Olakunle Makinde
(National Museum, Jos, Nigeria)
Nigeria with a population of more than 120 million vibrant and creative people is blessed with a wide range of economic potentials especially in the area of tourist attractions and heritage properties. The paper highlights some of these resources and maintains that henceforth they could be properly harnessed and utilized sustainably for tourism and economic development of the country.
Apart from the low level of traffic into Nigeria, income accruable from the tourism sector as well cannot be compared as at now with those of some other African countries such as Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Egypt, or even Gambia etc.
Essentially, the paper examines the issues involved in promoting, managing and sustaining tourism in place of historic significance in Nigeria. The writer advocates for continues dialogue among tourism stakeholders as well as laying emphasis on the themes of Sustainability, Viability, Integrity and Accessibility. In conclusion, in order to facilitate reconciliation of any possible tensions that may arise where competing values, expectations and objectives collide in the management of Nigeria’s heritage places for tourism purposes, the paper proffers certain strategies.