When Nigerians began arriving back home on emergency flights following an ultimatum from anti-migrant groups in South Africa, Steve Babaeko, alongside The Nigerian Institute of Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), saw an opportunity to step up for his fellow citizens.
Steve Babaeko
The CEO of X3M Ideas explains that he saw a deep obligation, one that had nothing to do with advertising and everything to do with hospitality. For Babaeko, it was a reminder that an agency owes a duty of care to the community it exists within.
That conviction shaped the creative agency’s partnership with the Nigerian Institute of Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) for the newly launched ‘Welcome Home’ pilot programme at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos. Rather than simply crafting a messaging campaign around the crisis, X3M Ideas helped design a tangible, physical system.
“This wasn’t built as a campaign about a crisis,” Babaeko said. “It was a hospitality agency deciding what it owes its own citizens the moment they land.”
For Babaeko, what X3M has built is infrastructure, something returnees can physically walk through, use, and benefit from the instant they clear the arrival gate.
With the MMIA pilot now officially running, NIHOTOUR directs returnees to immediate support services and issues them a Returnee Card. This card grants individuals a free first night at partner hotels, immediate transport assistance from the airport, and fast-tracked business registration support.
Furthermore, the initiative features a dedicated Restart Desk to assist returnee entrepreneurs and tradespeople with job placement referrals and business registration.
This operates alongside a public Homecoming counter that tracks the cumulative number of returnees welcomed, businesses restarted, and jobs facilitated.
