FOR Nigerians who go abroad just to experience the thrill of a theme park in the category of America’s Disneyland and other such places, they can now save themselves a lot of trouble and money by taking a short trip to Kilometre 12, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, opposite Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries’ Mountain Top University gate.

Hi-Impact Planet is the pacesetting place that changes the calculation in Nigeria’s non-performing tourism sector. Scheduled to open to the public next week Friday, December 18, 2015, Hi-Impact Planet sits on 185,000 square metres land space designed to deliver maximum excitement, and complete with luxury apartments for family stay.

According to founder and Chairman, Solution Media and Infotech, Prince Adeyanju Lipede, who started years ago, delivering entertainment shows in Europe, America and Dubai, said Hi-Impact Planet was a facility long overdue for the Nigerian tourism market. With a regally adorned elephant as mascot holding a flywhisk aloft to symbolize strength, integrity and authority, Lipede explained, “We’ve created Christmas ambience for everyone coming not to want to go elsewhere”.

Lipede regretted the lack of attention paid to tourism in the country, saying it is in Nigerians to be able to deliver world class facility like Solution Media has done. He blamed the sector’s woes on lack of will by government to think beyond the box, lack of infrastructure like roads, power and water supply. With dependence on oil failing to deliver the country from its many socio-economic woes, Solution Media boss said perhaps the time had come to Nigeria to think like Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries that turned to tourism for survival. He lamented the billions of dollars Nigerians fritter away travelling abroad for tourism purposes.

Now, he said, that era was over with the establishment of his N60 billion Hi-Impact Planet. As he put it, “We don’t appreciate the potentials of tourism – from visa fees paid, airlines tickets bought, hotel accommodation and vats government gets, taxes on these purchases, souvenirs and local products tourists buy, employment, revenues generated and social development – these are real economic gains Nigeria denies itself because of poor appreciation of tourism. The greatest investment in entertainment and it resolves around tourism. We have destroyed the potentials in tourism; we’re not proactive about tourism. It’s sad that crude oil is falling down and we aren’t taking advantage of other avenues of revenue, wealth-generation like tourism. When we no longer get money from oil, we’ll go back to what Dubai, Singapore and others did”.

He noted that government ought to have created designated tourism sites or zones across the country that no one else could build on so as to make investment in the sector easy. Access to land alone gulped half of the funds for the project which is a disincentive to the faint-hearted, he noted.

Solution Media has a record of entertaining children. In 2013 and 2014, the firm gathered school children together at Tafawa Balewa Square, Onikan, Lagos. Gbagada Redeemer High School was winners and was taken to Dubai while Gbaja Girls Junior School won in 2014 and was taken to Canada.

Lipede noted that his company, having excelled in a strictly regulated environment like Dubai, Hi-Impact Planet was poised to deliver quality entertainment for Nigerians and visitors from all over the world.

The theme park has a clinic and a resident doctor for emergency, full scanners at the entrance for luggage and visitors and a police post within the premises for security. The fun facilities include, animatronics, including semi-live lions, gorillas, fun food court, food court, Enterprise ride, 90 toilets for convenience, souvenir court, bumper cars, eye-combat games, 40-metre high spring ride, a freestyler that simulates surfing, kite flyer, hoopla, dream machine, ferry spin, samba balloon, Mexican theatre, a 10-seater Hi-Impact airplane, a multi-purpose hall with acoustics for stage production, railways, 5-D cartoon animation studio, imax cinema and watermania.

According to the media head, Solution Media, Ms Victoria Odimba, “We want to set a standard not just for Nigeria, but the rest of the world”.

HI-IMPACT Planet is a latter day development in international entertainment delivery for Solution Media and Infotech. The firm has existed first in the Middle East and Europe, but is now here in Africa to lead the way in providing world class fun for families and friends. With an expertise in audio-visual productions and having excelled in Europe and the Middle East, it decided to test out its abilities on the homeland.

As Lipede put it, “We had an African and Asian show in the Middle East and made a success of it for two years running. We went to the U.K. last year at the Wembley Arena, a first for an Africa company. We gave African artistes a platform in Dubai, even with their very strict regulations. So, we’re one of the best in African entertainment. At Solution Media, our skills and expertise has been tested at the international arena”.

Also, a desire to give children top-notch entertainment since adult always have something or other for them is the passion behind Hi-Impact Planet, according to Odimba, adding, “We know how to manage children, discover their needs, how restless they can be and make them happy. Hi-Impact Planet is just the place for children all year round”.