Newly appointed board chairman of the National Park Service, Dr. Kingsley Ononogbu, has said the country’s tourism industry is as visible as the key economic drivers.
Ononogbu stated this yesterday while speaking to newsmen in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, saying the industry’s potential was unfolding and limitless.
“Nigeria has a lot of God-given natural tourism sites, including the recognised nine and the over 15 to 20 unrecognised ones to make it a global tourist destination,” he said.
One the way forward, the chairman said the first thing was to have a general overview of what is in existence and what needs to be done.
“The ones that can be in the immediate, we take them head on, those that require budgetary allocation in preparation for next year’s budget, we make sure that they are brought in,” he said.
According to him, this would be followed by creating awareness about the parks as many people are not aware of the diversity of the parks and the share number.
“For instance there’s a mini park in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. If you have gone to Wild Life Safari in Kenya like I have gone, you wouldn’t believe this thing is existing in this country,” he added.