Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf will on Wednesday, 30th of March, 2022, lead some members of the State House of Assembly and Lagos State Executive Council, Ministry officials, as well as other stakeholders on a three-day tour of tourism sites across the five divisions of Lagos State.
In a statement issued by the Ministry during the weekend, the Commissioner said the planned tour is in response to calls by different tourism stakeholders on the need to further expose the Tourism Assets of the State to both local and international tourists.
Akinbile-Yusuf said the three-day familiarisation tour will commence from the Ikeja Division with a visit to the Ndubuisi Kanu Park at Alausa, through the African Shrine, to Ikeja and Oshodi Bus Terminals, after which the team will connect the Lagos Division of the State with a visit to the City Hall, then to John Randle Centre, Onikan to Freedom Park and Glover Memorial Hall, Lagos.
She explained that the team will then depart for Badagry from the Falomo Jetty, exploring the waterways to spend a night in Badagry and afterwards visit the Slave Market, Point of No Return and some other sites within Badagry on Thursday morning.
“From Badagry, the team will return to Eti-Osa with a visit to the world-famous Nike Art Gallery and Lekki Conservation Centre before heading to Epe to spend another night. The Epe Fish Market and Sungbo Eredo will be part of the tourist attractions that would also be visited before going to the Palace of the Ayangburen of Ikorodu which will be the final destination for the three-day tour”, the Commissioner added.
Akinbile-Yussuf noted that at each of the divisions, there will be engagement with stakeholders on how to further harness the various tourism potentials domiciled in the five divisions for economic growth and the benefit of residents as a whole.
According to her, while in Ikeja Division, the stakeholders’ engagement will take place at the African Shrine with an Entertainment guru, Edi Lawani, speaking on ‘Reinforcing Lagos as the Entertainment Capital of Africa while Mr. Theo Lawson will speak on ‘The Positioning of Lagos as the Arts and Culture Centre of Africa’, at Freedom Park, Lagos.
For the stakeholders’ engagement in Epe, the Honourable Commissioner informed that the CEO of Wakanow, Mr. Bayo Adedeji, will address participants on ‘Exploiting the Aquatic Blessings of Lagos for Tourism Growth’ at Lagos Theatre, Epe while for Badagry Division, a top-rated Tour Guide, Anago Osho will speak to stakeholders on ‘Reinventing Lagos as the Prime Destination for the African Diaspora’.
She emphasised that the familiarisation tour across the five divisions of Lagos was part of the resolutions from the numerous stakeholders’ meetings held in the past two years by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture which also led to the Launch of the Tourism Masterplan.
In her words: “Lagos, apart from being the first State to launch a Tourism Masterplan in the entire country, has ensured the implementation of different aspects of the Masterplan, including the Community Based Tourism initiative, which is now operational in some pilot Local Government Areas”.
“This tour will enable the Ministry to accelerate conversation with relevant individuals and institutions for partnership opportunities in implementing the tourism masterplan. It will also create an enabling environment for investors in line with the cardinal objectives and strategic developmental vision of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu’s T.H.E.M.E.S. Development Agenda”, Akinbile-Yusuf asserted.
