…set to unveil 100-day ‘Ember to Remember’ tourism initiative
The federal government on Monday reiterated its resolve to partner with the private sector, including financial institutions, to unlock the enormous potential of Nigeria’s tourism and creative economy as part of efforts to achieve a $1 trillion economy and create more jobs.
The Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa, stated this in Abuja during the press briefing on the forthcoming ‘100-Days Ember to Remember’, a coordinated September-to-December tourism season designed to connect culture, tourism, entertainment, hospitality, transportation, commerce and the creative economy.
Musawa said the initiative was aimed at changing the narrative around Nigeria’s tourism sector by creating a deliberate structure for showcasing the country’s cultural assets, festivals, destinations, food, music, fashion, heritage and creative energy throughout the year.
She said: “As one powerful national story, that is what Ember to Remember seeks to achieve. Ember to Remember is Nigeria’s coordinated September to December tourism season, a 100-day national programme designed to connect culture, tourism, entertainment, hospitality, transportation and commerce, and the creative economy.”
According to her, the initiative would move Nigeria beyond merely organising events to deliberately building an economy around tourism and cultural experiences, noting that increased travel would generate economic activities across several sectors.
“When people travel, hotels benefit. When hotels fill up restaurants, transport operators, tour guides, retailers, and even businesses benefit. When festivals attract visitors, communities benefit. And when we organise and market these experiences properly, states generate greater economic activity, and Nigeria becomes more competitive as a tourism destination,” she said.
Musawa, who underscored the importance of ongoing data mapping through the National Bureau of Statistics, said the creative, tourism and cultural industries could make significant contributions to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision of building a $1 trillion economy.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has a vision of a $1 trillion economy, and we are confident that the creative, the tourism, and the cultural industry can contribute significantly to that,” she stated.
The minister, who cited the creative industry of countries such as South Korea as a benchmark, said the ministry was working on parameters that would properly measure the contribution of Nigeria’s creative economy to national development.
She said: “Today marks the beginning of an important national conversation about how Nigeria presents itself, how we grow tourism as an economic sector, and how we deliberately position our country as a destination for Nigerians, the diaspora and the world.”
Musawa noted that although December had become synonymous with Nigeria’s tourism, entertainment and homecoming experience, the country possessed attractions, festivals and cultural activities capable of sustaining tourism throughout the year. “December has become the month most associated with Nigeria’s tourism, entertainment and homecoming experience. It is a beautiful season, and one we should continue to celebrate. But Nigeria is much bigger than December,” she said.
The Minister explained that ‘Ember to Remember’ would build on existing efforts by government agencies, including the National Council for Arts and Culture, National Theatre, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation, National Gallery of Art, museums, archaeological institutions and cultural orientation agencies.
“Ember to Remember does not replace any of these efforts. It brings them together, amplifies them and gives them a larger national and international platform,” the minister said.
At the centre of the initiative is MyCityApp Nigeria, a digital platform expected to provide a single gateway through which Nigerians, visitors and members of the diaspora can discover events, festivals, destinations, hotels, restaurants, cultural experiences and other tourism opportunities across the country.
Musawa said the objective was to achieve “one country, one national calendar, one trusted place to discover Nigeria,” adding that experiences from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory would be brought together and promoted to audiences in Nigeria and internationally.
She announced that the Ember to Remember National Stakeholders Conference would hold on September 14, 2026, at Eko Hotel, Lagos, bringing together government representatives, state tourism authorities, private-sector operators, financial institutions, airlines, hospitality leaders, event producers, creatives, technology companies and the media. She described the conference as “a working national conversation” on how Nigeria’s tourism and cultural potential could be converted into measurable economic value.
The Minister acknowledged the support of strategic private-sector partners, including MTN Nigeria and Providus Bank, stressing that government could not build the tourism economy alone. “For this vision to succeed, it must be a genuine collaboration between government and industry,” she stated.
Musawa added that the programme was designed to create jobs, support businesses, encourage domestic tourism and give every state an opportunity to showcase its unique attractions. She urged Nigerians in the diaspora not to wait until December before returning home, but to explore destinations beyond the major cities and experience the country’s festivals, food and heritage.
Barrister Musawa also challenged the media to tell a different story about Nigeria by connecting culture with commerce, tourism with investment, experiences with jobs and national pride with economic opportunity.
The Minister expressed the hope that the September-to-December programme would become an annual Nigerian tradition, saying, “Ember to Remember is not simply about celebrating Nigeria. It is about positioning Nigeria. It is about turning our culture into opportunity, our experiences into economic activity, and our national story into something the world deliberately chooses to experience. One country. One calendar. One unforgettable season. Welcome to Ember to Remember 2026.”
On her part, the Chief Executive Officer of MyCityApp, Ifeoma Mbonu, said Nigeria already had a natural tourism season from September to December, characterised by festivals, concerts, culture, food, fashion, music, nightlife, homecomings, carnivals and destination experiences.
Mbonu said MyCityApp would create a National Digital Events and Experiences Calendar, to be unveiled on September 14, through which people anywhere in the world could discover what was happening across Nigeria between September and December.
“Our vision is simple: wherever you are in the world, when you ask, ‘What is happening in Nigeria from September to December?’ there should be one place to find the answer,” she said.
She urged event organisers across the country to upload their programmes to MyCityApp, stressing that the platform was more than an event calendar because every visitor generated economic activity for airlines, hotels, transport operators, restaurants, retailers, tourism businesses and local communities.
Mbonu, who applauded Musawa and strategic partners, including MTN Nigeria and Providus Bank, for supporting the initiative, said, “Ember 2 Remember belongs to Nigeria, to our businesses, creatives, tourism operators, communities and every Nigerian who believes our country has a story worth telling.”
WATCH TOP VIDEOS FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE TV
