Tourism practitioners and stakeholders were unanimous in identifying the absence of decent toilets at tourist sites where tourists can conveniently ease themselves is a sore point for Domestic Tourism drive in Nigeria.
This came up during the second edition of the Seven Wonders of Nigeria Zoom Conference organised by Naija7Wonders.com in conjunction with ATQNews.com
To address this issue, the Director-General of Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC Mr. Folarunsho Coker, tasked tour operators to call the attention of the owners of such facilities to the problem.
On her part, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Culture, Mrs Grace Gekpe, charged the stakeholders to document the discussions for action.
Also in attendance was former Commissioner for Tourism Arts and Culture in Lagos State, Mr. Steve Ayorinde, who gave a brief remark, commended the laudable efforts of the organizers at pushing domestic tourism at a time like this.
The virtual conference which was anchored by foremost travel business consultant and tourism development expert, Ikechi Uko, featured five Nigerian tour operators; Chairman of Remlords Tours and Chairman the Board of Trustees of National Tour Operator of Nigeria (NATOP), Nkereuwem Onung, Namure Erhahon of Brisk Travels, Michael Balogun (Tour2Nigeria), Chiamaka Obuekwe (Social Prefect Tours) and Erelu Funmi Rotiba of Special Tours & Travel met to discuss and identified tourist attraction sites in Nigeria in a bid to ramp up the domestic tourism drive in the country.
The panelists also used the opportunity to discuss some of their favourite tourists sites in the country.
Namure took participants on a tour of the Benin Kingdom in Edo State where she identified the Famous Benin Moat, The Igun Bronze Casters, the City, and the Igue Festival as high points for her. She also identified the Ikogosi Warm and Cold Springs in Ekiti State while pinpointing the Matsirga falls in Kaduna State as her favorite Waterfall. She highlighted the famous Obudu Mountain Resort, hinting that it could be a great spot for adventure tourism. She also believes that if accessibility is improved it will appeal to a whole lot more people. She charged tour operators to do a package of Obudu along with the Carnival Calabar.
The second speaker was the former President of NATOP, who highlighted the Bridge of No Return in Akwa Ibom as first on his list. He identified it as a historical site that deals with the slave trade and couple with the racism issue which came to a head with the murder of George Floyd in America making the site seem a lot significant.
Onung also spoke about the Ibom Hotel & Golf Resort, also in Akwa Ibom which he described as iconic. The facility which he suggests is appropriate as a MICE and conference centre boasts of a wellness centre, 18-hole golf course, and a helipad.
The Old Residency Museum in Calabar, Cross River State was next on his list which served as the administrative residence in the colonial times. He reminded the audience that Calabar was the capital of pre-independent Nigeria. Also, Mr. Onung spoke about the Ikom Monoliths in Alok which numbered about 300. The stones are laid out in 30 circles. He closed up his presentation by buttressing Obudu Mountain Resort, informing everyone that both the cable car and waterparks are now functional after undergoing repairs.
Next on the list was Michael Balogun who took participants on a mental tour of Badagry. Pointing to the #blacklivesmatter phenomenon, he mentioned that the first-storey building in Nigeria was built in Badagry in 1852 by missionaries and that it still houses the first Bible printed in Nigeria. Also, he stated that the Gospel was first preached under a tree in Badagry. Some of the places he mentioned included, the Brazilian Baracoon, Gberefun, and the Point of No Return.
Second on Balogun’s list was Osun State, highlighting the Osogbo sacred Grove which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He talked about how the grove became popular through the activities of the Austrian Susan Wenger, who became Adunni Olorisa. Next, he talked about the Moremi statue in Ife, also in Osun State, which is claimed as the tallest monument in Nigeria. Finally, he talked about the Erin Ijesa Waterfalls which has seven floors. He spoke on the therapeutic effects of the sound of waterfalls.
Chiamaka aka Social Prefect reveled participants about the Idanre Hills which she listed as first on her list. She believes that apart from the breath-taking views from the top of the hills in Ondo State, there is so much more that can be done or added to the location, such as cable car or zipline. She mentioned that it was about a four to five-hour drive from Lagos.
She also talked about the Gurara Falls in Niger State which was discovered by a Gwari hunter in 1754, and that it was about one hour thirty minutes’ drive from Abuja. Social Prefect also talked about the Yankari Games River and focused on the Wikki Warm Springs which is located in the reserve. She elaborated about the blue waters of the spring that you can see a pin at the bottom very clearly, while the waters always were warm season in and season out.
On her part, Erelu Rotiba spoke about the Old Oyo National Park as a potential safari destination in Nigeria, before moving on to highlight Idere Hills which features some spectacular balancing rocks like the ones in Jos, Plateau State and Epworth in Harare, Zimbabwe.
She also spoke about two festivals, the Aso-Ofi festival and Olojo festival, and also touched on the Ekiti Parapo (Kiriji War) Imesi-ile museum. Erelu Funmi Rotiba also pointed attention to the issues of access and language barrier as a hindrance to the promotion of some of these sites.
