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Oyo State government has stated its readiness to partner with the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, to make the annual Sango festival in Oyo town and other festivals in the state a source of revenue generation.
The Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatunbosun stated this at the 2019 Annual Sango Festival which held at the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III.
Olatunbosun, who represented Governor Seyi Makinde, said the governor was eager to use all possible legal means to revive the economy of the state in order not to rely on the federal allocation alone, which he claimed could not cater for the basic needs of the people in the state.
He said: “Our rich culture like Sango festival is enough to earn us foreign currencies if well promoted and given the right support. The present administration is ready to work with the Iku Baba Yeye, Alaafin of Oyo, our revered father, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi 11, to see to the possibility of gaining another mileage in generating revenue from cultural tourism through cultural festivals like Sango festival.”
He said the present administration in the state is looking for ways of boosting its internally-generated revenue(IGR), adding that the moribund state-owned companies would be revived to anchor job provision and commercial resuscitation that would help the state to be financially free from going cap in hands to Abuja for monthly allocation and monetary aids.
According to the Commissioner, the state government “shall continue to support this and every other important festival that exhibits Yoruba culture as iconic among other cultures in Nigeria and other parts of the world. These cultural celebrations are themselves capable of giving the state the financial freedom we seek through agriculture, commercial development by revamping abandoned state-owned companies and invitation to foreign investors to come and establish businesses here.”
He called on Nigerians to use the promotion of their various cultures as a viable means of generating foreign exchange for the nation and the states.