Folorunsho Folarin-Coker, Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, has been running with the vision of the Ambode-led government to make Lagos an unrivalled destination.
In the many years of its existence, Lagos has been a pulsating city loved by all and sundry. Folorunsho Folarin-Coker, Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture spoke with the Association of Travels and Tourism Writers of Nigeria (ATTWON) what his ministry is doing to reposition Lagos as a destination for all to adore.
Since he assumed office, Folarin-Coker has been running with the vision of the Ambode-led government to make Lagos an unrivalled destination in the entire West African region and the world. The One Lagos Fiesta held in different parts of Lagos State attests to how the new government is encouraging local participation in the growth and development of tourism.
For Folarin-Coker, tourism can only grow when locals first experience the destination they have before selling it to an international audience. It is for this reason that the One Lagos Fiesta held in Badagry, Lagos Bar Beach, Epe, Agege, and Ikorodu has been a rare feat in the history of the state.
“It was successful because it was what the people wanted,” he says of the OLF. “When you give the people what they want, generally, it is quite difficult for you to fail. The people wanted an inclusive government, they wanted certain things decentralised, especially after a difficult year, with all the politics, to decentralise the cross-over ceremony from one location to five.
“So people from four other locations didn’t have to come to one location, they got their own, that’s one. Secondly, they never had anything like that in those four other locations, of the same standard. For example, Mavin Records played in Epe, Agege and Ikorodu, they couldn’t make it to Badagary and they played at Lagos Bar Beach as well.”
What Folarin-Coker and his team achieved with the OLF is not just to unite Lagos but also to grow the state’s economy. No single serious crime was reported in any of the locations because everyone bought into the vision, including the area boys who the commissioner calls ‘The Gentlemen’.
“We have Bar Beach standard now photocopied to these four areas, people are bound to be happy. I think that was probably what created this unique phenomenon that we also didn’t have any report of any serious crime because the people were just happy. I remember, some gentlemen (area boys) of Agege, point blank said, ‘haa, we like this o, we are not going to fight o,’ and that touched something in us.”
Folarin-Coker’s vision for the development of tourism in Lagos State is enormous. Not many people are aware of what the objective of the OLF truly is. The commissioner says its primary objective is to cross over from one year to the other and secondly, to launch another brand.
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“We have one brand called Countdown and we have another called One Lagos Festival (OLF), so we have two brands. But there was something OLF was supposed to do and was done successfully, that was to test-run the governor’s policy on an entertainment economy. What is the governor saying? He is saying that if I drive the entertainment economy hard enough, what does it do to the communities in which I drive them?” Indeed, the Lagos economy experiences some remarkable growth in the grassroots where food, drink, souvenir vendors made a lot of sales.
The event lasted for five days in different parts of Lagos. It was an exciting combination of music and entertainment which drew a large crowd from far and near. More than 50 artistes performed, including the Mavin crew, Olamide and Tuface Idibia, who performed live at the event which took place in Lagos Atlantic, Agege, Ikorodu, Badagry and Epe.
“Now you will understand why the experiment of the One Lagos Fiesta,” he explains further, “which was the secondary reason, to test-run the use of entertainment as a tool to drive tourism, worked. People don’t go from one place to the other without one activity attracting them, that is where entertainment comes in. At Badagary, one-third of Cotonou moved in, people of Alimosho descended into Agege, the figures were crazy. Alimosho is our most populous local government. Agege was a surprise because we thought it was going to be unruly because of the crowd, but it wasn’t.”
Folarin-Coker’s vision for the development of tourism in Lagos State is huge and one of the ways he is seeking to drive that is to capitalise on the entertainment potential of the state. “Lagos is the home of Nollywood, Nollywood dominates Africa in terms of home movies, it’s the third in the world. We also know that Lagos is the home of the music industry, the industry that dominates Africa is resident in Lagos.
