25th March, 2014
Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Lagos State and Federal Governments are currently at war over plans by the Federal Government to impose tourism master plan on all states of the federation despite Supreme Court’s judgment that the government has no power to legislate on matters of tourism.
On 19 July, 2013, the Supreme Court in the case of Attorney-General of the Federation v. Attorney-General of Lagos held that the power or jurisdiction of the Federal Government on tourism matters, as specified in Item 6(d) of the Exclusive Legislative List (1999 Constitution), was limited to the regulation of tourist traffic.
The Supreme Court interpreted this as covering only the entry and exit of international visitors through visa and immigration regulations, and concluded that regulation of tourism in Nigeria was a residual matter within the jurisdiction of state governments.
Early this month, the Minister of Culture and Tourism informed the National Assembly that the Federal Government required N25 billion to implement the country’s Tourism Master-plan.
The Director General of Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation also went to the press recently with the tourism plans of the Federal Government for implementation in states.
Reacting to this development, Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye described the move as unconstitutional.
He also noted that by interfering in tourism, the Federal Government was deliberately disregarding the clear pronouncement of the Supreme Court in the case of Attorney-General of the Federation v. Attorney-General of Lagos, which was decided only last year.
To support his viewpoint, Ipaye quoted from the lead judgment delivered by Honourable Justice Galadima, where the Justice of the Supreme Court said: “In my view the Dictionary definition of ‘Tourist’ and ‘Traffic’ would accord to my own understanding of simple and natural meaning of the two words. The words ‘tourist traffic’ used in Item 60(d) of the second schedule of the Constitution, alludes to the ingress and egress of tourists from other countries. These are international visitors or foreigners.”
Ipaye also pointed out that tourism and cultural festivals that took place in Lagos State, such as the Adamu Orisa, Black Heritage Festival, Lagos Carnival and New Year countdown were promoted and funded by Lagos State Government without any input from the Federal Ministry of Tourism and Culture or its agency.
He expressed the fear that money allocated from the Federal purse to support festivals might end up with states perceived as friendly, to the detriment of others.
“Instead of allocating funds to tourism, which is a local and residual matter for states, the Federal Government should pay more attention to the Police and Prison Authorities. Poor funding of both federal institutions is putting pressure on state security and adversely affecting the criminal justice system.
“States like Lagos are already spending billions of naira to supplement federal agencies on security, hence the need for the Federal Government to focus more on its core responsibilities,” he said.