Consultant wants 32 Imo tourist sites developed by government

ACONSULTANT AND INSTRUC TOR IN the hotel and tourism sector and general manager of the Paris Garden Hotel in Owerri, says that Imo State is endowed with about 32 tourism sites which if developed would make the state less dependent on monthly Federal Government allocations to fund its capital projects and take care of other costs.

The development of the Imo state tourism sites would yield revenue for the state government and boost the internally generated revenue (IGR) which was about N635 million as at the month of August, this year.

The development of the tourism sites would further help the security agencies to checkmate the rate at which youths go into the commission of crimes and criminality in the state.

Fidel Benson, the general manager of Paris Garden Hotel limited, and the financial secretary of the Imo State Hoteliers Association(ISHA) disclosed this in an exclusively with Business A.M. in Owerri.

He informed that one of the reasons people travel to Dubai is as a result of the tourism sector which has been developed, stressing that if the state government led by Governor Emeka Ihedioha, could develop the tourism sites dotted in almost the 27 local government areas, Nigerians and foreigners could see Imo State not only as a hub of hotel but as hub of leisure and tourism in the South east and South south geopolitical zones of Nigeria.

“The issue of tourism in Imo State is disturbing. The state government has a lot of tourism sites, about 32, government should develop them.

“Government should take a square peg and put it into a square hole, and you will get the right result, not when you take a square peg and put in a round hole, there will be no change, and there will be no good result.

“Most of the people government is using in the tourism, culture and entertainment sector do not know it and as a result, cannot produce a good result. This sector is money spinning sub-sector of the economy and the largest employer of labour in the state after the civil service sector,” Benson said.

The state he revealed has Abadada Blue Lake in Obowo, Oguta Lake Resort, and Golf Course, Isiakpa where two big rivers meet but cannot mix together, that is Otamiri and Uramurukwa rivers, it is a very big site to develop, he said.

“There is a place we call monkey colony in Imerienwe in Ngor Okpala local government area, there contains about 5,000 monkeys. In this area people will be cooking their food at their backyards and these monkeys will come closer to see if they can steal the food on fire if the cook happens to leave for another thing. People will plant corn at the farms and the monkeys will go and pluck them, even the monkeys pluck cassava. There is also a monkey colony in Aboh Mbaise local government area of the state.

“If you are going to Onitsha road, there is a community called Eziama Obiato, there is palm tree that has three branches; so these things are natural tourists’ sites which the state government is yet to tap or develop,” he said.