In his bid to ensure a sustainable and transgenerational germination and blossoming of his cultural-tourism policy in Ekiti State, Governor Kayode Fayemi has dispatched a two-man delegation comprising of the state Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Tourism, Prof Rasaki Ojo-Bakare, drama, arts and culture expert and Ambassador Wale Ojo-Lanre, Director-General, Ekiti State Council for Arts and Culture, an accomplished tourism, hospitality and hotel icon to Brazil to market the tourism potentialities of Ekiti to the largest cultural-tourism congregation in the world.
The team is also to showcase why cultural tourists should embrace Ekiti as the cultural-tourism heritage destination in Nigeria.
The team is expected to also study the concept, convocation, economic, packaging, import and relevance of Rio De Janerio Carnival.
The two-man delegate is also saddled to brand, market, sell Ekiti cultural-tourism potentialities with reference to the historical pedigree of Ogun, the god of Iron which sank into the ground in Ire Ekiti, the fact that I was a native, lived and died in Ado and also the irrefutable evidence that Osun Osogbo had its source and origin in Igede Ekiti to the cultural community in Brazil.
The team is to expose why Ifa, Ogun and Osun adherents in Brazil and other Southern American countries must visit Ekiti State to see, touch and feel where these spiritual icons by creating global awareness of its pristine nature for millions of participants and investors in Rio De Janeiro Festival.
The team is also tasked with the responsibility of ensuring a mutually cultural-tourism engagement between the organiser of Rio De Janeiro Carnival and Ekiti State Government with the intent of expanding the scope and the altitude of Ekiti State Festival of Arts and Culture, EKIFEST, which recorded a huge success of celebration in 2019.
The team which is expected to arrive Rio today would among others hold a business chat with investors and intercontinental entrepreneurs builders in Rio and Sao Paulo, address a world press conference and network with Yoruba community and associations in Brazil by spreading the gospel of the need to invest in Ekiti cultural-tourism projects.
In a chart with our reporter, Prof Ojo Bakare, who commended Governor Fayemi and his wife for their genuine desire to grow the cultural-tourism sector of Ekiti State disclosed that the team is heading for Brazil with every sense of responsibility.
He revealed that it is a great opportunity created by Governor Fayemi to market Ekiti to the global cultural community and expose investors converging on Rio De Janeiro to the various investment opportunities in Ekiti State.
Ambassador Ojo-Lanre, disclosed that “we are attending Rio De Janeiro Festival not just for the fun of it. Hence, we are armed with information materials in both digital and hard copies detailing the virtual, physical and statistical analysis of the cultural-tourism potentialities of Ekiti-State.”
