(Posted 29th December 2023)
With the chief goal of advancing United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through sport and tourism viz-a-viz ‘Sport for Climate Action’ and Glasgow Declaration; organizers of African Sports Tourism Week on the 6th edition changed the name and advanced the direction of Africa’s premier and pan-African sports travel trade event, as the event metamorphosed into ‘Sport, Tourism & Diplomacy Forum’.
The event which held at and in partnership with Radisson Blu Ikeja had collaboratory participation from United Nations International Organization for Migration and Laliga, who saw the platform as a great platform to promote and create awareness about the works that they do viz-a-viz SDGs.
Also in attendance were delegates of United Nations High Commission for Refugees.
In his opening speech, Victor Lutenco – Head of IOM Lagos Sub-Office and Senior Programme Coordinator (Migration Management), who represented IOM Chief of Mission to the Federal Republic of Nigeria – Laurent M.J. Beck – said “unfortunately, sport and hospitality represent the space where we see a lot of human trafficking in Nigeria and other parts of the world. Wherever you find human suffering caused by illegal trafficking; there IM steps in. The traffickers and smugglers in their organized networks are the ones coordinating the migration pathways, using sport as recruitment platform. This is why IOM in partnership with government is trying to help with this talent/ skills exchange pathways that make migration safe, by providing corridors of support.
This is how we play our part in advancing SDG target 10.7 in Nigeria”, he added.
When asked during a Q&A session, how the work that UN IOM does are related to tourism, Lutenco said that tourism is a demo version for migration, therefore, the hospitality and banking industries are very crucial in the fight against human trafficking, because the people in these two sectors come in direct contact with these traffickers. Financial records are able to show red flags.
In his words, “Nigeria, to many people out there, is a subcontinent given its diverse and vast geographical, linguistic, ethnic and cultural heritage. So, it’s important for Nigeria to be able to receive and manage safe movement internally. Need I also add that one of Nigeria’s most robust resources is its diaspora?” Lutenco added.
Laliga Global Network Delegate to Nigeria and Ghana – Desmond Chili – who led the Laliga Talk spoke on how the Spanish brand uses public diplomacy to blend in and help the communities where the institution finds itself. “Our idea is not just to help the communities, but also to be part of the communities. We believe in creating opportunities and pathways to global stage for talents in these communities. This, we believe, inspires others and encourages them to aspire to greater heights. This is what we are currently doing in partnership with Nigeria Women Football League. We are big on gender equality, which is one of the SDGs.
We believe in what we are building with IOM and Sport, Tourism & Diplomacy Forum, because sport is a major driver of tourism. We see sport as a tool for diplomacy, peace and development. Sport is both a tourism product and a tourism platform. Both sport and tourism are interrelated and complimentary to each other. Both are powerful forces for development. Spain is a proof of what these two can do for a nation’s economy and social strata, and for us, education must go hand in hand with sport, because not everyone will make it in football. Those who don’t make it in soccer can find usefulness for themselves and the society, with the education they’ve gotten.
Through the Laliga Academy, we are driving exchanges that are developmental in nature, between Nigeria and Spain and both the Spanish Consulate and Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs are carried along”
Speaking to newsmen after the forum, the convener and founder of Sport, Tourism & Diplomacy Forum – Soókò Deji Ajomale-McWord said “According to UNWTO, sports tourism generates around 10% of world’s expenditure on tourism and is estimated to have a growth rate of 17.5% between 2023 and 2030. Sports tourism is $500.32bn industry.
The global travel market contributed 7.7 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022 to gross domestic products. You can imagine the size of the carbon footprints from industries that can churn out figures like the ones aforementioned. This is why we believe that COP29 will do well to specially accommodate robust and solution oriented conversations around Glasgow Declaration and ‘Sport For Climate Action”.
When asked why the event changed gear in the direction of sustainability, he said “Sustainability is no longer a fancy word thrown around by fancy people. Our very continual existence on this planet is dependent upon it. Sustainability is now the concern of even a discerning market woman, and we need to improvise ways to indigenize communication on sustainability, in a way that market women can understand, because each and everyone of us have carbon footprint and many are the masses than the fancy”.
Soókò Deji posited that lack of a single global body governing sport like tourism has UNWTO (and WTTC for the private sector) could slow it down from playing its part in climate action, but responsible leadership at the helm of affairs, at the federations and confederations can step up to the plate.
Hon. Damilare Orimoloye, Senior Special Adviser to The Governor of Lagos State on Sports and Hon. Dr. Elizabeth Idoko-Okogun, Special Adviser to The Governor of Benue State on Youth & Sports Development both spoke extensively on ongoing sports and youth development programmes and projects, and ones in the pipeline in their respective states.
PANEL SESSIONS
The Forum also featured panel sessions on SDGs in relations to the roles of sport, tourism and media.
Tourism & Green Investments Broken Down: SDGs 11, 12, 13, 6
On this panel session were Yvonne Joseph – the Creative Director of Beyond Media and Abiola Adelana – Head of Tourism Business at Sterling Bank. Moderated by Nnennaya Fakoya-Smith – CEO of Nene-Uwa Hub, the session xrayed practical examples of green investments around the tourism space.
