Lai Mohammed Kick-starts Tour of Tourist Sites With Visit To Owu Fall
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,Β kicked-started a tour of tourist sites in the country with a visit toΒ the spectacular Owu Waterfall in Kwara State on Sunday.
The Minister, who was accompanied by representatives of the localΒ community in which the Waterfall is located, officials of the KwaraΒ State Ministry of Culture and Tourism as well as the media, describedΒ Owu Waterfall as one of the wonders of nature, saying the governmentΒ is now looking toward natural assets like the waterfall with a view to
developing them for economic benefits.
“We are all awed by the awesomeness nature of the Almighty. You can’tΒ begin to wonder where is the source of this water and what I foundΒ most enticing and really baffling is the louder we shout, the more theΒ volume of the waterfall. This is one of those natural assets that weΒ have been bestowed with and there is no country that has this kind of
assets that will not be able to exploit it for economic benefit,” heΒ said.
Alhaji Mohammed underscored the dearth of infrastructure as one of theΒ major challenges confronting tourism development in Nigeria, butΒ expressed optimism that the revitalization of the Presidential CouncilΒ on Tourism (PCT) will bring about synergy within the government toΒ surmount the challenge.
“Fortunately we have been very busy trying to revitalize theΒ Presidential Council on Tourism because tourism is not a stand-aloneΒ ministry. Without the cooperation of other ministries such as Power,Β Works and Housing – because you need to provide road, electricity andΒ 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 nextΒ meeting of the Steering Committee of the PCT, we will actually putΒ this across,” he said.
The Minister promised to liaise with his counterpart in the MinistryΒ of Power, Works and Housing to give priority to the construction ofΒ t0he 7-kilometer access road to the waterfall.
He also commended the Owa-Onire Community and the Kwara StateΒ Government for encouraging tourists to visit the Owu Waterfall throughΒ the facilitation of access and the provision of security.
The Tour Guide and a leader in the community, Mr. Akanbi Sunday, whoΒ chronicled the history of the Owu Waterfall, thanked Alhaji MohammedΒ for being the first-ever Minister of Information and Culture to visitΒ the waterfall.
The Minister had earlier paid a courtesy visit to the Onire ofΒ Owa-Onire, Oba Abdulraham Fabiyi, telling the traditional ruler he wasΒ in the community to have a first-hand knowledge of the Owu WaterfallΒ 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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