The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has urged Nigerians not to succumb to doomsday predictions about the country because they won’t come to pass.
He also assured that Nigeria was in safe hands, despite the current security challenges bedeviling the country
The Minister gave the charge yesterday, while receiving the Oluyin of Iyin-Ekiti, Oba Adeola Adeniyi Ajakaiye, who on a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja.
He appealed to leaders at all levels to give the people a message of hope rather than making comments that could only aggravate tension
Mohammed stressed the critical role of traditional rulers in the maintenance of peace and security, saying they could not and must not be ignored, as the nation seeks to restore peace and security.
He appealed to Oba Ajakaiye to work with his fellow traditional rulers, as well as the government of Ekiti State, to ensure peace and security in the state.
Earlier in his address, Oba Adeola Adeniyi Ajakaiye said his visit was to seek the support of the federal government to leverage on the tourism industry in Iyin-Ekiti to diversify the economy away from oil.
He said Iyin-Ekiti was blessed with numerous tourist attractions that had the potential to bring the community to national and global limelight and create jobs for its youths. Oba Ajakaiye used the occasion of his visit to invite the minister to his forthcoming coronation as well as visit the tourist sites at Iyin-Ekiti – the two requests that were granted by the minister.
Responding to a request by the traditional ruler to help put the tourist sites in the town on the national and global map, Mohammed pledged his readiness to leverage the media and technology to showcase and popularize the historic ‘Esa Cave’ as well as the ‘Okuta Abanijorin’ (the rock that accompanies you on your trip), both foremost tourism sites in Iyin-Ekiti, in the Irepodun/Ifelodun local government area of Ekiti State.
‘’Putting the tourist sites on the national and global map will attract tourists, which will in turn boost the economy of not just Iyin town but, indeed, the entire Ekiti State,” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed, therefore, directed the Directors-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, NCMM, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC, and the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, NIHOTOUR, to undertake a working visit to the two tourist sites and report back to him.
Vanguard
