Just my take too; WHY CELEBRITIES' DUBAI WEDDINGS ARE NOT HEALTHY FOR NIGERIAN TOURISM - By Paschal Oge Chikero

It is about that time, we told ourselves the truth. Nigerian celebs need to be told the truth. It is fast becoming a norm in Nigeria to see our celebrities tell us bluntly with their actions that they can make good money in Nigeria but don’t see it befitting to spend it in Nigeria!

Are you wondering what I am insinuating? Let me break it down to you. Our Entertainers make good money from their Nigerian fans, get celebrated by Nigerian fans but when it comes to the time to spend good money for their wedding ceremony, they remember that Nigeria is for poor people and move their wedding ceremonies outside Nigeria.
I know I am not the one making this money for them and shouldn’t try to tell them how to spend it. But the truth is that we can ask reasonable questions. Is this benefitting us? How many celebs from Dubai take out time to peep into Nigeria?

Do you know that the high brow weddings Tuface, Stephenie Okereke, Tiwa Savage etc have done outside Nigeria could have positively impacted on Nigerian Tourism sector? The worst is that our celebs don’t recognize the fact that they have power to ignite a culture in a society. As Tuface and co have successfully done their wedding in Dubai, France etc, you will be shocked how many ordinary Nigerians will start doing all they can to make sure they wed outside Nigeria just to belong!

Financially, these wedding ceremonies can heavily impact on Nigeria’s Tourism sector and because it has a multiplier effect, it will spill into other sectors. Imagine if Tuface spent the N20 Million his Dubai wedding gulped in Nigeria? Some Nigerians would have made millions.

If Tuface Idibia, Stephanie Okereke, Tiwa Savage held their wedding ceremonies in Nigeria, let’s say in resorts like Obudu Cattle Ranch, imagine how many hotels in Cross River would have been fully booked during that period? All the money other quests spent on accommodation, transport etc would have gone into the pockets of their loyal Nigerian fans. Money spent on reception hall and decoration would have been paid to Nigerians.

The catering and souvenirs would have been done by Nigerians but our celebrities in the name of class, prefer to throw millions into the pockets of people who don’t even know they exist! Fine I gathered that some Nigerians took part in Tiwa’s wedding but what of Hotel and Transportation bills? Those ones, Nigerians can’t take part in.

Media wise, if our celebs are very popular outside the shores of Nigeria, their wedding can attract international media attention on Nigerian tourism sector thereby opening up the sector to the international market.

We criticize Nigerian Politicians who fly their kids abroad to school, travel out for medical attentions etc, please what is the difference between what they do and what these celebs are doing?

If you ask me, I think this shows that Nigerian celebs are telling the world that Nigerians have inferiority complex! We see everything in Nigeria as inferior but when it comes to making money, our money is not inferior to grab but when time to spend it comes, everything Nigerian is labelled not worthy of my class.

Yet an artiste of Banky W’s status belittled his intelligence by insulting Nigerians for criticizing the Dubai craze! It is a pity that Nigerians have no respect in the eyes of the celebrities they celebrate!