HOW GOGE AFRICA SHAPED AFRICA’S TOURISM BEFORE SOCIAL MEDIA RISE

Back to today’s post, which is way out of my usual fashion blog, however, it is inspired by nostalgic emotions from my childhood. It’s a brief writing about my favorite Nigerian tourist brand, that has documented African stories on TV for two decades.

Goge Africa will be 20 years old this year, and I know most my readers are wondering who they are, see here —->. https://www.gogeafrica.tv/

     Isaac and Nneka Moses have consistently showcased the Nigerian people and her culture (in great detail), to a wide range of audience prior to the new media/advanced digital age.   
    Growing up from a very humble background, my family could barely afford a television, and when my dad finally brought one home (my second year into high school in 2004 ), a satellite dish which was popular to connect to a plethora of other TV channels, was so out of the question. Meaning I was stuck with the traditional NTA, AIT and sometimes Channels television to keep myself entertained.

 My favourite past-time thing to do was write down the most entertaining programs available on these three channels and what time they aired, and that was how I found Goge Africa.
    Goge Africa was way ahead of its time, from the soundbites, to the program ideas, and the unknown regions within Nigeria, which they covered, and they did so with a lot of glee. I could not forget how sweet Nneka’s voice was and how deep Issac voice ran and these two voices merged into an entertaining and enlightening show. Their outfits were flamboyant, their chemistry alluring and it was a pleasure sitting through their 45-min show.
    Thinking of it now, in the age of social media, where exposure provides you with amazing opportunities and funding, Goge Africa did a very tough job in bringing our cultural experience to a relatable stance, and to our TV screens.
    To be honest,  I had long forgotten their program until a good friend of mine decided to play some tune from his Kalimba (a thumb piano), that brought back all the memories from Goge Africa. The buried memories, made me miss home, and also the naivety of my childhood. I felt the need to blog on how important their show was to advancing Nigerians tourism, before the global social media wave.

A Kalimba

    Africa’s tourism and indeed Nigeria’s tourism has grown in recent years, an attribute to the growing face of global tourism. At least, in 2017 “international tourist arrivals in Africa accounted for around 56 million people.” (Vanguard, 2018)  In 2018 more tourist are expected to tour the globe” a projection of 1.4 billion arrivals in 2020, and 1.8 billion in 2030. in 2016 there were about  1.2 billion tourist arrivals in different destinations the world over
    As of the last statistics released in 2015, Nigeria had 1.5 million visitors annually (shocked by this statistics). All of these background information cited above is to provide a little insight to as to why the work Goge Africa does deserves a chunk of the accolades to this growth.

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           This blog post was not sponsored, I just had a quick reflection, that I needed to document. I’m impressed that the brand is still doing what it knows how to do best. Talk about consistency!

       What was your favorite TV show growing up and how did that influence you? please leave your comments below.