By Gbenga Adewale
- Says govt will focus on developing local tourism and festivasls
Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Pharmacist, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf has said that the Ministry has taken inventory of all government-owned tourism sites across the State with the aim of revamping the State’s cultural heritage to continually meet the entertainment and relaxation purposes of its residents and other tourists.
The Commissioner who made this disclosure on tuesday at a Ministerial Press Briefing commemorating the first year in office of Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu held at JJT Park, Alausa, Ikeja stated that the economy of the State thrives significantly on the activities of practitioners in the sector who should not be kept out of job permanently.
Akinbile-Yusuf disclosed that while the Badagry Heritage Museum has been given a total facelift by the present administration with provision of artifacts and relics that would make the museum one of its kind to be reckoned with across the continent, plans are also being put in place to revamp other tourism sites owned by the government.
She also revealed that the administration of Mr. Babjide Sanwo-Olu would complete the ongoing redevelopment of J.K Randle for Yoruba Culture in Onikan as well as Glover Memorial Hall located at the heart of Lagos Island as a replica of the cultural, ethnographic, historical, and anthropological education and elucidation of Lagos and the Yoruba race in general.
“These two ongoing projects when completed will stand as major iconic or superstructure attractions that will influence to a greater extent the flow of tourists’ traffic to Lagos.
“They will compliment other cultural and historical edifices like the National Museum, the Muson Centre, Freedom Park, City Mall among other to create a cluster of attractions in this corridor. Its importance to stimulating the local economy cannot be over-emphasized,” the Commissioner stated.
She informed that apart from creating avenues for the younger generations to have a place to develop their talents and skills, J.K Randle Centre will serve a multi-functional purpose with rich contents that will be culturally, traditionally and historically beneficial to indigenes of Lagos State and the Yoruba speakers as a whole.
Speaking on plans to develop more tourism attractions in the State, the Commissioner said that there is need for more participation by the private sector in the promotion and marketing of the State’s rich cultural heritage, stressing that the direction of the present administration is to make tourism more private-sector driven.
Specifically, the Commissioner called for private sector involvement in the development of the Sungbo Eredo Monument in Epe area of the State, saying that the site is presently the only site listed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the entire State.
According to her, the new 2020-2030 Tourism Master Plan developed by the Ministry and presently being reviewed by the relevant stakeholders in the industry focuses on areas like; marketing and promotion of Lagos Tourism as a global brand; tourism product development to diversify products and services with the purpose of increasing tourists’ traffic to Lagos among other.
She expressed the hope that the new tourism document will surely put Lagos in a good stead to building a thriving and prosperous tourism destination in Africa especially now that States in the Federation are being innovative in exploring and exploiting other sources of revenue in view of the drastic lull in the international oil market and the fatal economic consequences for mono-economic nations like Nigeria.
She said that the Ministry during the period under review partnered and collaborated with some organizations like the Guild of Nigerian Dancers, GUND, “I-AM-BRAND-NIGERIA”, Badagry Chamber of Commerce Industries Mines and Agriculture (BACCIMA), Akwaaba Travel Market and also participated at the 47TH International EMMY Awards 2019 in New York among others.
Akinbile-Yusuf disclosed that the various partnership and appearances of the Ministry at some festivals held within the last twelve months further demonstrated the State’s desire to encourage tourism-driven initiatives and promote Lagos as a top destination that offers variety of contents to visitors.
While listing some of the festivals which the Ministry participated in within the last one year to include; Olokun Festival, Badagry Heritage Festival, Diaspora Festival and Coconut Festival, Akinbile-Yusuf
maintained that the colourful lifestyle, rich culture, tradition and the energy of Lagosians as showcased at these festivals are the selling points to drive tourists’ traffic for economic growth.