The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
has kicked-started a tour of tourism sites in the country with a visit on
Sunday to the spectacular Owu Waterfall in Kwara State.
Mohammed, who was
accompanied by representatives of the local community in which the waterfall is
located, officials of the Kwara State Ministry of Culture and Tourism,
described Owu Waterfall as one of the wonders of nature, saying the government
is now looking toward natural assets like the waterfall with a view to
developing them for their economic benefits.
“We are all awed by the
awesomeness nature of the almighty,” he said. “You can’t begin to wonder: where
is the source of this water? And what I found most enticing and really baffling
is the louder we shout, the more the volume of the waterfall. This is one of
those natural assets that we have been bestowed with and there is no country
that has this kind of asset that will not be able to exploit it for economic
benefit.”
The minister also
underscored the dearth of infrastructure as one of the major challenges
confronting tourism development in Nigeria, but expressed optimism that the
revitalisation of the Presidential Council on Tourism (PCT) would bring about
synergy within the government to surmount the challenge.
“Fortunately, we have been very busy trying to revitalise the
Presidential Council on Tourism because tourism is not a stand-alone ministry.
Without the cooperation of other ministries such as Power, Works and Housing –
because you need to provide road, electricity and security – you cannot
actually have a vibrant tourism industry. I am happy I came here personally
today and I have seen it and at the next meeting of the Steering Committee of
the PCT, we will actually put this across.”
Mohammed promised to
liaise with his counterpart in the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to give
priority to the construction of the 7-kilometer access road to the waterfall.
He also commended the
Owa-Onire Community and the Kwara State Government for encouraging tourists to
visit the Owu Waterfall through the facilitation of access and the provision of
security.
The Tour Guide and leader
in the community, Mr. Akanbi Sunday, who chronicled the history of the Owu
Waterfall, thanked Mohammed for being the first-ever Minister of Information and
Culture to visit the waterfall.
The
minister had earlier paid a courtesy visit to the Onire of Owa-Onire, Oba
Abdulraham Fabiyi, and informed the traditional ruler of his desire to have
first-hand knowledge of the Owu Waterfall with a view to developing it as a
viable tourist site in line with the diversification policy of the Federal
Government.
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