The President of the Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria (ATPN), Femi Fadina, has called on Nigerians in the diaspora to transform their annual festive homecomings into strategic investment opportunities that could grow and sustain the nation’s creative economy.
Fadina made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos, ahead of the 2025 ‘Detty December’ celebrations.
He urged the diaspora to view their visits not just as a season for fun, but as a window for cultural and financial reinvestment.
“Every concert, every curated experience, every cultural homecoming can — and should — be a conversion funnel for investment engagement,” he said.
According to Fadina, ATPN aims to reposition ‘Detty December’ from being primarily about entertainment to becoming a platform for funding and investment, part of a broader effort to boost diaspora participation in Nigeria’s creative economy from a residual 15 per cent to an active 25 per cent investment interest.
“Don’t just come home to party. Come home to partner,” he said.
Fadina noted that a large portion of diaspora spending currently goes into family support, entertainment, and short-term consumption. He stressed that deliberate efforts were needed to channel diaspora capital into developmental and long-term equity investments.
“The challenge isn’t the volume of spending, it’s the direction of spending. The 2024 Detty December generated about N1.5 trillion in domestic spending across hospitality, logistics, nightlife, and entertainment. But less than 10 per cent of that was reinvested into creative infrastructure or destination development,” he said.
The ATPN president unveiled a calendar of events for the 2025 festive season, including a Creative Capital Week, EWA Experience Series, and a Cultural Economy Roundtable designed to measure the economic impact of the celebrations.
Fadina emphasised that a change in mindset toward the upcoming festivities is crucial to turning Nigeria’s soft power into tangible economic growth.
“We must move from consumerism to capital formation, from temporary spectacle to sustainable structure, from cultural excitement to cultural enterprise. Detty December is not just a party, it’s a platform for prosperity. Fun must now fund the future,” he said.
