A monarch in Oyo State has said that the state government is loosing at least fifty per cent of its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) over the neglect of the Ado- Awaye suspended lake.
The Alado of Ado-Awaye in Iseyin Local Government of Oyo State, Oba Ademola Folakanmi made this disclosure on Monday at a press conference to usher in the maiden edition of “Iyake Mountain Climbing and Obstacles Race Festival”
Folakanmi while speaking at the press conference in Ibadan disclosed that 50 percent of the Oyo State Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is been lost to untapped tourism site.
He noted that Oyo State is blessed with natural resources which included Ado-Awaye suspended lake.
He said if tapped into, the lake can serve as a source of income for the State.
According to him, Ado-Awaye remains the only suspended natural lake in the world, followed by the artificial suspended lake located in Colorado, United State of America.
Folakanmi said when developed, the site can generate a least 50 per cent of IGR for the state.
“Ado-Awaye is a town with a lot of potentials, this Iyake Mountain Festival is a special adventure tourism package.
“As a tourism site, Ado Awaye suspended lake can generate 50 per cent of the IGR for the state.
“The Iyake Festival is to be a foremost tourism brand in Oyo State that we will be proud of in years to come, it is not only unique for being the only natural one in the world, it is also unique for being a spiritual source, medical source, emotional resource, educative and cultural resources destination in concept and nature.
In his contribution, Mr. Babatunde Obalana noted that the commissioner for Infomation, Culture and Tourism in Oyo State has endorsed the project.
He added that he and his team are determined to change the nomenclature of tourism in Southwest Nigeria.
“The fastest development project is the tourism, our plan is to turn around Ado-Awaye into a world-class tourism destination, we have been on this for the past nine months ago, so this is not just an idea we only wake up one today to do, we want to make the lake an international brand
“We have made a lot of consultation with the present administration in the state, and the state government has also visited Ado-Awaye twice, a lot of investors has also been approaching us on the tourism and we are sure that the government will reason along with us as the needs arise.
