5th December, 2023
By Adejoke Adeleye/Ogun
The Minority Leader of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Lukman Adeleye has called on government and private investors to repackage Nigeria’s traditional festivals for tourism as a way of enhancing the nation’s capacity to earn foreign exchange and economic development of the country.
He stated this at the 2023 edition of the annual Odogbolu Day, where he instituted a yearly cash prize to promote the beautiful culture and traditional heritage of the Ijebus in the Odogbolu local government area of the State.
The legislator, who observed that the nation is blessed culturally and historically, said, we must do everything not to lose our identity.
According to him, “the nation is blessed with diverse cultural heritage which must be tapped into, and used to attract tourists into the country.”
“Look at the way everyone is gaily dressed, look at the joy on our faces, look at the happiness even at a time like this when things are hard in the country. This shows we are a people with identity, traditions, behavioural patterns, and cultural values which must attract people, “Adeleye said.
Adeleye urged the private sector to invest and repackage various traditional festivities and promote the nation’s culture to serve as a great foreign exchange earner.
He commended the people for the successful hosting of this year’s Odogbolu Day and promised to continue to represent them well at the State Assembly.