‘Ekiti now poorer for abandoning Ikogosi’

.SAYS TOURISM CAN HELP EKITI PAY WORKERS’ SALARIES

 

Former Director General of the Abuja Cultural Festival, Prof. Ojo Rasaki Bakare, has said Ekiti State is losing huge revenue for neglecting tourism.

Bakare said the state has become poorer for abandoning the Ikogosi Warm Spring resort noting that the tourist centre would have assisted to supplement allocations from the Federation Account

Investment in Ekiti tourist potentials, he noted, would have assisted in generating revenue to the state coffers and help in paying workers’ salaries.

Bakare spoke on Wednesday at a news conference to herald the forthcoming Aramoko Heritage Festival (ARAHFEST) in Aramoko-Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti West Local Government.

A giant billboard at the centre of the town was unveiled by unsigned led by the President of Aramoko Development Association (ADA), Dr. Dipo Aladeloye, to mark the countdown to ARAHFEST.

This year’s edition of ARAHFEST holds between 6th and 10th November and the cultural potentials of the town will be on display.

Bakare, a Professor of Dance, will feature events like public lecture, traditional games, traditional cuisine and bush bar, traditional wrestling, street performance by hunters, herbalists, masqueraders, carnival show, music festival and beauty pageant.

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The scholar said ARAHFEST is a means of promoting tourism and placing the town on the world cultural map.

Bakare, who is currently the Dean of Postgraduate School, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), said tourism will also provide employment for thousands of youths roaming the streets for jobs.

According to him, countries like Gambia, Tanzania and Kenya, are leveraging on tourism to rake in foreign exchange and supplement earnings from other sectors.

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