FROM the Cuban Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Carlos Trejo Sosa, has come a declaration that the Ooni of Ife is the Spiritual Father of all Cubans.

Sosa said that Ile-Ife remains the root of the 90 percent of Cubans who regarded themselves as Africans from Nigeria.

Ile-Ife is the ancestral home of Cubans which cannot be wished away, the Ambassador said while hosting the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, at the Cuban Embassy in Abuja at the event attended by members of the diplomatic communities in Nigeria.

Sosa, who said that the decision to honor Oba Ogunwusi was timely and well deserved, declared that Cubans were extremely happy to identify with the first class traditional ruler.
“Ooni is the Spiritual father of most of we Cubans all over the world because 90 percent of Cubans are black Africans and a very large portion of us originated from Yorubaland which spiritually is headed by Ooni of Ife,” the Ambassador said.
He expressed his delight on the tourism potentials in Nigeria, particularly in Ile Ife, which he described as tourist attraction city.

Sosa declared that if developed to international standard, Ile-Ife would be a greater economic advantage to Nigeria and Africa.
The coordinator of the gathering, Wanle Akinboboye, stressed the significance of the event, which, he said, was meant to bridge unity among the Yoruba descendants with the installation of the new Arole Oduduwa, the Ooni of Ife as a tourism crooner himself.
Akinboboye, who is the Founder/Chief Executive Officer of La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Lagos enjoined Nigerian investors to join hands with the federal government in developing tourism to attract more foreigners to the country.
“When you establish a tourism zone, everybody will like to come; so we are inviting everyone to Ile-Ife on 26th and 27th of this month, as our new Kabiyesi is set to declare Ife a tourism zone,” he said, adding: “We invite the private sector to move into Ife and exploit opportunities of doing business in Ile-Ife.”
He further said: “This will enhance economic vibrancy of the city and the beauty of what we intend doing is to drive the economy via tourism as done elsewhere in other parts of Africa.”
“A tourist will stay over a weekend and spend over $3,000 before going back, but the price of cocoa today is about $2,500 per ton and that takes you three years,” Akinboboye said.

He added: “But once tourist comes; pays in hotel, pays in resort and pays $3,500, whenever he is leaving he will not take the hotel or resort with him.  Another person will come and use the same facility.
“Tourism development is not really a government function, government supposed to provide infrastructure. It is a private sector driven; it is the people that supposed to provide the funding.” Akinboboye also said: “On 26th of this month, there will be symposium, drama and many people will be coming from different parts of the world courtesy of the foremost authority, our new Kabiyesi. The Saturday the 27th will be the declaration.”
Also speaking at the event, the Director General, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation, Mrs. Sally Mbanefo, stated that the government would give credence to tourism business in the country.

Mbanefo declared tourism in the country as an untapped goldmine, while stating that President Muhammadu Buhari government was ready to include tourism on the exclusive list of government plans, particularly in its quest for economic diversification.

While calling on the private entities to emulate Oba Ogunwusi as he set to declare Ile-Ife as tourism zone in the world, Mbanefo maintained that tourism is a private sector driven.
“I visited the late Ooni of Ife and now with the new one and here comes Ife declaration as tourist new haven, by the Kabiyesi. I was warmly welcome by this wonderful monarch and Ife people,” she said.

She further stressed: “They took me round the Ife tourist centers, I discovered even Ile-Ife has a lot of tourist attractions such as Moremi Museum, the Oduduwa, Opa Oranmiyan and a whole lot of them and that is what is needed. We need committed leaders to help us develop our tourism in Nigeria.”

“The first thing is to diversify the economy, then the Public Private Participation should be encouraged; we need to fight for domestic tourism, we have the population as our greatest strength. If 20 million out of 170 million Nigerians travel to explore tourism activities, will that not translate to huge revenue generation because you can’t stop Nigerians from traveling?” Mbanefo queried.
She also said: “What about private organizations such as telecom companies; they make so much money, but are they giving back to the society?

“Government cannot do it alone, they need to come in. Though some of these states are ready like Lagos, Ogun, Nassarawa, Abia, even Kaduna State are all ready to go.”