Nigeria’s Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has pledged support for a three-year strategic programme to transform Bonny Island and the wider Niger Delta region into a globally competitive tourism destination, as officials look to diversify an economy currently dominated by oil and gas.
NDDC Managing Director Samuel Ogbuku, represented by the commission’s director of commercial and industrial development, Lyna Okara, made the pledge at the Bonny Island Tourism and Investment Summit, held from August 18 to 20 at the NLNG Conference Centre in Bonny, Rivers State. The summit, organised by the Bonny Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (BCCIMA) and themed “Bonny Island: Transforming into a Premier Global Destination,” formally launched the Discover Bonny Initiative, alongside tourism partnership agreements, investment discussions and cultural programming including the Okoloama Fungumini Festival.
The summit drew senior figures from across Nigeria’s political and industrial establishment, including Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, NLNG Limited Managing Director Adeleye Falade, and the traditional ruler of Grand Bonny Kingdom, King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III.
The scale of what tourism is being asked to complement is significant. Bonny Local Government Area alone contributes an estimated 4% of Nigeria’s national gross domestic product, largely from oil and gas, anchoring what has been described as a $16bn-sized island economy built almost entirely around hydrocarbons. Organisers said the Discover Bonny Initiative, framed under Nigeria’s wider “Orange Economy” push, is intended to give the kingdom a second, more sustainable pillar alongside that industrial base, drawing on its cultural heritage, historical sites, natural attractions and hospitality potential.
“For decades, when the world thought of Bonny, it thought of what was under the water, not what was on top of it,” Ogbuku said. “Oil and gas built roads, schools and jetties that still put food on tables. Today, Bonny is finding a new path through tourism.” He said the initiative would promote enterprise development, attract investment and create sustainable economic opportunities for people across Bonny and the wider Niger Delta, adding that tourism carries implications well beyond hospitality, touching security, communications, finance, education and health.
BCCIMA president Constance Nwokejiobi said the initiative’s plans include establishing a tourism concierge platform, an investor partnership framework and a privately driven tourism centre. “Tourism is Nigeria’s Orange Economy, a creative and service-driven growth engine, capable of diversifying and expanding our national gross domestic product beyond oil and gas,” she said.
Olayiwola Awakan, director-general of the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority, said Bonny Island holds numerous tourism attractions still awaiting development, but stressed that private-sector participation would be essential to keep the emerging tourism economy commercially viable rather than dependent solely on government funding.
King Pepple III said Bonny’s oil and gas investments have contributed significantly to Nigeria’s economy over the decades, but that tourism could provide a second, more durable economic pillar for the kingdom while creating new opportunities for residents.
The NDDC said it will continue partnering with economic development institutions and private investors to support start-ups, empower youth and unlock further opportunities across the Niger Delta as the three-year programme moves from launch toward implementation.