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The Kwara State Government has restated its commitment to support Public and Private Partnership (PPP), to revamp the economy of the state through tourism.
The State Commissioner for Communication, Mrs Harriet Afolabi-Oshatimehin, said this on Wednesday in Ilorin, during a Post-COVID-19 Webinar discussion.
The discussion was on the potential of breaking new grounds using tourism to drive growth in Kwara state, organised by Bond Integrated Estate Limited, held in Ilorin.
Afolabi-Oshatimehin said there was need to develop sustainable post-COVID-19 solutions to harness the tourism potential that abound in the state.
According to her, to revamp the state’s economy, tourism must be treated as a catalyst for socio-economic development.
“This is especially now that the whole world is shying away from dependence on oil revenue as a result of dwindling oil price to other viable sectors such as agriculture and tourism,” she said.
Afolabi-Oshatimehin said that webinar/zoom meeting would be a starting point to breaking new grounds on the potential of tourism as a growth driver to enhanced Internally Generated Revenue, job opportunity for youth and community development.
The Commissioner commended the organiser of the programme for choosing Kwara for the project.
Also speaking, the State General Manager of Tourism, Mrs Esther Onietan, said Kwara was the heart of tourism in Nigeria with different attractions.
Onietan said the state was blessed with a lot of festivals which include annual Dubar being exhibited at the Emir’s palace and Ganni festival in Kaima Local Government Area of the state.
Speaking to newsmen after the event, Mr Michael Adeboye, the Convener of the event, observed that Kwara hosts great potential for tourism.
He said that previous administrations in the state had neglected the tourism potential, but the administration of Gov. Abdulrahman Abdulrazak had shown great interest to develop the sector.
“This is the reason I decided to cooperate with the state government to improve the potential in the sector,” Adeboye, who is also the CEO of Bond Integrated Estate Limited said.
He said the state government had also shown commitment in improving infrastructure in the state that would boost the tourism potential. (NAN)
