The Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation recently indicated its intention to commence the biometric data registration of hotel workers in the country. The Chairman, Kakanfo Inn and Conference Centre, Ibadan, Dr. Lekan Are, is, however, against the plan. He spoke to AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
The NTDC says it has started the biometric data registration of all hotel workers in the country. As an entrepreneur in this sector, what is your view on the move?
The first thing is that if you look at Decree 81 of 1992, which established the NTDC, there is nowhere in that decree where it is indicated that it is part of NTDC’s functions to do biometric registration of hotel workers. So, it is an illegal thing they are trying to do, and they had better stopped it.
Do you sense any hidden motive behind the move?
If you look at the Tribune Newspapers’ edition of Tuesday, January 15, 2013, where this was reported, you will note that part of the reasons given for this exercise is that they are trying to make sure that only genuine people work in hotels, while ensuring the total security of tourists and visitors to the country. Secondly, they say by collecting this data, they will be able to monitor and check movement of fraudulent people within the industry, and even to make things worse, the Orbit Technology, which NTDC employed to do this work says the move is to track movement across the hospitality industry in a bid to checkmate criminal activities.
First, I want to assure you that it is an unreasonable reason because it is not in the hotel industry alone that you may have criminals in this country. You have insecurity all over the place. Government, in its wisdom, is trying to have an identity card for everybody. That will provide opportunity to register everybody, and then, you can monitor people.
I think it will be stupid for anybody to say we are tracking the movement of people as if you are in hotel business today, and you cannot go to Unilever, Cadbury and bank to work.
In other words, somebody here does not necessarily have to leave a hotel for another hotel. There must be labour mobility in which everybody is free to move from one job to another everywhere in life; it is not necessary to keep circulating himself within a sector. If they are talking of tackling criminals, is it not people who went to vandalise the oil pipeline at Arepo? Are they not criminals? The point is this, if you say it is for tracking workers, it means you have to register all workers. But it is not necessary because government has already said they are going to have identity card for all of us, so we will all be registered. They are just wasting our money. It will amount to unnecessary duplication.
Is embarking on biometric registration of hotel workers may be part of the NTDC legal responsibilities?
That is not part of the duties of NTDC. If you look at the first function, they are supposed to ensure uniform standard and harmonise services rendered by hospitality, travels and tourism enterprises for the optimisation of customers’ values for money, and to check the proliferation of substandard hotel. NTDC’s first function is to categorise hotels. They have failed to do that even though we are renewing our registration with them. They collect money every year from us and they do nothing.
It is shameful that while they want to do things relating to the sector, the Director-General and all others go overseas. Is that where they will promote tourism? Is it there that they will improve hotels? They are not ensuring that we have the enabling environment to operate. Here now, we have to provide water for ourselves. Government has not provided water. We tarred the roads to this place and you see the epileptic power supply situation. You are here now and the light has gone off — how many times? They should help to ensure that the enabling environment is there; that is their job.
We have been asking for the categorisation of hotels because that is the first function of NTDC, which it has failed to perform. Rather, they are chasing shadows. They are just wasting money and they should be stopped.
In the light of this, what is your advice to policy makers?
The functions of NTDC are spelt very clearly. If they want to make sure that hotels function properly, they are supposed to have a monitoring arm to go round and see that people comply with laid down regulations. They are supposed to ensure that hotels are not substandard; that they meet the minimum criteria. Unless you go round and monitor, you cannot know.
Somebody cannot sit down in Abuja and be talking to us. They should also go round and visit hotels. It is then they will be able to classify us. But sitting down there and just sending to us that they want to register is not a good thing. Not only that, I want to tell you that the Federal Government has put in place a foolproof plan to ensure that it has security in place to ensure that appropriate authorities are fully informed.
Could the decision have been because of the fact that there is a surge in crimes linked to hotels?
I am not aware of that. It is possible for criminals to come to hotels but there is already a foolproof plan in place by the Federal Government to ensure that hotels comply with laid down procedures on daily basis. The biometric data registration of hotel workers should not have been thought of in the first place. Are they assuming that only hotel workers are criminals in this country?
They said that they want to track down criminals. By this, what do they mean? They said that they want to make sure that only genuine people work in hotels. Even in NTDC, there will be criminals. What is the recruitment process in NTDC and what is the recruitment process, for instance, in this hotel? Are we not checking the background of applicants before we employ? There is a procedure for recruitment in every hotel and that will ensure, as much as possible, that only fit and proper people are employed. Do they come to interview people for us? So, the excuse they are giving does not tally.
You highlighted the problem of infrastructure; what form of intervention will help the sector?
In this particular case, the easiest part of the job is to classify the hotels. They have not done so up till today. Doing it will make their job easier. There is nothing they can do about electricity, but, at least, they can appeal to state governments to ensure that we get water and also ensure that we are not the ones tarring roads in front of our hotels. Government has to play its own part by creating an enabling environment made up of access road, water and electricity.
But, it is not their business to tell us who to recruit because we have our own process and standards. The important thing is that you don’t employ people of doubtful character. Will any employer say I want to employ a criminal? Yet, we read of it. I am a pensioner and they stole all our money. Are they not criminals within the ministry? Why didn’t they register everybody?
They said that they want to make sure only genuine people work in hotels while ensuring the total security of tourists and visitors to the country. We know that tourists and visitors stay in hotels. But, imagine if a tourist arrives at the Murtala Mohammed Airport and he leaves the place to go to one hotel, can’t armed robbers attack him on the road? They fail to realise that it is the government that should secure lives and property and not just the hotels.
Are the Boko Haram and pipeline vandals hotel workers? The other funny aspect is that they said they are trying to maintain a viable database to encourage foreign direct investment in the hospitality sector; that doesn’t help any foreigner to bring business into the country. What will help foreigners to bring money into this country is security. If a person feels insecure, he will not bring his money. NTDC should realise that it is not its own job to secure the country. Government has agencies for doing that.