Oyo Govt ready to promote Iyake Festival to Int’l Standard -Oba Folakanmi
By Adewale Owoade
The Alado of Ado Awaye Kingdom, Oba Ademola Folakanmi, has commended efforts by the Oyo State government to raise the Iyake festival to an international tourism standard.
Oba Folakanmi gave the commendation at a news conference in Ibadan, ahead of the planned 3rd edition of the Iyake international festival scheduled to hold between Nov. 14 and 16 in Ado-Awaye, Oyo State.
According to him, the Iyake lake is the only naturally suspended lake in the world and known for its healing power.
He said the lake was recently affirmed and rated third among the Nigeria wonders, and the most famous tourist centre in the state.
“The festival is meant to create a foremost brand of tourism in Oyo State, Nigeria and the African continent and to showcase many of the outstanding endowments in Ado mountain, the only naturally suspended lake in the world.
“The Iyake lake has significantly increased investments in infrastructure around and within Ado Awaye through robust Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
”The 2023 Yake festival is highly important as the planning committee is working towards externalising the festival scope to neighboring countries like Republic of Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire and even Brazil and other Western World,” Oba Folakanmi said.
Also, the Curator, National Museum of Unity, Oyo State, Mrs Otuka Oriyomi, said the Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), Prof. Abba Tijani, is working hard to make Ado Awaye a world cultural heritage centre.
“Ado Awaye is also under National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM), and one of the things our DG, Prof. Aba Isa Tijani is doing is to make sure Ado Awaye gets to be a world cultural heritage centre, and we have started talking to a lot of visitors,” Oriyomi stated
In the same vein, the Oyo State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr Wasiu Olatunbosun, gave kudos to the Gov. Seyi Makinde’s administration for its unwavering commitment to the development of culture and tourism, by creating enabling environment.
Olatunbosun, who was represented by the Director (Tourism), Mrs Adejoke Agboola, said that the rehabilitation of the lake through a Public Private Partnership arrangement was in progress.
“This festival will have direct and indirect impact on the people of Oyo State and the state as a whole in terms of revenue generation.
“Arrangements are in top gear to rehabilitate the suspended lake at Ado Awaye, through Public Private Partnership arrangement, the state is therefore calling on genuine credible and serious minded investors to partner with us,” Olatunbosun said.(NAN)
