Culture and Tourism

We’ll continue to support Cote D’Ivoire Day celebration in Nigeria-Envoy

Published

4 years ago

May 8, 2022

The Ambassador of Cote D’ ivoire to Nigeria, in Abuja, Kalilou Traoré, said he would continue to support the celebration of ‘Cote D’ivoire Cultural Day in Nigeria.

The ambassador said the event is an occasion to franchising with Ivorian community and Nigerian Attiéké to celebrate cultural patrimony of Côte D’ivoire Day.

According to the ambassador, this is an avenue to foster better relations through the indigenous food called ‘attieke’.

“This is a very good day to franchise with organizers of the event and owner of Attiéké Republic; this is an occasion to celebrate cultural patrimony of Côte D’ivoire to Nigeria.

” This is also an occasion to show fraternity, to show many exhibition in makers and sellers arts, sculptures, designers, Ivorian wrapper, gastronomy (especially Attiéké food),” he said.

He commended the organiser of the event for “this wonderful initiative” , adding that they will continue to promote Ivorian culture in Nigeria.

“This event is organised to promote Cote D’Ivoire Cultural Day. I want to thank the organiser of ‘Attiéké Republic’ for the wonderful initiative.

“We will continue to encourage him to elevate the culture of Cote D’Ivoire; I will continue to support him as the ambassador.

“We also make sure this event is well known in every part of Nigeria, to all ECOWAS people, diplomacy people; this is to strengthen our relationship with Nigerians,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the second edition of the event also tagged ‘Cote D’Ivoire Cultural Day”, is organized by the Attiéké Republic restaurant in conjunction with the embassy and ECOWAS.

The theme of the event is ‘Our culture, our identity’.

The event featured different Ivorian delicacies such as attiéké with roasted or smoked or fried fish, attiéké with chicken Banga soup, groundnut soup, white rice, millet pap, among others.

He said the edition was more interesting than the first, saying he was happy that the ambassador attended in person to be part of the event.

“The ambassador could not come in the first edition and he was well represented but in this edition, he came in person, this made my day for seeing him here.

He said the event was designed to hold every three months, to have a good relationship with Nigerians.

Stephanie Seudo, the wife of the organizer, said she was happy to see the crowd celebrating the event.

“I especially thank the media for making our day and publishing the event, we have greater events ahead of us,” she said.

The event was attended by some people from the ECOWAS secretariat, American embassy, European Union and the Ivorian community.

The event is to showcase the musical, social, cultural art, and other ways of unifying communities of different cultures in Nigeria.

Attiéké is a native food of Cote D’Ivoire, which had also spread to different countries like Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Gambia and Nigeria.

It has been used to foster community relations and cultural exchanges.

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Culture and Tourism

Awakan Marks First Anniversary as NTDA DG, Charts New Course for Tourism Sector

Published

1 week ago

September 24, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

As the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) enters its second year under the leadership of the Director-General, Mr. Ola Awakan, the focus will remain on building partnerships and converting Nigeria’s tourism assets into greater opportunities for investment and accelerated economic growth.

That simple message framed the one year scorecard presented on Wednesday by Mr. Awakan during NTDA Tourism Week 2026 and activities leading to World Tourism Day held in Abuja.

“Nigeria does not lack tourism assets,” Awakan said. “What is required is a system that connects these assets to investments, jobs, technology, enterprise and sustainable economic value.” He added.

Reeling out his scorecard, Awakan observed that over the past year, the Authority concentrated on stakeholder engagement, innovation, investment facilitation, digital transformation, destination marketing, tourism intelligence and institution building.

He explained that efforts have been made towards deeper collaboration with government institutions, traditional institutions, private-sector operators, development partners, financial institutions, professional bodies, communities and international partners.

On the digital front, the NTDA boss said the Authority has advanced NITOUREY, a dedicated tourism streaming platform and content ecosystem meant to take Nigerian destinations, culture and experiences to wider audiences, in alignment with this year’s World Tourism Day theme, “Digital agenda and artificial intelligence to redesign Tourism”.

He also identified Naija Flavour as a flagship project to position Nigerian cuisine as both a tourism asset and a tool for cultural diplomacy, linking tourism to Nollywood, music, fashion, food, festivals and digital creativity.

Speaking further, Awakan reiterated that the NTDA is also digitising tourism enterprise accreditation and regulatory processes while developing a grassroots tourism framework to identify, document and promote assets across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.

Internationally, NTDA has expanded ties with tourism institutions, diplomatic missions, development partners and global organisations on technical cooperation, investment, destination marketing, capacity building, cultural diplomacy and market access.

The NTDA helmsman however recognised that challenges remain such as infrastructure gaps, weak tourism data, limited connectivity to some destinations, security concerns in certain locations, regulatory compliance shortfalls and the need for stronger private-sector participation.

Awakan remained positive looking ahead with his priorities including the mobilisation of more tourism investment, accelerating the development of viable assets, expanding domestic and international marketing through deeper digital transformation, strengthening regulation, increasing community participation, building capacity of tourism professionals and deepening partnerships with international tourism institutions.

The DG also announced plans for the expanded Naija Flavour International Tourism Expo to be unveiled in Abuja later this year making it the ultimate platform aimed at drawing international participation, investors and development partners into the sector.

While thanking President Bola Tinubu GCFR for giving him the opportunity to serve, he added that, “One year in office is not the destination. It is a checkpoint,” reiterating that the next phase would require stronger partnerships, greater investment and sustained institutional commitment.

Earlier, the Director of Marketing and Promotion of NTDA Mr. Olufemi Akinyele, said the milestone was being marked as part of NTDA Tourism Week, which began with a road walk and a guided tour of Abuja under the theme “Digital Vibes, Nigerian Pride: Celebrating Tourism, Culture and People.”

Government and industry representatives at the event congratulated the Director General and commended the Authority’s increased engagement with tourism stakeholders.

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