Details: How Folly Coker Got Dealt A Bad Hand In Plan To Become Best Ever NTDC Boss

“Sola Onamodu

Facts don’t lie. Folorunsho Folarin Coker remains arguable one of the best, if not the best thing that happened to Tourism in Lagos State in recent time.

And the records attest to this assertion societynow.ng confirms.

The friend of many more popularly known as Folly Coker was the Commissioner for Tourism Arts & Culture between October 19, 2015 and October 19, 2016 – the first year of the single term of immediate past Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

Coker redefined tourism with One Lagos, the concept that made everybody a stakeholder in the spirit of Lagos Agenda and opened up the economy of the state like never before.

The former Commissioner led a team that changed the face of tourism with prudent spending right from the word go.

Societynow.ng gathered that the initial budget of N2bilion for One Lagos was slashed to N500m by Coker and his team and they went on to execute a performance that created a structured platform to support the unstructured and unamplified creativity abound in the state in less than a year.

The finding by societynow.ng confirmed that The One Lagos dream was very huge, it was putting in place” a compelling picture that visitors and residents can emotional connect and identify with, yearn to be a part of” while Coker was allowed a free reign.

Statistics showed that it was so huge in its engagements of all stakeholders including residents that Lagos state experienced a sharp drop in crime rate when it held sway.

Inside “One Lagos…My Lagos” The Mega Tourism Project Awakening The Spirit Of Togetherness Championed By Akinwunmi Ambode With Folly Coker As Executor

Societynow.ng gathered the ploy by the Mega project – which was the brain child of Folly Coker – to drive tourism through entertainment in Lagos state with eyes on multiple immediate and long range goals was leaping in bounds of values until some felt threatened by the successes recorded and the commissioner was eased out.

The man who spent eighteen years in service to Lagos state at different levels, however, insisted there was no ill feeling over the manner of his exit and he was grateful for the opportunity to serve.

“I Remain Totally Loyal” Tourism Wave Maker, Folly Coker Asserts

Societynow.ng’s checks revealed that without the passion and push of the concept initiator, One Lagos nosedived and lost it charm year on year through the remaining of Ambode’s single term in office – and remains consigned to the dark corners of abandoned concepts at press time.

Named the Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) in March 2017- barely 5 months after his exit as Lagos commissioner for Tourism – Coker went hard at work to prove that he is no fluke.

Societynow.ng gathered he, however, met more than he bargained for at NTDC.

Sharing some of the challenges, Coker revealed in 2019, “I met a lot of historical debts. And with limited funding it was important that I discharge some of the historical debts, but I also kept the organisation alive. The financial engineering was required to balance that historical debts that I did not create, but keep people running and paid off little by little, without fear or favour,

The implementation of that is what attracted the initial protest by staff of the organisation.

“If you have very limited resources, you must close loopholes. And when you do that, there will be crisis. In terms of human capital, our focus has been digital. I am glad that the staff have embraced the digital training because the future is digital. Today, the richest companies in the world are not in the oil and gas sector, but digital, where Apple, Google etc. are leaders. Everybody’s life in the future will be disrupted by this new technology.”

Insiders disclosed that undeterred by what he met on ground, Coker went about building “the foundation” for a performance that would etch his name in gold as one of the best overseers at the nation’s number one Tourism corporation.

Among other things, Coker agitated for a new bill that will prompt a financial framework that allows the agency to operate as a business entity capable of generating huge revenues for the economy.

The NTDC Boss “ likened the NTDC’s legal framework to the required foundation (the financial framework inclusive) laid in the communication, banking, oil and gas sectors, which resulted in their huge revenue returns.”

Revealed! What NTDC Boss Folorunso “Folly” Coker Has Been Up To And His Ultimate Game Plan

Insiders disclosed that based on his plan, the NTDC Boss who launched Tour Nigeria – to encourage and enhance patronage of the Nigerian tourism industry by locals -, secured a partnership between NTDC and Google to enable the data capture of tourism sights and street view in the hope of deepening the positive digital story of Nigeria and also train staff to put them up to international standard, did Nigerian Flavors which showcased Nigerian food and culture in collaboration with the National Institute for Tourism and Hospitality (NIHOTOUR) under Mrs Chika Balogun plotted massive national engagements that would tell a refreshingly different story and open up a new chapter about the nation’s tourism industry within and outside the country from 2020.

“2020 was meant to be the crowning of all the toil of Coker and his team these past years, It was supposed to the year to really make things happen, visible things but Covid (Covid-19) came, then EndSars and the insecurity situation, especially the kidnappings surged beyond expectations in different parts of the country. Fate dealt Coker a massive blow.” Societynow.ng gathered.

Insiders, however, revealed that though fate might have dealt Coker an unexpected hand and turned the table on him – the never say die NTDC Boss is said to be back on the drawing up mapping out how to make the best out of the twist he got served.

Those conversant with his ways believe Coker will come up with a winning formula after all, he asserted in 2019 “Today, the richest companies in the world are not in the oil and gas sector, but digital, where Apple, Google etc. are leaders. Everybody’s life in the future will be disrupted by this new technology.”