Book

Description

Transforming Sites of Tragedy into Sustainable Tourism Assets in Nigeria: A Policy and Practice Framework for Ethical Dark Tourism Development is a groundbreaking exploration of how Nigeria can convert its most painful historical episodes into spaces of remembrance, healing, and social transformation. Bridging global best practices with Nigeria’s unique socio-political landscape, this work proposes the country’s first ethical, policy-driven blueprint for developing dark tourism sites anchored in survivor leadership, trauma-informed interpretation, narrative accountability, and community co-ownership. Drawing on internationally renowned models such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Hiroshima Peace Memorial, and Robben Island, the study demonstrates how memorial spaces, when governed with dignity and sensitivity, can educate future generations, preserve collective memory, and support sustainable local economies. Through in-depth analyses of the Chibok abduction and the Owo church massacre, it reveals the immense potential for Nigeria’s “geographies of tears” to become powerful centres of peace-building, cultural diplomacy, identity formation, and community resilience. Offering a three-phase national roadmap spanning participatory consultations, pilot memorial initiatives, and long-term institutionalization, this publication reframes tragedy-linked tourism as a tool for justice, reconciliation, and equitable development. More than an academic contribution, it is a call to action: urging Nigeria to preserve its difficult past not through silence or detachment, but by transforming sites of sorrow into enduring symbols of dignity, hope, and transformational wealth for generations to come.