I hope Nigeria’s tourism minister is looking at how the British are packaging this whole royal affair into one huge tourist package that will generate revenue for the treasury 

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Anyone who follows the economics of the British monarchy will know that they use it as a money spinner to woo tourists and sell memorabilia 

[2] They open up their palaces to fee-paying tourists, lease out estates and sell the use of the royal crests to big businesses 

[3] Like Nigeria, Dubai started out as wholly dependent on oil but today, today, less than 5% of the emirate's revenue comes from oil. Dubai's non-oil foreign trade stood at $362bn as far back as 2014. In Dubai, the government's decision to diversify from a trade-based, oil-reliant economy to one that is service and tourism-oriented made property more valuable

[4] Like the UK, everyone else is getting the message. Do you know that Dubai city hosted 14.9m overnight visitors in 2016 and this is expected to reach 20m by 2020? Dubai has been called the shopping capital of the Middle East as it has more than 70 shopping centres, including the world's largest shopping centre, the Dubai Mall

[5] Over the last 15 years, Dubai has invested massively in infrastructure like rail metros, roads, security, hotels beaches, holiday resorts, conference centres, etc. The only place in Nigeria that can compare with it in any way shape of form with regards to upgrading its infrastucture over the last 15 years is Akwa Ibom State but hey, more has been spent in Akwa Ibom than in Dubai. One is a global tourist economy and the other is still struggling

[6] Now, we have to live in the world as it is and not as we would want the world to be, so it is not realistic to expect the whole of Nigeria to become Dubai overnight. However, we can adopt the Tasmania model of developing an island tourist paradise, which could easily bring in a sum identical to the $50bn or so we are getting from crude oil sales annually

[7] Australia has sought to develop Tasmania as a tourist paradise, away from the mainland. We will not, however, copy their example of depopulating it of local people because that is tantamount to genocide. After hostilities between settlers and Aboriginals ceased in 1832, almost all of the remnants of the indigenous population were persuaded or forced by government agent George Robinson to move to Flinders Island. Many quickly succumbed to infectious diseases to which they had no immunity, reducing the population further. Of those removed from Tasmania, the last to die was Truganini, in 1876

[8] What we can do is build an artificial island off the coast somewhere and turn it into a dedicated tourist destination. Off the coast of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Lagos states, we have the potential to create an island where security, power, water, transport, hotels, etc that can sustain a world class tourist industry. Such ventures should be easy to attract capital for as they pay for themselves withing five to 10 years

[9] If you ask me, it is highly irresponsible of Nigerian leaders to go on these jamborees to Dubai while our own tourist industry languishes in ruins. Dubai is sold as a great destination because of its lovely weather which is similar to that of Nigeria. There is absolutely no reason why many of those weddings, parties, birthdays, AGMs etc they hold cannot take place at say Tinapa in Calabar, the Obudu Cattle Ranch, the Uyo Ibom Le Meridien Golf Resort, the Apex Holiday resort in Abuja or the La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort in Lekki, Lagos. Do you know that Muammer Gaddafi lived in an armoured tent until he had provided a home for every Libyan?

[10] I am surprised that Nigerian tourist officials have not flown to London to ask how the Britain is funding this funeral and how it intends to exploit the tourist potential going forward