Abiola spoke about Nike Art Gallery and Ikogosi Warmspring Resort, as success stories of the alternative energy source that Sterling Bank is encouraging tourism businesses to explore, by leading by example, having had its own head office fully powered by solar energy. Abiola also spoke about Nigeria’s first commercial electric vehicle charging stations, which the bank equally introduced to the country, and how the brand rewards those who pick wastes and dispose them properly in a waste bank.
According to her, sustainability may seem like spending, but in the end, it makes more economical sense. She advocated for more green pacts and practices.
Yvonne stressed the need for responsible production and consumption. She advised that individuals should not iust leave sustainability actions to destination custodians, but also strive to apply them in their private lives.
Together, both panelists stressed the importance of the SDG 17, which is partnership on goals.
Smart & Right Application of Sport Infrastructure To Human Settlement: SDG 11
This panel session was moderated by Deji Omotoyinbo, a renowned sport journalism veteran. The panelists were Hon. Damilare Orimoloye, Senior Special Adviser to The Governor of Lagos State on Sports, Hon. Elizabeth Idoko-Okogun, Special Adviser to The Governor of Benue State on Youth & Sports Development, Opeyemi Babalola – The CEO of Webber Engineering and Moyo Ogunseinde – Chairperson of Lagos State Gymnastics Association and founder of Upbeat Centre.
Hon. Orimoloye shared on Lagos State plans to turn under-bridge spaces into safe sporting grounds in different local community development areas with a PPP approach.
Opeyemi who has partnered Giants of Africa in planting basketball courts across Africa, hammered on the need to factor in sustainability from the conceptualization stage of sport infrastructure, while also minding how to make one facility serve multiple purposes.
He cited as example of sustainability initiative, the regulation in Lagos that requires him as a sport facility construction engineer to get permit from LASPARK before pruning or falling a tree that’s in the way of construction, because the agency will have to plant another to replace every fallen tree.
He added that, for sport facilities to be environmentally sustainable and remain in impeccable condition for continual use, there’s need to factor in multipurpose utility plan and sustainable revenue generation plan from the conceptualization stage, without allowing political interests to get in the way.
Hon. Elizabeth shared on the green initiatives that Benue is currently taking viz-a-viz cluster sport facilities and other elements in the urban and rural settlements, with interagency and inter-ministry collaboration. She mentioned the need to have research backed policies that make sport mandatory in education, as this would deepen the sense of need to not just plant sport facilities, but also plant them where they are most accessible to communities and ensure they are put to sustainable use.
Moyo Ogunseinde who posited that sustainability is wholistic consideration of long term impacts of actions and inactions of today, on the next generation, the environment and economy, said that sport is extremely important in developing urban centers, unfortunately we don’t consider that in our designs and legacy plan, because sustainability is legacy.
Recommendations
1. The panelists all agreed and recommended that there’s a need to improve on the per-facility-to-persons availability ratio and the need to incorporate sport facilities into community development plans.
2. Need for sports trust fund with genuineness of purpose
3. Stakeholders need to be able to quantify and communicate benefits of investment in sports.
4. Sport infrastructure shouldn’t be an afterthought and where it seem to already be, administrators should be more intentional about incorporating it into existing settlements
The Media & Agenda 2030
The panelists on this session were Debbie Larry-Izamoje — COO of Brila Media, Babajide Alaka — Associate Editor of Premium Times and Oyinyechi Ogu-Obaroh — Sports Anchor on News Central TV.
The question was if the media has a role to play in the realization of Agenda 2030 and the answers robustly admit that just like any other development ever recorded in the human society were possible — in part — because the media didn’t starve it of reportage; the world won’t be able to ignore the media’s incontestable place and role in the achievement of the existing agendas and ones to come.
Alaka described journalists in Nigeria as unprotected breeds, owing to government’s attitude towards press freedom. He believes that poor remuneration also contribute. He posited that for the media to properly assume its role as the fourth estate of the realm, the rights and welfare of journalists need to be respected and protected, as the level of comfortability of nation’s journalists is a pointer to the future that lies ahead of it.
He believes that because everyone owns a smartphone, they can transmit information. This makes them a publisher and waters down the ethics of the trade. As much as social media is important, it cannot be the place to get news. It’s a place where the desire to go viral relegates truth and objectivity.
This is why the news media remains the last bastion of hope for truth and objectivity — social media isn’t.
Debbie cited the example of the last World Cup in Qatar and how the media were able to change the narrative of hostility that was projected at the beginning of the event, by certain group of people amongst football fans, who traveled to watch the game.
She believes that the media is chief perception shaper and therefore, must take heed to do the right thing.
Onyinyechi described the media as one saddled with the responsibility of transmitting information to the present generation and heritage to the next generation. According to her, sustainable development goals takes care of the needs of today, without compromising tomorrow, therefore, both SDGs and the roles that the media play in human society have a confluence point.
So, it’s in the best interest of development that the media is allowed to report events, happenings in the society and criticize the government without prejudice. According to her, the only way the media can play its part in protecting the rule of law, promote checks and balances, articulate and defend civil rights is for government to guarantee freedom of speech and freedom after the speech.
She stressed the need for media outlets to be intentional enough to tailor their contents in a way that promotes peace, development and ward off stereotypes and prejudice.
