Tourism Stakeholders Challenges Lagos Storytellers To Shape City’s Global Narrative

A Communications strategist and Founder of RED Africa, Adebola Williams, has called on Lagos event promoters, media stakeholders, content creators, and cultural influencers to take deliberate steps in shaping the city’s global image ahead of the highly anticipated December festive season.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ engagement forum organised by Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, , Williams in a presentation, titled “This December Matters: Why Our Storytelling Must Match Our Ambition,” emphasised that Lagos has evolved far beyond a local entertainment hub into one of the world’s most vibrant December destinations. He likened Lagos’ growing global relevance to cities such as Davos, Ibiza, and Cannes, noting that December in Lagos now draws thousands of tourists, diaspora visitors and international creators. According to him, “The world has woken up to the diamond we always were,” and with the influx of guests comes both opportunity and pressure.

Adebola Williams traced the city’s long-standing entertainment culture from Rhythm Unplugged to OLIC, from Terra Kulture to Lagos Countdown, noting that Lagos “has always been the home of creativity.” The difference now, he said, is that global attention has reached unprecedented levels, making strategic reputation management essential. He stressed that in today’s world, storytelling, particularly through social media, has become “infrastructure,” shaping investment, perception, and credibility for countries and cities.  For Lagos, he said, this means event organisers, influencers, and media houses must rise to the responsibility of telling a coordinated story that reflects ambition, order, and excellence.

Adebola acknowledged the Lagos State Government, applauding Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the administration’s significant investment in tourism and the creative economy, highlighting the improved calendarization of events and the success of earlier flagship tourism events held since the beginning of the year. While encouraging promoters to compete creatively, Williams urged them to collaborate strategically, especially in areas like safety, customer experience, and communication.

He recommended unified branding and hashtags for Lagos December, Respectful partnerships with PR firms and influencers, Timely payments to industry professionals, Prepared crisis management communication, A strong customer service culture to ensure memorable experiences, among others. He warned that global cultural moments come in waves, referencing Jamaica’s reggae tourism wave, Ghana’s Year of Return, and South Africa’s Amapiano boom, and that Lagos must put systems in place to sustain its dominance.