Mr. Olusegun Olaotan, Permanent Secretary, Ogun State Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture, has called on local and international investors to develop the newly discovered Tongeji Island in the state.
Olaotan made the call during the 14th International Arts and Crafts Expo (INAC) held on Thursday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the theme for the expo was: “Networking Nigerian Craft to the World.”
He said that the Island was an agrarian community, surrounded by water and isolated from the rest of the world, located at Ipokia Local Government area of the state.
Olaotan said the state government was ready to work with investors who were ready to transform the island to one of the most beautiful islands that could be found in the developed countries.
“Tongeji Island has a landmass of about 200 hectares of land, a population of over 1,000 people, situated less than five minutes drive from Port Novo in Benin Republic and 150 minutes by speedboat from Western Naval Command Headquarters in Apapa, Lagos.
“The island is surrounded by aquatic splendour, white sand, lush green environment, humid weather and enormous palm coconut trees.
” It is an island with large deposit of crude oil, if properly developed, it will fetch the state, individuals and the nation huge revenue.
“We call on investors to visit this island and consider it a place for investment,” he said.
Olaotan also urged local and international tourists to visit the state for some touristic experiences as the state was well endowed with lots of fascinating sites.
He listed some of the sites as: Olumo Rock, Lisabi forest, Kenta Adire Market, Hilltop Golf Resort, Hi-Impact Planet, Birikisu Sungbo Shrine, Centenary Hall, Ebute Oni and Itoku Market, among others.
“Almost all our tourists sites have been renovated to create fantastic memories for tourists.
” We also have quite a number of festivals to witness like the Ojude Oba, Oro, Lisabi festivals, also our cuisines could be explored like ikokore, efo riro, kokoro, adun and more,” he said.
He said that the state’s famous Adire fabric had been properly positioned for easy accessibility by the state government with an online platform for the sales and marketing of the fabric.
He said an electronic platform had been established through which intending buyers could purchase the fabric through www.adireogun.com
” The patronage of Adire is quite important to the state and the national economy to boost our internally generated revenue.
” We have explored the fabric to design bags, decoratives and other useful materials.
” The state government has put in place some infrastructure for the easy production of the the fabric, the road to the venue it is produced has been rehabilitated to encourage buyers,” he said. (NAN)
