COVID-19: Lagos targets locals for regatta and festival celebration

In a bid to prevent the spread of deadly coronavirus, Lagos State government on Tuesday said it will restrict participants for the Greater Lagos Regatta and Festival earlier scheduled to hold during the Easter period to local tourists, and fun lovers.

The State’s Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs Uzamat AkinbiIe-Yusuf, disclosed this while speaking at a press conference, saying it was part of measures to prevent the spread of the disease among tourists and entertainers who would be willing to participate in the event.

She, however, said that the three- day event, had been put on hold pending when the issue of Coronavirus ravaging the world generally subsides.

AkinbiIe-Yusuf, while noting that the state government was not cancelling the event, asserted that it would rather disallow participation from foreign countries in view of the negative posturing the Covid-19 was gaining globally at the moment.

According to her, the Greater Lagos Regatta and Festival which is an initiative of the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture is being jointly organised in collaboration with a consulting firm, Gradient Hill Company Limited and has been designed to espouse the tourism potential of Lagos State, celebrate the Aquatic splendour of the state and market the Lagos brand to tourism investors across the world.

ALSO READ: Reps move to avert nationwide strike, meet JOHESU

“Our intention is to market Lagos tourism to investors beyond the shores of this country, we want them to see and appreciate the rich cultural heritage and Aquatic endowment of the state.

“While we are being restricted to limit participants for this event to tourists and fun lovers within Nigeria because we do not want to expose Nigerians to the raging Coronavirus across the world, we believe that a good media coverage could still help market the tourism potentials of Lagos State to the international audience,” the commissioner said.

She said that the state government prioritises the well-being of its citizens and would not compromise the life of any resident of the state or organise an event without due consideration of the health implication of such event on the entire populace.

“We have concluded plans to provide a section where people can wash their hands. In addition to this, we are equally going to have enough provisions for sanitisers to complement other precautionary measures that would still be put in place through our working relationship with the Ministry of Health,” AkinbiIe-Yusuf.