Edo govt to rebrand culture, tourism assets

The Edo State Government is set to rebrand her culture and tourism assets, the Commissioner for Arts, Culture and Diaspora Affairs, Honourable Osazee Osemwengie-Ero, has said.

Osemwengie-Ero said the rebranding project is in line with the vision of the Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki, which includes revival, preservation and the exhibition of the rich cultural heritage of Edo people on the world stage for tourism receipts.

The commissioner who disclosed this during a guided tour to historical sites in Unuamen Village in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, said the state is richly blessed with a lot of cultural and tourism sites.

‘‘We have a lot of hidden treasures in the state which have not been brought to the knowledge of the world. The Obaseki’s administration is doing everything possible to bring these hidden treasures to the world stage.”

According to him, “the heritage materials form the identity of the people of any community, they are unique and worth preserving. We have an Oba that promotes our culture and a governor that has the vision to reposition our culture sector, including the traditions and festivals for domestic and international tourism earnings.”

The commissioner expressed delight at some historical sites in Unuamen Village and said: “Unuamen Village is relevant today because of the history of Oba Esigie and Queen Idia. Today, I have seen what I read in books about Oba Esigie and Queen Idia and where the event happened. It is overwhelming.”

He noted that what he saw in Unuamen “are worth preserving as they take us way back to over 300 years ago.”

He added: “You can see the tourist sites like Olekhu Namebo; Odigi Shrine; Okutaesigie; Okebu; the site where Queen Idia hosted Udo warrior as piece of broken pot were visible and a host of other interesting sites.

The Okao of Unuamen, Chief Honourable Kingsley Nogheghase Igbinosa, said he decided to invite Edo State government officials to the tourist sites in the village because he read in newspapers that 58 tourists sites in the state were marked for revamp.

He thanked the state government for sending its officials to assess the tourist site and urged them to include them in the list of sites that will be developed.