After 14 years of existence, the annual Akwaaba West African travel fair, marked its 15th edition, this week in Lagos. It was a watershed in the 15-year history of the fair. It recorded the highest number in terms of attendance. It also succeeded in attracting visitors from its traditional market of Africa and the Middle East. There were participants from the Caribbean.
The fair opened with a colourful lively ceremony. Nigeria’s Father of Tourism, Chief Mike Amachree, flanked by other dignitaries, including the Director General of the National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC), cut the tape to declare the fair opened.
The first major event of the fair was the “Jollof Rice War”, Jollof rice cooking contest. At the end of the contest, chef Folashade Shoyombo from Nigeria won the 2019 Jollof rice contest followed by chef Deborah from Nigeria who came second, while Chef Fatima also from Nigeria came third. No fewer than 20 chefs from Nigeria, Togo, Benin and Ghana participated in the contest.
Other segments of the fair included different panels of discussion on the African Diaspora tourism (Caribbean Experience ): Is tourism a sustainable business for the youths?
Speaking on this year’s event, Mr. Ikechi Uko, the founder of the fair, said 2015 edition was the year the fair’s vision came into fruition as a rallying point for Africans and Africans in the Diaspora.
His words: “When we launched the ATQ metrics in 2003/2004, it was that we were going to link up the four continents that have the blacks. Our tag line was ‘One culture, many places.’ So, it took 15 years for us to reconnect with our Diaspora brothers. When we started Akwaaba, we connected Nigeria, then West Africa and East, Africa, then South Africa. Then, this year, we are able to bring the Caribbean into the metrics. This is the first time in 15 years that the vision has come to pass.”
Assessment this year’s event, Ikechi said the 2019 fair turned out to be a monumental success.
He said: “Seeing that vision come to fruition means that everybody, for the past 15 years, has been watching and observing. They have seen us go from one step to another step and they can see the conscious effort and the growth. This year, you saw everybody up their games. For the first time, Ethiopia had their day and it ended in a blast. It was not dependent on one person or the other, everybody played their parts.
“One of the visiting ministers told me this is the only event where he has seen a blend of African culture in a travel business environment. So, everything came together. It is an authentic African event now.”
Despite about 11 countries being in attendance, all the primary federal agencies in charge of tourism were conspicuous absent as they had no stands.
Ikechi said they were all invited to participate: “There was a director from the ministry that was there from Monday. I wouldn’t know why they were not participating. We make our plans; make sure everybody knows what we are doing. We go out of our ways to invite everybody.
“But on the last day, I saw the Director General of NIHOTOURS. He was in the youth panel along with a director from the ministry. NCAC had a stand. So, I wouldn’t know what they see and I don’t want to make judgment on other people’s decisions, but this year was a milestone not just for Nigeria, not just for me.
“We had 200 foreigners stay here for one week. That is amazing and everybody is doubling their stand for next year. Every country wants to fly in her chef to join in the cooking. We are likely to have Caribbean food next year along with European food. Some European countries are thinking of introducing their food too”.