Odimmegwa Johnpeter/Abuja
The Federal Government has officially unveiled MyCityApp, a Nigerian city discovery and tourism platform that aggregates festivals, concerts, and lifestyle experiences into one digital calendar. This was contained in a statement signed by Nneka Ikem Anibeze, PhD, SA Media and Publicity to the Honourable Minister of the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and creative Economy.
MyCityApp, which flags off the 100-Day Tourism Calendar aimed at unlocking Nigeria’s $100 billion tourism economy, was launched on Monday during the Ember2Remember National Stakeholders’ Conference held in Victoria Island, Lagos.
The conference aims to rally public and private stakeholders to convert the September to December festive season into jobs and economic growth. It is expected to unlock Nigeria’s $100 billion tourism and creative economy opportunity.
At the unveiling ceremony, the Honourable Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism, and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, Esq., noted that millions of visitors troop into the country every year to celebrate, reconnect, and spend time across cities and communities. She said the festive period could be converted into jobs and investment to make tourism a stronger contributor to the national economy.
“This initiative is about moving beyond the traditional concept of a festive season. It is about deliberately organising, packaging, promoting, and monetising one of the most economically active periods in our national calendar.
“Every visitor creates a value chain — from aviation and transportation to hotels, restaurants, entertainment, retail, technology, artisans, and local communities. Within these value chains are opportunities for businesses, jobs, investment, and livelihoods,” Musawa said.
The Minister thanked the Chief Executive Officer of MyCityApp, Mrs. Ifeoma Chukwu, whose vision, doggedness, and commitment were instrumental in driving the initiative.
She also called on state governments, event organisers, tourism operators, hospitality businesses, and other stakeholders to populate the national Ember2Remember calendar with festivals, concerts, cultural events, and tourism experiences scheduled for September to December.
“If you are organising a festival, concert, exhibition, food experience, cultural celebration, fashion event, sporting event, tourism experience, conference, or any major activity during this period, we want it on the national calendar.
“We want to create a single, credible, and compelling platform through which Nigerians, the diaspora, and international visitors can discover what is happening across Nigeria. Imagine someone sitting in London, New York, Johannesburg, or Toronto being able to see, in one place, the extraordinary experiences available across Nigeria,” Musawa stated.
Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of MyCityApp, Mrs. Ifeoma Chukwu, described Nigeria’s rich culture as one of the most vibrant creative industries in the world, with an opportunity to turn every visitor’s experience into economic value.
“When we speak about building a $100 billion tourism economy, it may sound ambitious. But globally, the evidence tells us it is achievable. In 2024, tourism contributed over $270 billion to Spain’s economy, about $289 billion to France, and more than $2.5 trillion to the economy of the United States. So, the question is not whether a $100 billion tourism economy is possible. It is: why not Nigeria?” Mrs. Chukwu queried.
Also in attendance were the Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Hon. Toke Benson-Awoyinka, the Enugu State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Barr. Ugochi Madueke, representative of the Minister of Information and National Orientation, the Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Obi Asika, Director-General, National Gallery of Art, Ahmed Sodangi, the Director-General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, and the CEO of MTN Nigeria, Dr. Karl Toriola, among other stakeholders.
MyLagosApp and MyCityApp will serve as the digital engine for the calendar, distributing events through a 360-degree media ecosystem to Nigerians at home and in the diaspora. Stakeholders were urged to upload events on http://www.MyCityApp.io.
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