... Preserving Our Identity. Transforming Hospitality Leadership Beyond Titles. Unlocking Nigerian Tourism Potential.
Dr Morenike George-Taylor, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Viande D Enterprises and President of the Restaurants, Cafés, Bars & Clubs Association of Nigeria, understands the hospitality landscape from several vantage points. Trained as a lawyer, she has built a career spanning law, telecommunications, business, operations and hospitality. Rather than seeing these transitions as detours, she views each chapter as preparation for the next. The experience has shaped a leadership philosophy anchored in preparation, emotional intelligence, accountability and a willingness to keep learning, even after attaining positions of responsibility.
At the helm of Viande D Enterprises, George-Taylor is building a premium meat and seafood supply and distribution business with ambitions that reach beyond Lagos. Her vision is to establish the company as a trusted partner to restaurants, hotels, cafés, bars, clubs and other hospitality operators, strengthening supply networks and contributing to a more dependable hospitality value chain across West Africa. She believes the quality of the ingredients that enter a hospitality business has a direct bearing on the experience it delivers.
She also brings an industry-wide perspective to her role as President of the Restaurants, Cafés, Bars & Clubs Association of Nigeria. She speaks candidly about the cost of doing business, double taxation, infrastructure gaps and the need for regulation that recognises the realities of operators. At the same time, she argues that hospitality workers deserve better training, respect and career pathways, and that the sector must become more organised in making its case to government. In her view, restaurants, cafés, bars and clubs are not merely leisure destinations; they create jobs, support suppliers, open opportunities for young people and contribute to wider economic activity.
Beyond the boardroom and industry advocacy, George-Taylor makes a strong case for Nigerian hospitality that can meet international standards without becoming a copy of somewhere else. Our cultural identity, she believes, is not an obstacle to excellence but one of the country’s competitive advantages. The task is to build the infrastructure, service culture, destination management and digital experiences that allow people—Nigerians and international visitors alike—to discover and enjoy what the country has to offer.
In her Exclusive interview with Princess Adeola Shittu, Publisher of Event Diary Lifestyle, Dr Morenike George-Taylor reflects on leadership beyond titles, professional reinvention, the place of women in decision-making, the opportunities hidden behind the visible hospitality business, and the systems she hopes will outlast her own tenure. Her message is ambitious and clear: Nigeria can build world-class hospitality and tourism while remaining unmistakably Nigerian. Enjoy!!!
You trained as a lawyer, but your career has taken you through law, telecommunications, business and hospitality. Was this journey planned, or did you simply learn to recognise opportunities as they came?
Honestly, it was not a perfectly mapped-out journey. I think I have always been very intentional about growth, but I have also learnt to recognise opportunities when they present themselves.
Law gave me a strong foundation, but I never saw my degree as a box I had to remain inside. Especially when I had to put a hold on my career due to circumstances outside my control. I have always been curious about how businesses work, how people behave, how systems are built and, most importantly, how problems can be solved. That curiosity took me into telecommunications, business, operations and eventually hospitality.
Looking back, I realise that every chapter prepared me for the next one. Sometimes you don’t understand why you are being exposed to something until much later. I have learnt not to be afraid of the unfamiliar. If I see an opportunity where I believe I can create value, I am willing to learn, adapt and go for it. So, was it planned? No. But was I intentional about becoming better with every transition? Absolutely.
What did your years in law teach you about people, negotiation and leadership that you still carry with you today?
Law taught me to pay attention. It taught me that there are always different sides to a story, depending on who is telling the story and that facts matter. It also taught me how important preparation is. You cannot walk into a negotiation or a difficult conversation relying purely on confidence. You have to understand the issues, understand the other party and know what you are willing to compromise on and what you are not.
But perhaps the biggest lesson is that people are people. Whether you are sitting across from a judge, a client, an employee, a business partner or a supplier, you are dealing with human beings who have their own motivations, fears, ambitions and expectations.
Leadership therefore requires emotional intelligence. You can have the best strategy in the world, but if you don’t understand people, you will struggle to execute it. Most importantly, not every battle is worth fighting.
Having served as CEO at different stages of your career, what has each leadership experience taught you about building and leading successful organisations?
Every leadership role has taught me something different. One of the biggest lessons is that you cannot build an organisation around yourself. If everything depends on the CEO, then you don’t have an organisation—you have a personality-driven business.
I have learnt the importance of systems, accountability, culture and developing people who can make decisions even when you are not in the room. Most importantly, the significance of loyalty and standing for what you believe in.
Leadership is not about being liked. Sometimes you have to make difficult decisions because you are responsible for the sustainability of the organisation and the people within it.
And perhaps most importantly, leadership has taught me humility. You can be very experienced and still be wrong. The best leaders I know are people who are confident enough to listen, change their minds when the facts change and give other people room to shine.
