Creative Industry

Odusanwo Bags Tourism Personality Award For Impeccable Service To The Sector

Published

4 years ago

May 13, 2022

Joel Ajayi

Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, National President of the Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria (ITPN), has emerged winner of the prestigious Tourism Personality Award of Year 2022 instituted by the Nigerian Tourism Awards in recognition of his selfless service for the promotion of the tourism industry in the country.

According to organizers of the Award, Odusanwo was tipped for the coveted award in view of his enormous contributions to the sustenance of professional practice and skill competence in the Nigerian tourism industry as well as the promotion of the sector for the socio-economic development of Nigeria.

Chief Odusanwo has distinguished himself having lived a better part of his life imparting knowledge to others as a pioneering provider of education and human resource development that has been widely attested to by Nigerians in the UK, which earned him the prestigious membership of the Investor in People (IIP) Recognition Panel

Thus, in a letter of notification of the award to Chief Odusanwo signed by Efetobo Awhana, CEO of Nigerian Tourism Award, it extolled the virtues of Chief Odusanwo as one who has dedicated his time and resources to the growth and development of professionals and skilled personnel in the Nigerian tourism industry in an exemplary and outstanding manners worthy of recognition for the award of Tourism Personality of the Year under review.

His achievements in previous years included his immense contributions to promoting good relations between the Nigerian and British communities through his membership of the Nigeria-British Forum as well as membership of Royal African Society and Egbe Omo Yoruba in Europe.

The investiture of Chief Odusanwo for the Tourism Personality of the Year will hold at the 5th edition of the Nigeria Tourism Awards scheduled to hold on Friday, 20th May, 2022 at the Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel Victoria Island, Lagos along-side other winners of the various categories in Tourism growth and development of the country.

Prominent among other winners of the Nigeria Tourism Awards are Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos state as Best Tourism Governor of the Year and Mrs Uzamatu Akinbile-Yusuf, Best Tourism Commissioner of the Year among others.

It would be recalled that because of Chief Odusanwo’s lifetime achievements, His Royal Majesty, the Alaafin of Oyo and Chairman Oyo state Council of Obas and Chiefs, conferred the Chieftaincy title of Aare Soludero of Oyo Empire on him which is an affirmation by the Kabiyesi that Chief Odusanwo has been found worthy both in character, general disposition and conduct to be conferred with an Oyo Chieftaincy title.

The Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria, headed by Chief Abiodun Odusanwo is the Nigerian premier national certification and professional membership body for hospitality, travel-tourism and allied occupations. It represents members working in the public, private and non-profit making organizations which ensures the highest standards of professional competence of practitioners in the Nigerian tourism and hospitality industry.

It is thus a rightly placed occasion to celebrate a worthy and illustrious individual and personality of Chief Odusanwo whose acts and thoughts over the years have positively influenced countless lives as attested to by practitioners and stakeholders in the industry for making himself available for selfless service, offer of assistance and impactful of knowledge in whatever way possible to those that have cause to meet him.

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Creative Industry

FG Backs MyCityApp Launch of 100-Day Tourism Calendar to Drive $100bn Economic Growth

Published

2 weeks ago

September 15, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Federal Government has thrown its weight behind the launch of MyCityApp, a Nigerian city discovery and tourism platform designed to aggregate festivals, concerts, cultural events and lifestyle experiences into a single digital calendar.

The platform, which flags off the 100-Day Tourism Calendar, was unveiled on Monday at the Ember2Remember National Stakeholders’ Conference in Victoria Island, Lagos, with the initiative targeting Nigeria’s estimated $100 billion tourism and creative economy opportunity.

In a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the Media and Publicity Adviser to the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, the ministry said the conference was aimed at mobilising public and private stakeholders to transform the September-to-December festive period into jobs, investment and economic growth.

Speaking at the unveiling, the Minister, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said millions of visitors travel across Nigeria every year to celebrate, reconnect and experience the country’s diverse culture, stressing that the festive season could be deliberately organised and monetised to strengthen tourism’s contribution to the economy.

“This initiative is about moving beyond the traditional concept of a festive season. It is about deliberately organising, packaging, promoting, and monetising one of the most economically active periods in our national calendar,” Musawa said.

She noted that every visitor generates economic activity across several sectors, including aviation, transportation, hospitality, restaurants, entertainment, retail, technology, artisans and local communities.

The Minister commended MyCityApp Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Ifeoma Chukwu, for her vision and commitment to the initiative.

She urged state governments, event organisers, tourism operators, hospitality businesses and other stakeholders to list their festivals, concerts, exhibitions, food experiences, cultural celebrations, fashion and sporting events on the national calendar.

Musawa said the platform would enable Nigerians, members of the diaspora and international visitors to discover tourism and entertainment experiences across the country from a single, credible source.

Earlier, Chukwu said Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and creative sector provided enormous opportunities for tourism-driven economic growth.

She cited the contributions of tourism to the economies of countries such as Spain, France and the United States, arguing that Nigeria could equally build a $100 billion tourism economy.

Also present were Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson-Awoyinka; Enugu State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ugochi Madueke; NCAC Director-General, Obi Asika; National Gallery of Art Director-General, Ahmed Sodangi; ARCON Director-General, Dr Olalekan Fadolapo; and MTN Nigeria CEO, Dr Karl Toriola.

MyLagosApp and MyCityApp will serve as the digital engines of the calendar, distributing events through a 360-degree media ecosystem to audiences in Nigeria and the diaspora.

Stakeholders were encouraged to upload their events on MyCityApp to participate in the national tourism calendar urging them to upload events on http://www.MyCityApp.io.

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