The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II has officially declared Ile-Ife as a tourism zone, noting that the ancient town is not only blessed with natural and mineral resources, but is endowed with tourist attractions.
Making this declaration during a summit at the Oduduwa Hall, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife on Friday, Oba Ogunwusi called for the support of individuals, groups, government and entire Africans to help him realise the dream into reality.
He expressed his intention to use the tourist sites to create wealth and improve infrastructure for Ile-Ife and the entire Yoruba land.
According to him, “Ile-Ife has a peculiar advantage because it is established in one of the world acclaimed centres and source of renowned world civilisation.
“The ancient town is one of the cities in sub-Sharan African with largest concentration of archaeological sites where both foreign and local archaeologists got objects like bronze, terracotta, precious stones and beads.”
Oba Ogunwusi noted that foreigners love the Yoruba culture, citing Brazilians as speaking Yoruba language, while Cuba, among others, claim to be originally from Ile-Ife.
He called on government and well meaningful Nigerians to collectively maintain peaceful coexistence that would make Ile-Ife a tourist hub, assuring that that would engender another means of boosting the nation’s economy.
Comments