The announcement of a separate Ministry of Tourism and Ms Lola Ade-John as the Minister by President Bola Tinubu was greeted with fun and fare by stakeholders in the Nigerian tourism industry. She assumed office as Minister of Tourism in August.
Just a few weeks into her assumption of office, there was an online media report that the Minister was poisoned and rushed to a hospital in Abuja and was undergoing treatment at the Federal Medical Centre in Jabi, Abuja.
The Minister was expected to perform her first official engagement at an event organised by her Ministry to mark this year’s World Tourism Day. Still, she instead sent a representative raising concerns over her whereabouts.
She is reported to have been in the medical facility for four days, receiving treatment for the complications.
However, the Ministry of Tourism debunked the report.
Vanguard Newspapers reported the Assistant Director Press in the Ministry, Emem Mariam Ofiong, as debunking the claim that the minister was poisoned but confirmed that she had malaria, was treated and had been stabilised.
Her words, “It is not true that the Minister was poisoned. She only had malaria and had been treated and is now stable.”
Meanwhile, The PUNCH reported the State Criminal Investigation Department of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command as saying in an interview with its correspondent on October 3rd, 2023, that it was probing the alleged poisoning of the Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John, who has been hospitalised for over a week.
“The General Investigation Department of the State CID is investigating the matter, and the details of the investigation will be communicated by the FCT Command to the public soon,” the FCT Police Command Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, said.
The PUNCH also reported family sources familiar saying that Ade-John was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, shortly after she started manifesting symptoms of poisoning.
“Though the specifics as to what substance she ingested and how could not be immediately established, the career banker and tech investor, however, was on a machine to aid her breathing.”
It has been over three months since the report of the alleged poisoning of the Minister of Tourism, and concerns are escalating over her prolonged absence from public life, as she has neither been seen in public nor heard from.
However, despite the gravity of the situation, there has been silence on Ms Ade-John’s current status and whereabouts.
As much as stakeholders in the Nigerian tourism industry would like to ask about the whereabouts of Ms Lola Ade-John, the question has remained merely rhetorical as the government has continued to stay silent. This is just as the lack of an official statement on the true nature of the incident and the whereabouts of the minister has continued to fuel rumours and speculations.
The conspicuous absence of Ms. Ade-John has undoubtedly punctured or dashed the stakeholders’ hope of a positive turnaround in the industry.
REPORTERS AT LARGE wishes the Minister, Ms Lola Ade-John, a quick recovery and return to the office to launch and drive the anticipated overhauling and turnaround of the Nigerian tourism industry.
