The Federal Government on Thursday debunked recent negative reports by the U.S government about the safety of citizens in at least 20 of the 36 states of the federation, Premium Times reports.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said in Abuja when he received a delegation from the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria that contrary to recent statements by the U.S. government, every state in the country was safe.
The minister said that the advisory published by the U.S. Embassy declaring 20 Nigerian states “unsafe and complete no go area” as incorrect.
Urging the media to desist from propagating negative reports about the country, Mr. Mohammed said such practice would discourage investors and counter productive to the country’s tourism growth.
“We are in Nigeria. How can we believe the claim that 20 states in Nigeria are not safe.That is not correct. There is no state in Nigeria that is not safe today,” the minister said.
“Is there any week they are not killing people in the U.S., by either shooting in schools or driveways or people committing suicide or mass bombing? How many of these stories do their media celebrate? If they want to tell their people not to come to Nigeria, it is not for us to help them propagate it,’’ he said.
The minister urged the media and members of the association to complement efforts of government to reposition the tourism sector, pointing out that tourism was driven by perception, rather than reality, while every Nigerian must invest in perception management for the country.
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