The ongoing tour of Africa by American content creator, IShowSpeed [Darren Jason Watkins Jr.], offered more than viral entertainment, but it has so far exposed deep differences in how African countries understand and manage modern tourism diplomacy.
Across the continent, governments and tourism institutions understood the assignment. South Africa curated three days of carefully designed experiences that included car racing, wildlife encounters, and adventure tourism. Eswatini sustained the safari narrative. Rwanda delivered highly structured gorilla trekking and eco-tourism experiences.
As for Kenya, Magical Kenya impressed with colourful matatus, cultural dances, and authentic Maasai heritage. These countries didn’t merely host a visitor, they projected identity, creativity, and national pride.
The results were predictable: massive global exposure, positive storytelling, and international respect.
Nigeria, unfortunately, told a very different story. The chaos that followed IShowSpeed’s arrival in Lagos was not accidental, but it was institutional. Lagos State, Nigeria’s tourism capital, currently has no functional Tourism Corporation or Tourism Board to manage, regulate, or coordinate high-profile visits. In the vacuum left by government, self-appointed “influencers,” street touts, and unregulated celebrity figures took over.
What followed was predictable: disorder, embarrassment, and reputational damage.
Instead of being welcomed by a professional tourism authority, IShowSpeed was confronted by aggressive street touts demanding money. So-called celebrities chased him for clout. An awkward interview session became an international meme. No one presented Lagos’ beaches, nightlife, museums, creative districts, or historical sites. No itinerary existed. No cultural narrative was curated. No professional destination management took place.
Lagos, Africa’s largest entertainment and commercial hub was sadly reduced to noise, desperation, and unfiltered chaos because there was no institution in charge.
This was not tourism. It was unmanaged exposure.
Contrast this with Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa among others, where tourism boards function as strategic storytellers. They decide what visitors see, who they meet, and what story the world hears. In Lagos, the absence of such an institution allowed a handful of selfish, fake influencers to hijack the moment; not just embarrassing the city, but harming Nigeria’s global image.
From the several videos online, he was taken mainly to shopping malls and a few random, unplanned locations.
Meanwhile, our next-door neighbour, Republic of Benin, took the young American content creator to Ouidah, where history, culture and spirituality created a sense of belonging so strong that even the gods themselves could feel he was truly at home.
IShowSpeed did not leave because Nigeria lacked value, but because no one was tasked with showing him that value.
This was not just a missed opportunity; it was a warning because in today’s digital world, influencers are not entertainers; they are media platforms. Hosting them without a tourism authority is like hosting a major foreign media without a press office.
Without mincing words, Lagos State must establish and operationalise a fully empowered Tourism Corporation, as already provided for by law, to regulate influencer-driven tourism, curate visitor experiences, protect the city’s brand, and convert digital attention into sustainable economic value.
Without a doubt, Lagos has the culture, the creativity and better stories to tell the world.
What is however missing is governance, and until that changes, Lagos and Nigeria will continue to lose global moments that others are turning into national advantage.
By Lucky George, Ph.D, Public Relations and Tourism Scholar.