Giant Dreams 2

DONALD DUKE: THE DUKE OF TINAPA!<em

If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough! Man is a ‘wild’ being, created only to be wild in his imagination. The amazing and ‘dream to dynasty’ story of Walt Disney is an evidence of the supremacy of human dreams. One of the wonders of the world is the idea behind the Disney land. The set-man (Walt Disney) has this to say: “The idea of Disneyland came about when my daughters were very young and Saturday was always Daddy’s day with the two daughters. So we’d start out and try to go someplace, and I’d take them to the merry-go-round and I took them different places and as I’d sit while they rode the merry-go-round and did all these things- sit on a bench, eating peanuts- I felt that there should be something built where parents and children could have fun together.

So that’s how Disneyland started. Well, it took many years – it was a period of maybe fifteen years developing. I started with many ideas threw them away and started all over. And eventually, it evolved into what you see today at Disneyland. But it all started from a daddy with two daughters wondering where he could take them and he could have a little fun with them, too.” People believed Walt Disney started with nothing, that he built an empire out of nothing, but this is not true because he started with everything – a wild imagination and a giant dream. He won 22 Academy Awards during his lifetime, and was the founder of theme parks Disneyland and Walt Disney world. Walt Disney transformed the entertainment industry, into what we know today. He pioneered the field of animation, and found new ways to teach, and educate. Walt’s optimism came from his unique ability to see the entire picture vividly in his mind.

Walt inquisitive mind and keen sense for education through entertainment resulted in Award winning true-life Adventuring series; Disney brought fascinating insights into the world of wild animals. By 1950, he was focusing on animated features. Cinderella was released in 1950, followed by Alice in wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), a live- action film called Treasure Island (1950), Lady in the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1959) and 101 Dalmatians (1961). In all, more than 100 features were produced by his studio. Walt Disney’s dream of a clean, and organized Amusement Park, came true, as Disney Land Park opened in 1955.

As a fabulous $17 million magic kingdom, had entertained more than 200 million people, including presidents, kings and queens, and royalty from all over the globe. A place where children and their families could explore, take rides and meet the Disney characters. Walt Disney’s story of success is one that many entrepreneurs can relate to and often strive to replicate. As Disney said, “Always remember that this whole thing started with a dream and a mouse”. The world will never forget in a hurry the man who transformed the world of family entertainment; the man who turned the whole world into fun factory with the wildest of dreams!

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

Defeating Napoleon Bonaparte was thought to be a herculean task and wild dream until one of England’s most daring dukes, the duke of wellington demystified a man that was erroneously thought to be invincible in battle. It was sympathetic to see a giant warrior defeated in one of England’s most infamous village, the village that has now been immortalized in English idiomatic expression. Whenever a man is said to have met his waterloo, it vividly comes to mind the grand defeat of a super war veteran in the hand of a common duke. The giant dream of one of Nigeria’s most daring former Governor, Donald Duke is a blend of wit, courage, audacity and hope; the dream of creating, Africa’s most exciting leisure and business resort. In a time and era were Governors were only designing their revenue and fortune around the Nigerian oil, one man stood out to show the world that the greatest form of natural resources are men with revolutionary dreams.

The vision of Donald Duke, former Governor of Cross Rivers state to build Tinapa, a world class integrated business resort in the mould of Hong Kong, Singapore, Bombay, Bangkok and Dubai free zone is both laudable and novel. In the midst of doubts, pessimism and violent oppositions, one man stood for what he believed. Donald Duke initiated the Tinapa Resort project as a way to boost business and tourism in the state and thereby restoring the lost and antiquated glory of old Calabar. The Tinapa project, which is named after a popular local fish delicacy ‘Tinapa’ was designed as a distribution point into Nigeria, and an economic hub of West Africa. According to promoters of the project, ‘’the vision builds on the principle that the creation of a trade hub will attract investors, traders and business travellers and subsequently domestic, regional and international leisure tourist.’’ The Tinapa Business Resort Limited has been described as a goldmine and haven for potential investors all over the world.

The Tinapa Resort, which consists of super malls, shops, cinema centres, conference halls, a 243-room international three star hotel, and other high-end facilities, is located around Calabar metropolis and sits on a vast expanse of land with dots of mountains with aesthetic views, offering a haven of peace and serenity, away from the bustle of the city. If judiciously managed the Tinapa project has the capacity of offering employment to 5,000 youths as well as 500 foreigners. The project will not only create employment, as well as generate income, but will also impact positively on the image of Nigeria. Tinapa would discourage flagrant, frequent and overzealous overseas travel tours by Nigerians who go abroad to shop and squander their resources. Tinapa host a movie production studio commonly called ‘’Studio Tinapa’’ or ‘’Nollywood’’. It is set to become the most modern film production studio in Nigeria.

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo believes strongly that Tinapa will help regenerate the lost trading glory and history of old Calabar, he stated that the commercial history of old Calabar, which made the town prominent before the advent of the colonial masters, will be brought back adding that it is one thing to have a dream and another to follow it tenaciously to realisation. I read a pathetic piece some few years ago (Jan 03, 2008) captioned Donald Duke: A fraud or visionary? I want to emphatically say that the greatest fraud in life is to make dormant the dreams that would have blessed humanity. Donald Duke would have been a fraud if he didn’t birth the dream of Tinapa. Norman Cousins once said, “The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live.” Tinapa is not a mistake, it’s God’s own message to us that there is no limitation to our dreams.

We need to promote non-oil-sectors of the economy as alternative sources of revenue generation, job creation and poverty alleviation. The tourism sector has the potential to generate foreign exchange, encourage development and promote tourism based rural enterprises, generate employment and accelerate rural-urban integration and cultural exchange. The viable tourism industry is capable of earning billions of dollars for the country each year. Experts believe that if properly harnessed, tourism can upstage oil as Nigeria’s major revenue earner. I am reaching out to President Muhammadu Buhari to set up a special committee that can critically look at the opportunities that abound in the tourism sector of the nation. Nigeria has the potential of becoming Africa’s tourism hub. We can boost the economy and earn foreign exchange if we critically and painstakingly work to develop tourism in Nigeria. It is estimated that Nigeria loses 219 billion Naira annually to Dubai alone in terms of tourism opportunities! An average of 500 Nigerian travels daily to Dubai to shop and also for leisure.

To my fellow Nigerians, let us patronize indigenous Tourist centres in the nation, enough of our mad rush to Dubai and UK to squander resources. I am calling on the Nigerian youths to see the tourism sector as a major point for their investments. Duke has conceived the dream but the success of the Tinapa project is in the hands of Nigerians. There is nothing stopping couples from having the honeymoon in Obudu cattle ranch (now renamed Obudu Mountain Resort), instead of travelling out of the nation. Let us revive the tourism Industry in the face of dwindling foreign reserves. We must all work aggressively to give tourism its rightful place in Nigeria, as Nigeria has the capacity to be the centre of tourism in Africa and beyond. To the Nigerian youths, I want you to know that you are full of possibilities, so dream big!