We ’ll target tourism to expand Oyo’s economy, Makinde pledges

Says Ibarapa ‘ll be fully integrated into economic devt

Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, at the weekend, said that his administration would add tourism as a major plank of its economic expansion agenda.

Makinde, who gave the hint at Igbo-Ora during the yearly World Twins Festival, organised by the Igbo-Ora community, Twins World Creations and the state government, said the administration had succeeded in rejuvenating the state’s economy through agribusiness, but that it would now focus on tourism as another major contributor to the state’s economy.

He said that the government would do everything possible to make the zone a tourist destination.

The governor maintained that with his administration has turned around the security situation in Ibarapaland, it would put in place the adequate infrastructure to help tourism gain a foothold.

He said that within the next few weeks, construction work would begin on the Ibadan-Eruwa Road and the Igbo-Ora-Iganna Road, with a view to fully integrating Ibarapa Zone into the economic development agenda of his administration.

He said: “Today, we have come to celebrate with twins and I am very happy to be here. But I must say that today’s festival is beyond celebrating twins. We are talking about the potential for tourism from this event.

“Almost four years ago when I came here, I campaigned on four major pillars, which are health, education, economic expansion and security. And today, I am glad that Oyo State has made significant progress on the four pillars.

“We used to have security challenges in Ibarapaland before, but it is now a thing of the past as our people now go to farms with their minds at rest while others go about their daily businesses and endeavours in peace.”