By Adeleye Kunle
Mr. Charles Ukoette, Chief Executive Officer of CLEDD Nigeria, has urged oil-producing communities in Akwa Ibom State to increase their domestic earnings through tourism rather than protest their exclusion as oil-producing areas.
He suggested that they investigate their tourism potential.
Ukoette told reporters in Uyo yesterday that tourism could compensate for oil profits if adequate investments were made in the sector.
He believes Ibeno, the former home of ExxonMobil, could expand its current economic earnings beyond oil rents.
Ukoette stated that if the state had explored other revenue sources, the current standoff between the Akwa Ibom State Government and the Federal Government over the transfer of Exxonmobil water assets to Seplat would not have occurred.
“However, the oil-producing community’s economic frontiers can be pushed to improve exponentially, using its rich natural endowments as a cultural and coastal city to boost its vast social and economic potential,” he said.
Ukoette stated that redefining its cultural and social outlook was critical in driving the process.
In expressing his thoughts on the matter, he stated that “developing the natural and social contents of the people, exporting its rich cultural embodiments for global attention and consumption, will positively launch our oil-bearing coastal community into a huge and critical spotlight within the context of global tourism.”
