Date: 2019-10-30

The Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Housing and Procurement, Senator Oyelola Ashiru, has advised the federal government to take steps towards unlocking the country's tourism potential so as to boost revenue generation and address the unemployment challenges facing the country.

Ashiru, who represents Kwara South senatorial district of Kwara State at the upper house, disclosed this in Offa while speaking with journalists shortly after tours of Esie national museum and Owu waterfalls located at the senatorial district, with over 200 selected tourism experts and groups of youths in the state.

The tourism experts were coordinated by a tourist entrepreneur, Mrs. Yetunde Jato, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Ankara Tours.

The lawmaker said: "It is disheartening that, despite the availability of tourism potential in Nigeria, there are no concerted efforts to tap the opportunities for the common benefit of the populace."

Ashiru opined that, "by the time these tourism potential are tapped, the era of unemployment among the young graduates would be a thing of the past and it would boost the revenue generation of the government.

"And, this would assist the nation to witness the socio economic development and thereby reducing social vices among the teeming youths."

The lawmaker added that, "the development of Kwara South tourist sites is not a unilateral task of any of the organ of government but it is an assignment that will need synergy from all the three tiers of governance.

"Today, a tourist minded organisation is empowered by my office to lead specially constituted group of private interest of about 200 people to Owu Fall.

"The idea is simple; now that the state and the federal government is on the same page on how to develop tourist points in Kwara State, the critical beneficiary of this efforts would be the private sector and this is what informed the assemblage of today."

Also speaking, Jato said that, "I traveled places as tourist experts across Africa countries and Dubai and discovered that Nigeria is exceptional blessed with fantastic natural tourism sites that could make the country a darling place by tourists across the world when given needed attention and as well serve as a good source of foreign earnings for the country."

She, however, appealed to the government to give serious consideration to the development of outstanding available tourism centers in the state as it can be of serious source of revenue generation.