By joshua NTDA DG, Dr. Awakan Receives NASTOCE 2026 Merit Award
The Ringo Sport Club – Nigeria (RSCN), under the leadership of its National President, Mal Ahmed Mohammed Sule, has presented the prestigious NASTOCE 2026 Meritorious Award on Dr. Olayiwola Awakan, Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) at the Headquarters of the Agency in Abuja over the weekend.
Mal Ahmed Mohammed Sule, speaking on behalf of the Organising Committee of the National Sport Tourism Merit Award (NASTMA) of NASTOCE, noted that the meritorious award recognizes Dr. Awakan’s outstanding leadership and transformative contributions to Nigeria’s tourism sector since assuming office in October 2025.
He stated that Dr. Olayiwola Awakan has been at the forefront of repositioning Nigeria’s tourism industry through innovation, collaboration, and strategic delivery of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda in view of his pedigree as an award-winning journalist, thespian, dramatist, poet and culture enthusiast – decades of experience in media and creative enterprise which he has brought to bear on his current position as the driver of Nigeria’s tourism industry.
Mal Ahmed further stressed that Dr. Awakan has championed an open-door, inclusive leadership style, emphasizing on teamwork and fresh ideas to advance the NTDA’s mandate, and has consistently advocated for strong public-private partnerships because of his believe that the tourism sector could drive the Nigerian economy if properly managed.
Reeling out Dr. Awakan’s notable achievements, the Ringo Sport Club National President said they include; Leading the development of an international tourism city initiative, advocating for community-based tourism development to unlock economic opportunities for local communities strengthening Nigeria’s continental leadership as Chairman of the African Travel Commission (ATC), championing digital storytelling platforms and diaspora tourism promotion and fostering inter-agency collaboration and policy alignment to position Nigeria as a competitive global tourism destination among others.
Receiving the award, Dr. Awakan noted with gratitude the honour done to him by the Ringo Sport Club, saying that it is a call for him to do more in his efforts at promoting Nigeria’s tourism industry to the global community by ensuring that Nigeria reaches that peak of being the preferred tourism destination in Africa.
Dr. Awakan further noted that the support and cooperation he has received from the Nigerian tourism family have been instrumental in his administrative leadership style and achievements in driving the Renewed Hope Agenda through tourism and promised his commitment to collaborate and support the Ringo Sport Club in its sporting activities and the objectives of the National Sports Tourism Conference and Exhibition, NASTOCE of exploring the synergy that exists between sports and tourism which seeks to unlock the socio-economic potential at the intersection of the two sectors.
On the forthcoming ringo sport training programme for the Nigerian Service Personnel, NISPRISPORT 2026 scheduled to hold from Monday 3rd to Friday 7th August 2026 in Abuja, while commending the leadership of the Ringo Sport Club for the initiative, Dr. Awakan pledged the full support of the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority for the success of the training programme, noting that supporting sports is part of NTDA’s goal of exploring the huge economic benefits and potential that sports tourism has for national economic growth and development.
It would be recalled that NASTOCE 2026, themed Leveraging on the Inter-Section of Multi Sectoral MDAs to Promote Sports Tourism in Nigeria, was held on the 12th May 2026. It is instituted to hold annually, with the 2027 edition, second in the series, billed to hold from Tuesday 4th – Wednesday 5th May, 2027. The conference promises to be a landmark event celebrating sustainable excellence and collaboration among stakeholders in Nigeria’s evolving tourism and sports sectors and basically seeks to foster partnerships, showcase products and highlights the economic benefits of sports tourism for national development.