Minister Kick-starts Tour of Tourist Sites With Visit To Owu Fall

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
kicked-started a tour of tourist sites in the country with a visit to
the spectacular Owu Waterfall in Kwara State on Sunday.

The Minister, who was accompanied by representatives of the local
community in which the Waterfall is located, officials of the Kwara
State Ministry of Culture and Tourism as well as the media, described
Owu Waterfall as one of the wonders of nature, saying the government
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’t
begin to wonder where is the source of this water and what I found
most enticing and really baffling is the louder we shout, the more the
volume of the waterfall. This is one of those natural assets that we
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,” he
said.

Alhaji Mohammed underscored the dearth of infrastructure as one of the
major challenges confronting tourism development in Nigeria, but
expressed optimism that the revitalization of the Presidential Council
on Tourism (PCT) will bring about synergy within the government to
surmount the challenge.

“Fortunately we have been very busy trying to revitalize the
Presidential Council on Tourism because tourism is not a stand-alone
ministry. Without the cooperation of other ministries such as Power,
Works and Housing – because you need to provide road, electricity and
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 next
meeting of the Steering Committee of the PCT, we will actually put
this across,” he said.

The Minister promised to liaise with his counterpart in the Ministry
of Power, Works and Housing to give priority to the construction of
t0he 7-kilometer access road to the waterfall.

He also commended the Owa-Onire Community and the Kwara State
Government for encouraging tourists to visit the Owu Waterfall through
the facilitation of access and the provision of security.

The Tour Guide and a leader in the community, Mr. Akanbi Sunday, who
chronicled the history of the Owu Waterfall, thanked Alhaji Mohammed
for being the first-ever Minister of Information and Culture to visit
the waterfall.

The Minister had earlier paid a courtesy visit to the Onire of
Owa-Onire, Oba Abdulraham Fabiyi, telling the traditional ruler he was
in the community to have a first-hand knowledge of the Owu Waterfall
with a view to developing it as a viable tourist site, in line with
the diversification policy of the Federal Government.