By David Owei,Bayelsa

The Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN) has declared its former President, Mr. Femi Fadina, a matter of history, stating that he should “lick his wounds quietly” while the association moves forward. ATPN also reaffirmed that his expulsion remains valid.

Speaking in Port Harcourt on Saturday, National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Piriye Kiyaramo disclosed that the First Deputy President, Prince Ayodele Arokoyo, has since been appointed Acting President of the association, pending the election of a substantive president at the next Annual General Meeting.

“Mr. Fadina should accept his fate and recover privately instead of fighting publicly or making false claims. As a forward-looking professional body, ATPN is too busy building the industry to carry extra baggage or entertain unnecessary distractions.

“We use this medium to reassure tourism stakeholders, members, partners, and government agencies that ATPN remains functional and focused under the leadership of Acting President Prince Arokoyo.
We urge all stakeholders to work with the Acting President,” he added.

Dr. Kiyaramo further advised the public to disregard Mr. Fadina’s media claims that he is still the substantive president of ATPN

He said ATPN is a premier, member-driven professional trade association founded in 1990 dedicated to promoting domestic and inbound tourism and serves as the unified voice for tourism businesses, advocating for industry standards, policy reforms, and consumer protection across the country.

By Owei David

In line with globally recognised practices, professional bodies often engage governments in power to secure policy shifts that create an enabling operational environment for businesses.

It is against this backdrop that the ‘Tourism Vanguard for Tinubu (TVT)’ was initiated as a national movement of tourism stakeholders mobilizing support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, with a focus on transforming Nigeria’s tourism sector.

Stakeholders in the South-South geopolitical zone have since keyed into this vision and are actively running with it. The zone is set to inaugurate its South-South Zonal Council this week, alongside the appointment of State Coordinators to drive grassroots mobilization.

Announcing this in Port Harcourt, Dr. Piriye Kiyaramo, former Senior Special Assistant to the Bayelsa State Governor on Tourism, who now serves as the South-South Coordinator for TVT, said the movement is committed to unlocking Nigeria’s tourism potential through strategic policy advocacy and stakeholder alignment with the Tinubu administration.

“The TVT is not just about politics; it is about positioning tourism as a key driver of jobs, revenue, and national image. The South-South, with its rich coastal and cultural assets, must take the lead,” Dr. Kiyaramo stated.

He added that the forthcoming inauguration of the Zonal Council will mark a major milestone in consolidating tourism stakeholders across Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers States for the 2027 agenda.

By Abdul-Ganiyy Akanbi

A non governmental organization, the Muslim Media Watch Group of Nigeria, MMWG, has charged the Federal Government to shift attention to addressing insecurity in the country by tackling fake news by suspected criminals.

The group was reacting to the fake news and false report carried on the social media claiming that Bishop Mathew Kukah’s House, Cathedral and N1 billion Catholic Pastoral Centre were set ablazed by Islamists in Sokoto on Saturday.

In a statement signed by the MMWG national coordinator, Ibrahim Abdullahi, and released on Sunday, the group informed that the report has since been denied by Bishop Kukah himself in an official disclaimer signed by his Director of Communications at the Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Rev. Father Pascal Salifu.

It added that the military and security agencies have also denied the report, and therefore, described it as not only false, but “irresponsible and highly condemnable.”

While calling on the military and other security agencies to advance their operations from reactive to proactive onslaught against terrorists, bandits, insurgents and kidnappers, the group called on President Bola Tinubu to scrap the Federal Ministry of Communications & Digital Economy if its managers, including those in its agencies cannot technologically pick purveyors of fake news through their postings.

Describing purveyors of fake news as terrorists who should be arrested and prosecuted promptly, MMWG said the circulated video about Sokoto Catholic Diocese attack was recorded three years ago and has no bearing with the fake report they circulated.

The group noted that the federal ministries, departments and agencies were established to tackle problems facing the masses, failure of which they risk their continued existence.

It added that the Anti-Cyber Crimes Act, 2015 that was further amended in 2024 by the National Assembly is sufficient to deal with unpatriotic and destructive elements posting fake news to promote insecurity in Nigeria, lamenting that strong legislations that could checkmate fake news are available to punish culprits but arrests are not made.

While not ruling out political motives for spreading false reports, MMWG believes that politicizing insecurity is high unpatriotic and destructive, calling for urgent steps from Federal Government to stem the tide by ordering arrest of criminals whenever they commit the crime.

The group said all Northern states like Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Borno, Katsina, Niger, Kwara and others that have porous borders with neighbouring countries must be secured by the military and other security agencies to ward-off continued insecurity “while the known habitat of criminals terrorising innocent citizens must be smashed and terrorists killed to put a stop to insecurity we are facing in Nigeria.”

“Unless we promptly arrest and prosecute posters of fake news and false reports, insecurity will persist in Nigeria (God forbid),” it stated.

It would be recalled that the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto had in official disclaimer signed by its Director of Communications, Rev. Fr. Pascal Salifu denied the setting ablaze of Bishop Kukah’s house, Cathedral and N1 billion Catholic Pastoral Centre by Islamists in Sokoto.

“We wish to inform the general public that this information is totally false.

“The Bishop’s residence, the Cathedral, and the Catholic Pastoral Centre in Sokoto remain safe, intact, and fully operational.

“This video started circulating in the wake of the brutal murder of Deborah Yakubu, a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, in Sokoto, May 2022. This is the work of persons committed to causing havoc in our society.

“The Bishop expresses gratitude to the military and state security agencies who responded immediately the video started circulating,” the statement reads, adding that “Sokoto remains calm and peaceful.”