You are the CEO of Viande D Enterprises. What inspired the business, and what vision do you have for its place within the hospitality industry?
Viande D Enterprises was born from a very simple observation: the quality of the ingredients going into a hospitality business directly affects the quality of the experience that comes out of it.
Viande is about premium meat and seafood, but I don’t want people to see us simply as a meat supplier. We are building a food supply and distribution business that understands hospitality.
Our customers are restaurants, hotels, cafés, bars, clubs and other businesses that need consistency, quality and reliability. We want to become the partner that hospitality businesses can trust to deliver the right products, at the right quality, at the right time.
My vision is bigger than Lagos. We are looking at building a strong West African supply network, and ultimately creating a business that contributes to strengthening the entire hospitality value chain.
Since becoming President of the Restaurants, Cafés, Bars and Clubs Association of Nigeria, what would you describe as your major achievements so far, and what initiatives are you most proud of?
For me, the biggest achievement has been strengthening the conversation around hospitality as a serious economic sector, our work in aggregating knowledge on the laws affecting restaurants, bars, clubs and hotels in Nigeria as well as our advocacy against policies that negatively affect us.
Restaurants, cafés, bars and clubs are not simply places where people go to eat or have fun. They create jobs, support farmers and suppliers, contribute to tourism, create opportunities for young people and drive economic activity.
I believe strongly in collaboration. Government cannot solve the industry’s problems alone, and private businesses cannot do it alone either. The Association should be a bridge between the industry and the institutions that regulate and support it.
There is still a lot to do, but I am proud that we are creating a platform where the industry can speak with greater clarity and purpose.
From your position as President of the Association, what is the biggest challenge currently confronting restaurants, cafés, bars and clubs in Nigeria?
The biggest challenge is the cost of doing business including double taxation.
Operators are dealing with rising input costs, energy costs, logistics, taxes and other regulatory pressures, while consumers are also under pressure. You cannot simply keep increasing prices indefinitely because eventually the customer cannot afford the experience.
There is also the issue of infrastructure. Hospitality is extremely sensitive to power, logistics, security, transportation and other basic systems.
And then there is the need for stronger regulation that understands the realities of the industry. We need regulation, absolutely, but regulation should help businesses become more sustainable rather than unintentionally making it harder for them to survive.
Hospitality is often described as a people business. What do you think Nigerian hospitality brands sometimes overlook about the human side of the business?
We sometimes focus so much on the customer that we forget the person serving the customer. You cannot consistently deliver a five-star experience with an exhausted, poorly trained or disengaged team.
Hospitality workers are not machines. They need the right training, respect, fair systems, career progression and an environment where they understand that their work matters.
I also think we need to change the perception of hospitality careers. Working in a restaurant or hotel should not be seen as something you do because you couldn’t find anything else to do. Hospitality can be a serious career with professional progression, international opportunities and leadership pathways.
If we take the people behind the experience seriously, the customer experience will improve. This is one of the things we are working on at the moment which involves identifying schools that train workers properly for the hospitality industry and supporting them.
Nigeria has food, culture, entertainment and incredible destinations. Why do you think we have not yet fully converted these strengths into the tourism economy we should have?
Because having the assets is not the same as building an ecosystem around them.
Nigeria has incredible food, music, fashion, culture, festivals, beaches, history and entertainment. But tourism requires infrastructure, marketing, safety, transportation, destination management and consistency.
We also need to package our experiences better. It is one thing to say, “Come to Nigeria.” It is another thing to create a compelling experience that someone can easily discover, book, travel to and enjoy.
We need to stop thinking of tourism as just bringing foreigners into Nigeria. Nigerians themselves are a huge tourism market. We should be encouraging domestic tourism and making it easier for people to discover their own country.
How important is it for Nigerian hospitality businesses to preserve our cultural identity while adopting international standards of service?
It is extremely important. International standards should teach us how to improve the quality of our service, not how to lose our identity.
I don’t want Nigerian hospitality to become a copy of somewhere else. I want us to be able to deliver world-class service while still being unmistakably Nigerian.
Our food, language, music, art, fabrics, architecture, storytelling and traditions are part of our competitive advantage.
The future, in my opinion, is not choosing between culture and international standards. It is combining both.
You have worked across very different industries. What has that taught you about reinvention, and do you think professionals should be afraid of changing direction?
Absolutely not. I think one of the greatest limitations people put on themselves is believing that because they studied one thing, they have to do that one thing forever.
Your degree is part of your story. It is not necessarily the entirety of your destiny.
Reinvention requires courage because you have to be willing to become a beginner again. And that can be uncomfortable, especially when you have already achieved some level of success.
