Global attention will, on Sunday, be drawn to Idere, a sleepy ancient town in Oyo State as the state government showcases the sprawling Idere Hills Tourism Cluster in Idere, Ibarapa Central Local Government Area of the state.
This indication was given on Saturday just as Governor Seyi Makinde urged the Federal Government to explore the tourism potential of the country as an alternative source of revenue generation to petroleum.
The event, billed to be held in commemoration of the 2020 International Tourism Day, with the theme, ‘Tourism and Rural Development,’ would be coordinated by the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.
Governor Makinde, in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatubosun, in Ibadan, urged lovers of tourism to join the people of Idere community and visitors from all works of life to take advantage of the occasion.
The statement being issued in commemoration of the 2020 World Tourism Day, noted that Nigeria has many undeveloped tourists sites with potentials that can generate resources for budgeting as done in countries like United Kingdom, France, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
The statement, which declared that the state would not pay lip service to tourism development, stressed that assessment visits had been paid to some tourist sites across the state ahead of their rehabilitation.
It read in parts, “Nigeria has come to a crossroad on financial capacity to take care of her budgetary expenses. The country has to stop pretending that everything is alright. We have to look critically at the tourism sector to escape the looming financial insolvency the country faces.
“Even the best of the countries in terms of development all over the world are not monolithic in their source of revenue generation. Go to the United Kingdom, France, America, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the rest, they don’t rely solely on oil; they all have tourism to back them up.
“There are so many tourists sites in Oyo State not to talk of Nigeria that will earn the country and the state enough revenue to sustain them and in Oyo State, we will not pay lip service to development of the tourism sector.
“We shall give all we have to promote the sector and partner with the best corporate organisations to achieve this aim. All our monuments, tourism sites and important cultural events will see international showcasing that will attract and engage national and international respects and visitation.”
