The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says with the scenic description and beautiful vegetation of Farin Ruwa Waterfalls in Nasarawa state, the site will soon become another Nollywood village.
The minister said this on Saturday in Lafia during a courtesy visit to Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister is on a two-day visit to the state for the inspection of Farin Ruwa Waterfalls site to showcase the state’s tourism and investment potential.
In the entourage of the minister were the Directors-General of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Alhaji Nuhu Kangiwa, and Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation, Mr Folorunsho Coker.
Also on the minister’s entourage are the Special Advisers to the President attached to the minister, Mr Segun Adeyemi and Mr Williams Adeleye, and a team of journalists.
“I have no doubt in my mind that with proper promotion, we will turn it around and make it the destination for film and music producers.
“We will also create around the area, a resort and a destination of the tour for vacation and holiday makers,’’ he said.
Mohammed commended the governor for his vision of promoting the tourism potential of the state and building infrastructure around its tourism sites.
“The governor got it right with the realisation that the major obstacle to tourism is infrastructure.
“It is commendable that about N3 billion has been used to construct a road to the Farin Ruwa Waterfalls.
“The vision of the governor in seeing that tourism is promoted in earnest is laudable,’’ he said
The minister announced the offer by NIHOTOUR to train 13 young men and women from Nasarawa state, one from each Local Government as tour guide.
According to him, tour guides are a very important aspect of tourism.
The minister also stressed the position that creative industry was Nigeria’s next oil and itemised the successes so far recorded by the Federal Government in repositioning the sector.
Earlier, the state governor said the potential in Farin Ruwa Waterfalls was more than tourism, with the capacity to generate 40 megawatts of electricity and 40,000 acres of irrigation land for agriculture.
He said that when he visited the waterfalls and discovered the biggest challenge was road infrastructure, the state awarded an N3 billion contract for the road network leading to the site.
“We have just taken over the road, we spent N3 billion and the road has been completed.
“I also want to use this opportunity to thank President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the contract for the construction of a dam at the site.
“I can confirm to you that work has commenced on the dam project at the site.
“With all these in place, I can say that we have completed the cycle and what we are waiting for is for the minister to promote the waterfalls so that investors will key into it,’’ he said.
The governor said that the bottom table of the waterfalls could generate 15 mw of power while at the dam itself after construction is completed, they could easily generate 25mw of power, totaling 40 mw capacity.
He called on potential investors to take advantage of the top of the waterfalls as a conference centre could be built there.
Located in Wamba Local Government Area of the state, about 120 km away from Lafia, Farin Ruwa Waterfalls has been described as one of its kind in Africa due to its height which is above 450 metres.
The torrential force of the gushing water from the fall which could be mistaken for white smoke earns the name Farin Ruwa in Hausa language which translates to White Water in the English language.
NAN reports that the state government is planning to build a film village resort at the site of the waterfalls to create a blend of ecotourism.
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