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There is nothing more pleasant and comforting than to hear a very senior state official enumerate the peculiar characteristics of his country and urge the world to try and cope with those traits. The Nigerian Minister for Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Chief Edem Duke, drew applause, as well as several bouts of laughter when he displayed a perfect understanding of the Nigerian psyche in Lagos last Tuesday. He was speaking at the opening of South African Tourism�s first-ever African office outside of South Africa�s borders at Victoria Island. South Africa Tourism has recently turned its focus on attracting more tourists from Africa. It has, therefore, decided to establish a regional office to co-ordinate that drive in Africa�s most populous nation. After listening to other speakers say their bits, the Nigerian minister said South African Tourism should consider opening offices in places like Abuja and Ikeja as well. His reason for the call was that the sole office in Lagos might be overloaded with work. �It is important to understand the hunger and passion of the average Nigerian traveller. We are a very peculiar people in this country,� Chief Duke said. �We always claim to be the most adventurous people in the world and that is why we say that wherever you don�t find a Nigerian, there must be a problem with that destination. We are the world�s happiest people. We party hard, we spend big and we travel afar.� According to Chief Duke, Nigerian travellers are not like the average backpackers from Europe who would buy a $500 ticket and want the return ticket, accommodation, breakfast and local transportation all embedded in that $500. �The average Nigerian traveller would be looking $5000, of which, maybe, $100 would be for his return ticket, another $100 for his accommodation and breakfast and the rest, he would be spending in the malls. �So it is important to understand the Nigerian�s DNA and provide packages that will speak to his needs and desires,� Chief Duke pointed out. He advised the staff of the South African Tourism office in Lagos to be extremely patient with typical Nigerian traveller because they had their own idiosyncrasies. �Most of the time, he would be coming to your desk in the morning of the day of the intended travel,� he said. Chief Duke said there was a compulsive nature of some Nigerian travellers that could not be compared to the typical European traveller who books his holiday a year in advance and takes a bank loan to invest in it. �The average Nigerian traveller would, on the spur of the moment, wake up and decide that tomorrow he wants to spend the weekend in South Africa. �This does not apply to the average guys on the street alone. Even the big businessmen, women and families do that.� He pleaded that the Nigerian traveller be treated with dignity, respect and understanding, adding that his country was a cash economy and, therefore, not strange for a Nigerian to travel with US$10,000 in his pocket. �It is absolutely normal for us. That�s how things have been done here, culturally, over the last couple of decades. We are changing but for the moment; we need to be understood. �So when the dogs come out to sniff the Nigerian traveller and heavily padded and armed police come and the traveller becomes disorientated, it is not because he is a criminal. It is just because he is coming from a completely different culture, with a different way of doing things.� Guests at the event kept applauding Chief Duke for stating things so plainly on behalf of Nigerian travellers. The South African Minister of Tourism, Martinus Van Schalkwyk, said tourism was widely regarded as one of the fastest growing sectors in the world, and his country saw it as one of the best antidotes to mistrust, conflict and war. South African Tourism planned to open its Africa office in Lagos last December but the event had to be postponed due to the death of Nelson Mandela. The organisation�s CEO, Thulani Mzima, said they would use the office in Lagos as a springboard for their growth, especially in West Africa. The South African High Commissioner to Ghana, Jeanette Ndhlovu, the only South African ambassador in Africa, apart from the one in Nigeria, was invited to the opening ceremony. She also said her country was working hard to solidify tourism ties with Ghana. The Rainbow nation has been working hard to attract tourists since the mid-1990s. Figures show that in 1993, South Africa had 3.4 million international arrivals. In 2012, the country welcomed 13.5 million people to the country, of which 9.3 million were tourists.e