By Titus Mangut

Nasarawa State Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the state Tourism and Hotel Management Board are working towards fashioning out ways to ensure cordial working relationship that will move the tourism industry in the state to the highest level.

The commissioner for culture and tourism Mr. Emmanuel K. Bako stated this when the board and management of state tourism and hotel management paid him a courtesy call in his office in Lafia, last week.

He said the board was established to complement the efforts of the ministry and as such there was the need for the ministry and the board to have a good working relationship.

Mr. Bako told the management to look at ways of handling issues that have to do with tourism, stressing that the ministry as a driver of the sector owed the people a lot of obligation and would do everything possible to harness the tourism potentials in the state for the benefit of host communities and the entire people of the state.

Earlier in his address, the board chairman, Barrister Joel Aringe who is also the Ondyo Nyakpa called for the restructuring of the ministry "because the business of hotel, tourism and culture are inseparable".

He said the ministry was a unit that handled policy formulation for culture and tourism and hotel management in the state, while the board is a unit that provides the technical know-how for the implementation of these policies. He however observed that there was a gap between the ministry and the board.

He said with proper restructuring, the three units can be brought together to work as a family to transform the tourism and hotel businesses in the state.

The traditional ruler further commended the role of the media in educating and informing people about tourism and culture.