The West Africa we should know

FOR somet ime now, you only need to tune to the ubiquitous Cable News Network (CNN) to see various nations of the world coming up with ingenious adverts, with the fundamental aim of stimulating our appetite to visit these sections of the globe. Particularly, I have been attracted to the adverts of Egypt, India and Greece and the ways they have registered in my subconscious are amazing testaments to the creative capabilities of the human mind.

Egypt advertises its very precious assets - the sun, the pyramids and the Pharaohs. The nation of India draws our attention to the richness of its diversity and believe me that diversity can be a thing to behold. On her own part, Greece highlights its ancient memoirs spiced with the tantalizing allure of the Mediterranean climate that have enjoyed for centuries. However that is television. In reality, many times, there is a fundamental disconnect between what we are presented with and what reality bestows on us. There is a caveat here, it is important to note that it is always worth our while to visit new territories. It is an experience that unleashes our energy, gives us exposure and helps us to properly evaluate what we have in our own environment.

Travel is exposure and exposure is education. This is why one of the methods of keeping slaves enslaved, during the slave era, was that they were prevented from traveling. In the course of travel, we make discoveries, our youth is renewed and our energies re-invigorated. We become like little children who are always happy because they are always discovering new things. As the byline of that airline goes... keep on discovering.

Travel is another reason why tourism should be encouraged. These and more are motivation for encouraging Nigerians to travel especially when they are on their annual leave from work. All travel does not have to be Europe or the Americas for it to be exhilarating. It is my pleasure to inform you that all the qualities previously mentioned in association with Egypt, India and Greece are present in all of West Africa; though in smaller dimensions but present nonetheless.

A couple of years ago, we were to go to New York for a UN civil society meeting and the safety tour we were given as visitors was one of the most restrictive I have ever seen. Not even the alleys of Moscow or Rio de Janeiro have that amount of restrictions. Anyway, those were the days before Rudi Giuliani. However, it was a particularly interesting discovery for me.

Incidentally, in spite of having this knowledge at the back of my mind, I was not particularly expectant when I had my first visit to the countries on the West African coast. And I must say I was in for a big surprise. Most of West Africa is alike. The customs and cultures of the people are strikingly similar. A significant proportion of us speak Hausa. We were in Bamako for about a week practically incommunicado because of the inability to speak French only to discover on the last day that some of them speak Hausa; a language that some of us could converse in. Sometime in 2005, we were in St Petersburg, Russia and we met with some government officials from the Republic of Benin and there was the same language problem. We were later to discover that we could communicate in Yoruba!

One thing that we have that is hardly replicated is our climate of all-year summer! Those that go sailing can do it all year round on the coast of West Africa. The waters are warm and we do not have too many sharks! In comparison, what we have in existence is about there to four months of grace in Europe and most of the North America.

Moving further, apart from the strong competition with the Somalians, Ethiopians and Brazilians, I believe that western Africans are obviously the most beautiful people in the world - believe me, we really are! We can also be very friendly people and that is traditionally ingrained in our culture. It is interesting to note that we all look alike; the clothes and cosmetics may slightly differ but we can all pass for one another; apart from the language issue of course. There is a lot more to be said about West Africa but I would rather leave it to your discovery. Do make a plan to visit a country in West Africa. Take some time to see other parts of our land, the land of amazing history and limitless potential.

At the close of business, our hosts decided to take us to a restaurant whose name when interpreted means the lagoon. Nestling in a body of water, the building had the look and fell of a big boat. In our tendency for adventure, we took up a table on the corridors. There we saw and heard the ceaseless waves of the ocean current beating upon the boat. The ambience was perfect antidote to the stress we had gone through the whole day as we went about our issues of perfecting telecoms operations in a region begging for development.

About then, I now realised that a local version of Jazz music playing at the background in what perhaps is a calculated attempt to calm the tense nerves and set the tune for a wonderful evening. At this time, the environment was now ripe for all manner of anecdotes and jokes; natural components of a lovely evening. The gentleman to take the order came to our table dressed up in the uniforms of a naval officer. The menu as you would have guessed was replete with all manner of sea food in various versions and after a very lovely evening, we realised that we were not on one of the archipelagos in the Scandinavia nor was it spring-time on the coast of France - this is a restaurant in West Africa, a place that will have the same good ambience all year round.

Unlike other countries of the world that spend so much on advertising and statistics-laden special supplements, we are not obliged to go in that direction. We can start by waking up the need for French in our schools. One reason we never learnt the language was that we were informed that we would never need the language.

A second step would be encouraging regional tourism with all the attendant benefits. We should ensure that messages to the different audiences do not overlap or conflict. We would want to avoid a situation where a reputation as a holiday destination will be muffled by the perception of war-torn countries. This responsibility exists for those in charge of our government and our tourism industry to brand tourism destinations via innovations. Projects would ensure systemic incentives for mid-income people and perhaps another package for journalists and other media people. It is easier said than done, nevertheless it needs to be done.