By Abdul Mommoh

An expert in the hospitality industry, Engr. Yusuf Aliyu has charged the Kwara state government on the need to invest more on tourism centres across the the state so at to put the state on a world map.

Aliyu who is the chairman of Monarchs Palace Hotels stated this on Saturday while answering questions from our reporter in his Ilorin office.

According to him,’ it is unfortunate that much has not been done in the hospitality industry in Kwara State.’

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“Hospitality industry in Kwara State is far below the expectations both in terms of investment and infrastructure. So there is huge gap and I think there is considerable room for improvement.

” The Kwara State Government should partners with players in the hospitality industry to raise the bar to the desire level,” he said.

He added that the government should lead the way toward making Kwara State ranked one of the best among its pairs in the hospitality industry.

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“The Kwara State government can uplift the industry by first identify all the tourism centres in the state and partner with the industry by way of providing facilities that will support tourist centres.

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” For instance, we have Owu Falls here in Kwara, it is comparable to Niagara Falls in Canada. But there is no access to Owu falls in Kwara State. The roads are not good.

“So if government is able to do the road, am sure a lot of investors in hospitality will want to put hotels or resort centre in the environment. That is the kind of partnership am talking about, ” Aliyu stressed.

Continuing,’ the government cannot do it alone. There should be a roadmap and that will bring a lot of investment and Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) to the state.’

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“If government channel utmost resources into the industry, there is no how it will not increase the Kwara state IGR by 30 per cent. Because Kwara is centrally located.

“Kwara is quiet and everybody knows the state for it’s peaceful coexistence. So, it is going to a major boost if we develop tourist destination in Kwara State. There is a lot of tourist attractions in the state,” the philanthropist affirmed.

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Aliyu who is also the chairman of Yusuf Aliyu foundation has awarded scholarships to indigent students and provided learning materials to schools to support the effort of the government in providing qualitative education in the state.

  Engr. Yusuf Aliyu, IGR, Investment, Kwara News, Kwara State, Toursim