“If we look at those two things and we look at our population, 20 million, our brand of tourism that we will be driving with entertainment is starting at home. We have 20 million people and if five or ten million people all spend one, two or five thousand naira can you see the multiplier effect within the economy of Lagos? If we are doing it well enough in Lagos, I guarantee you, they are coming from Ogun, Oyo, Kwara to come and consume this beautiful thing in Lagos. Do you know we are about forty, thirty million people already? Can we even cope? Then Sub-Sahara Africa is represented in Lagos and more of them will now come.”
For Folarin-Coker, local tourism is key in driving the growth of the tourism, arts and culture industry in the state. “When people talk about tourism, I don’t see tourism as someone from New York City coming to Lagos, what is he bringing? He is just going to come and complain. I am looking at letting the people of Lagos know what is good in Lagos. When it is good enough in Lagos, Nigerians will come to Lagos. When it gets better, West Africans and Africans, will come to Lagos. By then, it will be a worldwide affair.
“Local tourism first, before I say domestic tourism. Right now you don’t know what is available in Lagos, you don’t. Look, I have had some people do a documentary for me on the best Bukas in Lagos. Where can I get the best Amala in Lagos? Where can I get the best Gbegiri soup in Lagos? So you see, that’s the beginning of a food tour; the Amala tour, and that is just Yoruba food. Ask the Igbos, the Hausas, the Calabar people and different exciting culinary experiences await you.”
It is no surprise that he names Lagos, “The taste bud of Sub-Saharan Africa” because there is no food you want that you don’t find in Lagos. Fashion, entertainment, food, hospitality etc. are growing really fast in the state.
“Lagos is the entertainment hub of Africa. What we are trying to do is to sort it out. What are the components of the entertainment capital of Africa? Film, we dominate. Music, food and fashion, we dominate. We are the most populous country in Africa. So we have the numerical supremacy and we exist in a state that is the equivalent of 47 African countries because our GDP is $131billion and our buying power is strong. So if we don’t start to sell it in those terms, we won’t get it right.”
Noting too that Lagos is known as the economic power house of West Africa,he declared:
“Kenyans come to buy clothes here, South Africans come and buy cosmetic and hair pieces here. As they are buying from us, we are buying from them, so economic tourism exists here but it is just not defined. Lagos is the Dubai of Africa. It’s just that at your level, you want to go to Dubai, why some people in Ghana shuttle the bus or air travel to come to Lagos to go to Balogun and shop. You are going to Dubai, they are coming to Lagos.”
Lagos is equally strong in Religious Tourism. The Redeemed Christian Church of God has 187 million branches in 187 countries with the headquarters in Lagos, same for T.B Joshua’s synagogue that brings in more than one million visitors to Lagos annually.
“Where is their Mecca? Lagos, of course. Religious Tourism is huge here … all with massive local and international crowd, right here in Lagos. So, isn’t it crystal clear that Lagos is a destination but we have to define it and that is what I am trying to do in little bits.”
However, he says he is using entertainment as a statement. “Entertainment is good to capture the mind of everybody. Yes, it’s a good merry time at the end of the year but in reality the dominance of Lagos cannot be ignored and if we are going to really talk about this tourism thing, then let’s take everything out into individual boxes and bring them together and stack Lagos with other states, then we know what we have.”
Under the leadership of Folarin-Coker, the Lagos Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is already working with tour operators in the state to create holiday packages for families to experience, taste and love Lagos.
“I’ve had meetings with all of them; hoteliers, tour operators and other stakeholders. I told them, I could pick up this phone and do a tour package for myself to South Africa, Dubai, Saudi Arabia. One phone call, one transfer and I’m done. Nobody is packaging back into Nigeria, Why? And we spoke and they agreed to come up with something. We have met once or twice already.
“If I buy my individual package, I cannot attain a unit cost that is a bargain. What they are doing in Dubai, they are bulk purchasing, when you bulk purchase you can average down. So, fly in with Arik flight, Uber taxi to Avenue Suites in Victoria Island, visit Eko Hotel, Palms Shopping centre, Quilox Night club, Nike Art Gallery, Epe Fish Market, whatever it is we need to create to make a fulfilling package for the tourists.”