But I have discovered that skills are transferable. Leadership, negotiation, strategy, operations, communication and problem-solving can travel with you into different industries.
Sometimes changing direction isn’t starting over. It is taking everything you have learnt and applying it somewhere new.
There is a growing conversation about skills development in Nigeria’s hospitality and tourism sectors. What skills do you think young Nigerians need to develop now if they want to become tomorrow’s industry leaders?
Technical skills are important, but I would put problem-solving, communication, emotional intelligence and commercial thinking very high on the list.
Young people need to understand that hospitality is a business. You need to know your numbers, understand your customer, understand technology and be able to think beyond your job description. Emotional intelligence is key as a lot of people really don’t understand that their network is their net worth. They do not properly manage relationships they have and opportunities they are given and lose out in the long run.
Digital skills are increasingly important too. Data, artificial intelligence, social media, digital marketing and technology will continue to transform the industry.
But I would also tell young people: learn how to work with people.
You can have an excellent CV, but if you cannot communicate, collaborate, take feedback or lead people, your growth will eventually become limited, whether you like it or not.
Women are increasingly occupying influential positions across business and hospitality. What do you believe the next generation of women needs more of—opportunities, mentorship, access, or something else?
I think women need all of them, but I would add confidence and access to decision-making spaces. Sometimes women are given opportunities but not necessarily the resources, networks or authority required to succeed in them.
We need more women sitting at tables where decisions are made—not simply attending those meetings.
We also need women to support other women. Mentorship is important, but sponsorship is equally important. A mentor can advise you; a sponsor can open a door and say, “I believe she can do this.”
And I think women need to stop waiting until they feel completely ready. You can prepare yourself, but there will always be a moment when you simply have to step forward and say, “I can do this.” I want to see more women scale their businesses and I’m putting action to my words.
Beyond your corporate responsibilities, you have also been involved in creating impact and supporting others. What does meaningful impact mean to you beyond awards, titles and business success?
Impact is what remains when the title is removed. For me, it is about people. Did I make someone’s life better? Did I create an opportunity? Did I help someone see possibilities they couldn’t see before? Did I build something that can continue without me?
Awards are nice. Titles are nice. I appreciate them. But they are not the measure of my life.
I want to be remembered for creating opportunities, building businesses, developing people and contributing something meaningful to society.
Success becomes much more meaningful when it is not only about what you have acquired but also about what you have enabled other people to achieve.
What do you believe government and the private sector should be doing differently to create a more sustainable environment for Nigeria’s hospitality and tourism industries?
We need more collaboration and less fragmentation. Government needs to create an environment where businesses can operate predictably—particularly around taxation, regulation, infrastructure, security and energy.
The private sector, on the other hand, has to become more organised and professional. We cannot constantly ask government to solve problems that the industry itself has not properly articulated.
We need better data, stronger industry associations, proper training, responsible investment and more public-private partnerships.
Tourism should also be treated as an economic strategy rather than simply an entertainment conversation. It is time for the government to invest in reorientation of the nation towards the Nigeria of our dreams.
As someone who understands both business and the hospitality ecosystem, what opportunities do you believe investors and entrepreneurs are currently overlooking?
The biggest opportunities are often not the glamorous ones.
People see the restaurant, the hotel, the lounge or the nightclub, but there is an enormous ecosystem behind those businesses and their link with technology.
There is a huge opportunity in creating experiences around Nigerian culture and infusing technology into those experiences.
We need more businesses that don’t just sell products but package Nigerian experiences for both domestic and international audiences.
When you are not wearing the CEO or Association President hat, what side of Morenike do people who work with you rarely get to see?
I am actually quite playful. People who know me professionally sometimes see the very serious, structured, “let’s get this done” Morenike. But outside work, I enjoy laughing, singing, spending time with the people I love and just being myself.
I am also very family-oriented. And my faith is a very important part of who I am. There is a side of me that is much quieter than the CEO and President people see publicly. I pray, I reflect and I try to stay grounded.
I think titles can make people forget that behind the title is just a human being trying to figure things out too.
If we were to have this conversation again several years from now, what would you like to have changed—not just in your businesses, but in Nigeria’s hospitality and tourism landscape?
I would love to see Nigerian hospitality recognised as one of the strongest contributors to our economy and global identity.
I want to see Nigerian businesses operating at international standards without losing their Nigerian soul.
I want young Nigerians to look at hospitality and tourism and see real careers, entrepreneurship and wealth creation.
And personally, I want Viande to have grown into a significant West African food supply and distribution business that is known for quality, reliability and excellence.
But beyond the businesses, I would like to look back and know that I contributed to building people and systems that outlived my position.
Because ultimately, leadership is not about how long people remember your title. It is about what continues to work because you were there.
