What are the odds that a dreadful maximum-security prison in Alcatraz and a notorious underground vault in Edinburgh would one day attract billions of dollars from tourists around the world?
This remarkable transformation illustrates the saying: Only broken eggs make omelettes. The real question for Africa—and for us, educated, exposed Nigerians—is: what are we doing with our broken eggs? Are we making omelettes, or just wasting the shells?
From 1934 to 1963, Alcatraz operated as a federal prison housing some of America’s most infamous criminals, including Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, and Robert Stroud, the “Birdman of Alcatraz.” The prison was deliberately designed to be inescapable—surrounded by frigid, shark-infested waters and treacherous currents that made swimming to freedom nearly impossible.
But on the night of June 1962, three men attempted a daring escape. Whether they survived remains a mystery, but what is certain is that Alcatraz’s myth of impregnability was forever shattered. A year later, in 1963, the prison was shut down.
Instead of being forgotten, it was reborn—rebranded by the National Park Service to preserve history. Today, it is a premier tourist destination. Visitors pay premium prices for ferry rides to the island, with guided tours narrated by former inmates and guards. What was once a fortress of punishment is now a stage for storytelling.
Alcatraz has turned suffering into spectacle, confinement into curiosity, and history into hard currency. It now attracts about 1.6 million visitors annually and generates an estimated $60 million in revenue.
DIG deeper with me!
Chief Obafemi Awolowo—The Sage—was locked up for three years in Calabar Prison. Do we realize how much that very cell could generate for Cross River State if it were preserved and marketed as a historical site?
Remember Robben Island in South Africa, where Nelson Mandela was held? You see, part of Africa’s problem is that we forget our past and refuse to let history guide the path to a prosperous future for all, not just some of us.
Shovel for another day’s digging…
The detention room where Chief MKO Abiola, winner of the June 12 election, was imprisoned—can you imagine the global interest and tourism revenue such a site could attract if preserved and properly showcased?
And the list goes on.
Why are we not transforming these unique stories and painful chapters of our history into commercially viable and economically profitable tourist destinations—while preserving our heritage in the process?
The intentionality required to guide us to the future we all yearn for demands technocrats, not politicians. It would be a shame to do wrong, and even more shameful to do nothing with these fertile grounds we have been gifted to preserve, nurture, and develop.
If the only thing my periodic posts achieve is to give us some context and perspective, then it has been my pleasure.
All the talk with no real action is becoming exhausting… so forgive me if I am in the headspace to proffer real solutions to fixing the intentional complexities we have designed to stifle simple economic progress.
I don’t have another country, and I am convinced it is neither rocket science nor impossible to fix Nigeria, one sector at a time!
So, for love of country and passion for the African continent, I crave your indulgence. Dig with me. I will stop at nothing to keep giving you reasons to see the readiness and capacity in us, for when the time is right.
Credit:The Guardian