforts are also underway to transform and redevelop the Wildlife Park, a prime tourism asset in the heart of the city. The park has faced numerous challenges over the years, including encroachment due to urbanisation, illegal tin mining, sand mining, poaching, and grazing activities. To address these, the entire 17-kilometre stretch of the park is being fenced, boreholes have been drilled for water supply, and reforestation is ongoing. All structures, including the administrative block, café, store facilities, and animal enclosures, are undergoing renovation.
The issue of animal escaping from the park, such as the recent case with a hyena, is also being addressed. Decayed and weak facilities have allowed animals to escape in the past, but the ongoing intervention aims to resolve these challenges. Plans to renovate enclosures are in the pipeline, and contracts are expected to be awarded soon.
Plateau State is blessed with a rich array of cultures that, if harnessed, could bring fortune and vibrancy to the state. His Excellency has directed the organisation of a grand cultural festival to showcase the diverse ethnic groups, emphasising unity and shared heritage. Preparations are already underway, coordinated by the Office of the Secretary to the State Government.
Additionally, Plateau is preparing to position itself as a Christmas holiday destination. The governor is spearheading a three-day Christmas Unity Carol event, from November 29 to December 1, 2024. These initiatives aim to create unique products to attract tourists and enhance the state’s profile as a tourism hub in Nigeria.
The Plateau State Tourism Corporation has also revived the Jos Christmas Festival, conceived to establish Plateau as a prime Christmas destination. These efforts are gradually transforming Plateau’s narrative and positioning the state as a beacon of tourism and culture in Nigeria.
Is the state partnering with the private sector to develop this sector and to organise the Christmas festival?
We are doing this, and we are deliberately engaging with the private sector to partner with them so that we collectively can bring out the best of what Plateau and Jos has to offer and use that to attract visitors into the state. The aim is for us to be able to take a little pinch at the global Christmas holiday market and begin to announce ourselves as a state that people can plan their Christmas holidays towards. You know that Plateau already has the distinct advantage within this part of the world of having the kind of weather that people love to associate with. The unique natural rock formations are equally part of the broad canvas that God has given us to do what we can to paint the beautiful picture of people coming to our state to have a very unique and beautiful experience. So the Christmas festival is another activity that the state is pushing forward to use as a flagship to position itself to cash into the Christmas holiday market. What we are doing with this festival is to take the whole of the month of December, from the first to the 31st, or probably most often, most likely, the first week of January in the coming new year, to develop activities on a consistent basis so that once any visitor comes into Jos from the first week of December right all through to the end of December, you will find activities that will attract your attention and attendance.
The ultimate aim in having these activities is to unlock the diverse [opportunities]that activities of that nature have in creating economic benefits for the community. So these activities have been carefully selected to enrich the Christmas season in Plateau State so that visitors can come into the state, and you will find that there is no dull moment.
What we are doing in order to ensure the sustainability of these activities is to deliberately involve the private sector. We are trying as much as possible not to make the festival become too much of a government program. We want the private sector to see the advantage in terms of economic benefits in partnering with the state to organise this event. And you know anything that citizens or individuals find economic benefits in, they are likely to continue on a consistent basis.
We don’t want a situation where, at the most, the Mutfwang administration stays for eight years and immediately after that, you have a new set of people on board, and without the interest in sustaining these activities, it will begin to die off. So we are being careful to ensure active collaboration and partnership with the private sector. And that is why, in our planning, we have been able to secure participation and collaboration with different brands.
What is the government expectation concerning this Christmas festival?
Yes, the expectations are that citizens will find these activities worth their time and worth spending a little bit of resources to enjoy and celebrate Christmas. The major expectation, like I have mentioned, is for us to use these activities to gradually begin to unlock the economic benefits that tourism can bring to the state. Because you know that when human beings are gathered in a destination or location for a considerable length of time, commerce immediately kicks in. So the interest is in using these activities to unlock the tourism economy that we know Plateau stands to benefit from. So this is one major activity that will help the state position itself as a premier Christmas destination in Nigeria. This is just at the infant stage, and our expectation is that when we deliver the next two to three editions of this festival, we will have sufficiently enriched it not merely to compete with others happening across the country but to define ourselves as a unique destination that will compel attention and attract the kind of numbers and visitors that we hope to get.
What is the government doing about parts of tourist destinations outside the state capital?
You have a situation where a sector that should rightfully be driven by the private sector has consistently been tied under huge government bureaucratic arrangements that make it difficult for funding to easily seep in and perfect what these activities are supposed to deliver. For the tourism attractions that we have outside the state capital, a coordinated action is being planned in a way that we will, in the coming year, hopefully, designate certain rural communities in the state as tourism villages.
What we are doing with that is to focus attention on developing the unique advantages that these rural communities have. These communities will be carefully selected based on the existence of attractions that can interest visitors, the uniqueness of the culture and cuisine, the openness of the people, and the receptiveness of these people to visitors.
What we want to do with this initiative is to begin to have situations where visitors can even explore the opportunities of having homestays in these rural communities. You visit the community; the rural architecture is not changed into any semblance of modernity, but we improve on the sanitation and hygiene of these rural dwellings and communities.
People can visit these communities, eat local dishes prepared hygienically, and sleep within the confines of these rural dwellings without feeling any less but trying to have the authentic rural experience. So these rural tourism villages will be carefully selected, and the state is equally working towards having three major flagship projects, one in each of the three senatorial zones, that the state will aggressively and actively seek partnerships with investors to develop.
These now form the hub or the nucleus of dispersing tourists into these rural communities that we’re talking of. So we’re going to have them designated in each of the three senatorial zones of the state, and we hope by the middle or the end of next year to have sufficiently positioned and selected rural communities designated as tourism villages so that we can translate tourism into the rural communities, and the citizens at that level begin to reap direct benefits from tourism. So in essence, we are hoping to create an atmosphere where citizens gradually understand and appreciate tourism, and they see it as an alternative means of livelihood, thereby investing both their time, energy, and resources in helping the government develop this. Our culture will become a major product because once people visit these communities, the extent of interaction that we hope to bring to bear is such that the cultural dances, the food, the folk tales, and folklore of those communities will form part of the major interaction. The historical lived experiences of these people, against the background of the natural landforms and formations that God has blessed them with, will all be put together to enrich the rural tourism experience that we are hoping and actually working to put together as far as the state is concerned.
So these are some of the plans and actions that the Mutfwang administration is bringing to bear with regards to a holistic and overall tourism development as far as Plateau is concerned.
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