By Yunus S Saliu
The traditional ruler and council of chiefs of Ishaga AkiniyiKingdom in Nigeria have, on Saturday, 18th May, awarded and conferred a chieftaincy title on Adama Njie, a Gambian erudite tourism marketer and staff of the Gambia Tourism Board (GTBoard) based in UK office. Adama Njie was conferred with a traditional title and address as Chief Borokini of IshagaAkiniyi Kingdom.
Receiving the chieftaincy title and award in the Kingdom alongside thirteen others, Chief Adama Njie, the Borokini of Ishaga Akiniyi Kingdom, Ogun State was accompanied by family, friends and some tourism fraternity traveled far and wide from The Gambia and other parts of the world to witness the remarkable event.
At the reception held in the Kingdom to honour the new chiefs, Chief Adama Njie, the Borokini of Ishaga Akiniyi Kingdom was described as “a great man, great achiever, and a man of the people with Midas Touch.”
Speaking at the reception, the traditional ruler of the Kingdom, HRE Francis Femi Akiniyi pledged to throw weight behind Gambia tourism, saying “On behalf of all of us, I assure you that we shall work assiduously, sagaciously, punctiliously and judiciously to see to the great and rapid business development between Nigeria and The Gambia especially in the areas of Tourism and Culture.”
This is by doing everything legal and meaningful “to promote Tourism in the Gambia in our own capacity. We won’t let you down because when you excel, we excel also,” HRE added.
To boost the bilateral relationship between these two great nations, he said they will set up the Nigerian Gambian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture “to let you know that we are keenly interested in boasting a great bilateral relationship between both countries through Trade and Tourism.”
To start with, HRE Francis Femi Akiniyi had proposed a High Power Business Delegation to Banjul with the inclusion of The Ota Parapo Chamber of Commerce to meet with the business community in The Gambia.
However, the traditional ruler returned gratitude to the Creator of the universe saying “We thank God for the successes recorded in all our events, the induction into Chieftaincy is a clarion call to the duty within Ishaga Akiniyi Community. We need you to excel hence, I am appealing to you to give us your best because we have lots to achieve.”
Meanwhile, Chief Adama Njie, thanked the traditional ruler and council of chiefs of the Kingdom for the award and chieftaincy title while promising that he would live up to the expectations of the people with their full support.
In brief, Chief Adama Njie is a fully qualified and experienced person with more than 20 years of working experience in the Travel and Tourism industry. He is a highly articulate, confident, persuasive team builder who can motivate and communicate to achieve exceptional performance, and dependable in supporting and enabling team efforts to produce genuine long-term sustainable development. A flexible personality, with superb tactical abilities, special strengths include problem-solving applications and the ability to support the demand in today’s global economy.
Mr Adama Njie is the current Gambia Tourism Board (GTBoard) Director of Tourism Promotion based in the UK.