60 looks good on Folorunsho Coker. But even better is the legacy he has stitched into the fabric of Lagos life and, by extension, Nigeria’s cultural imagination. As he marks a milestone that invites both celebration and reflection, many are remembering not just his age but his quiet insistence on lifting Nigerian tourism into the national conversation.
Born in Ikoyi, Lagos, Coker—fondly called Folly—was never far from the civic rhythm of the city. His father, the revered Chief Folarin Coker, once held the traditional title of Baba Eto of Lagos. It’s a fitting inheritance, then, that the younger Coker would rise to become the Baba Eto of Yorubaland, a nod to a life spent nurturing the rituals, traditions, and grandeur of Nigerian culture.
Coker’s public life has been wide-ranging. He began as a special assistant to then-Governor Bola Tinubu and went on to hold several strategic roles in Lagos, including Commissioner for Tourism, Arts, and Culture.
Yet it was as Director General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation that he found a broader canvas. There, he launched the “Tour Nigeria” campaign, spun together food festivals, partnered with Google for digital mapping, and even rewrote the very laws guiding the tourism sector.
Where some saw challenges, he saw storytelling. From “One Lagos Fiesta” to “Nigerian Flavours,” he turned civic spaces into cultural stages, where jollof rice and juju music met the high tide of economic potential. Even hills and waterfalls were invited into the tourism plan.
There were controversies, yes. Few public lives are spotless. But at 60, the tale of Coker reads less like a résumé and more like a long poem about persistence, public service, and the strange joy of seeing your country through the eyes of a traveller.
So, here’s to the Baba Eto of tourism. A son of Lagos. A curator of culture. A man who made it his mission to help Nigerians fall in love with Nigeria. Again.
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