Olumo Rock
Ogun State Ministry of Culture and Tourism is now poised to develop another latent landmark in Abeokuta, the state capital. The new tourism asset is also a rock formation like Olumo Rock, the state’s leading tourism asset and could aesthetically rival the ancient Olumo Rock, also in Abeokuta.
The ministry led by its helmsman, the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Sesan Fagbayi had already gone on on-the-spot assessment of the asset called Ijemo Rock and located at Ijemo Agbadu area of Abeokuta..
Fagbayi, at the site also threw open invitation to the investing public to partner with the ministry as it is ready to partner with any organisation willing to help discover and develop its untapped cultural and tourism potentials in the State.
The Management Team of the Culture and Tourism Ministry toured the potential tourism asset with members of the Egba Heritage Foundation who are already expressing their interest in the development of the heritage.
Fagbayi assured that the Ministry would provide policies, guidance and support to the foundation for the development of the ancient rock.
According to him, “as a Ministry we will continue to give adequate support needed towards the development of the rock”.
“Before, we only have the Olumo rock, with this, we now have two rocks in Abeokuta, with the support of the royal highnesses in Egbaland and the Egba Heritage Foundation, we will develop the site and we as government will not relent but to support this initiative,” Hon. Fagbayi said.
The Commissioner highlighted the importance of diverse cultural sites on the socio-economic advancement of the State, while commending the foundation for their vision and efforts while expressing hope for their success.
On his part, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Yusuff Quudus, while speaking on encroachment by different religious worshippers on the rock, said there was need to take proactive steps in evacuating the encroachers from the site in order to ensure sanity.
Representative of the Egba Heritage Foundation and Project Coordinator, Mr. Bola Oladehinde who led the team to the site, appreciated the Ministry for its’ commitment and support, saying that the foundation would begin the development of the site in earnest, while appealing to the government to partner with the foundation towards the promotion and development of the Ijemo Rock for its recognition.
