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.