“The road to success is always under construction.” – Lily Tomlin.
As I reflect on 2025, I’m filled with a deep sense of validation and quiet gratitude. This was the year when seeds planted in uncertainty began to bloom in the open. A year that reminded me that sometimes the world may not understand your work immediately, but purpose has perfect timing.
Five years ago, at the height of the pandemic, I took a risk many thought unrealistic. I chartered the first direct flight between Nigeria and the Caribbean, connecting Lagos to Montego Bay. It was a heavy lift financially, emotionally, and logistically, yet it carried a conviction bigger than the moment. I called it The Flight of Hope because it symbolised a dream for Africa and the Caribbean to reconnect in ways that go beyond memory.
This year, that dream came full circle.
Exactly five years later, on December 21st, 2025, Air Peace will begin monthly commercial flights to the Caribbean. The same route once flown under uncertainty will now fly as part of our collective future. Watching that happen has been one of the most affirming moments of my professional life. What once felt invisible is now a permanent part of our continental story.
2025 also brought a new wave of Africa-Caribbean integration: visa waivers, investment forums, cultural exchanges, presidential visits and private-sector leadership. Each milestone, whether flights to Antigua and St Kitts, or Afreximbank’s expanding Global Africa Initiative, has shown that the bridge we once imagined is now taking structural form.
I’m grateful to have contributed to this movement in my own way. This year, I strengthened high-level engagements across the Caribbean, particularly in tourism and cultural diplomacy work that aligns naturally with the mission I’ve carried for more than a decade through NTT Global Destinations. Our landmark side event at the 49th CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting in Jamaica remained a highlight. Under the theme “From Shared Roots to a Shared Future,” we created space for leaders, creatives, entrepreneurs and policymakers to engage not just emotionally, but economically.
Through initiatives like Motherland Reconnect, we continued to link African and Caribbean entrepreneurs, creatives, and SMEs. We’re unlocking a potential $20 billion corridor that merges tourism, culture, and commerce, proving that shared history can lead to shared prosperity. This is the type of work that proves that connection is not just sentimental, it is strategic.
Beyond the Africa-Caribbean corridor, 2025 expanded my footprint in global tourism policy and advocacy. Through my work with the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) as Partner on International Relations and Strategic Engagements, I’ve focused on positioning Nigerian tourism not as leisure, but as an economic policy. From visa advocacy and international partnerships to preferential B2B access for Nigerian agents, we are slowly shifting from dependence to competitiveness.
This year also marked significant progress in the Halal tourism and ethical economy, a space I believe will define the future of inclusive tourism. Through our developing Halal Tours & Hub, we’re aligning SMEs, creatives, and tourism operators to tap into a global halal economy valued at over $7 trillion. Beyond faith, this is about equity, opportunity and economic dignity.
This year was not without its challenges, moments of redirection, lessons in patience, and reminders that pioneering work can be lonely. But 2025 taught me that the reward for perseverance is not applause; it is permanence. It is seeing the blueprint you sketched years ago become part of a broader movement, with many hands now building the bridge.
As I step into 2026, I do so with clarity. I’m preparing to launch a Continental Public-Private Impact Portfolio, a strategic framework that ties together my work across tourism, trade, halal economy and diaspora relations. The goal is simple: to make the bridge not just visible, but valuable. Not just symbolic, but economically significant.
I close this year with profound gratitude to my team, partners, collaborators and every institution that believed in the vision long before it was fashionable. And above all, to God, whose timing continues to affirm that no labour of purpose is wasted.
Five years ago, I was a dreamer with a flight plan. Today, I stand as a cultural diplomat, tourism diplomacy leader, building bankable tourism ecosystems across Africa, the Caribbean and the Halal Economy. 2025 was the year the bridge became global. 2026 will be the year we strengthen it for generations to come.
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