TOURISM IN MY COUNTRY - AVOID ZUMA

To most people, Nigeria is a failed state. But that's a huge lie! Nigeria has a lot to give, and tourist attractions is one of them.

Do a quick Google search and you will be impressed at the vast options you have in terms of tourism in Nigeria. Yea! There are definitely a lot of places to be visited.

These places do not just have visually pleasing aesthetics, they benefit from a less polluted environment when compared to other parts of the country, as they are preserved purposefully for the purpose of tourism.

Let's explore some of them.

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Obudu Mountain Resort

This is an interesting tourist site in the Southern part of Nigeria, specifically, in Cross Rivers State. It is currently one of the most popular tourist attraction sites in Nigeria with facilities and services that has attracted tourists all over the country and around the world.

One unique feature of this resort was the cable car which allowed visitors to have a top view of the resort. However, this facility has unfortunately been grounded for a while now.

You can visit Obudu Mountain Resort today! What do you hope to see? Here is a snip bit:

Dotun55, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ei'eke, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Agbokim Waterfalls

Cross Rivers state in Nigeria is easily the home to most tourist sites, and the Agbokim waterfalls is just another interesting tourist sites you could visit after a trip to the Obudu Mountain Resort.

In Nigeria, most persons may become nonexistent without witnessing a waterfall. It usually seems like something from the movies. But thanks to nature and how Cross Rivers State has nurtured and protected theirs, you can easily find somewhere in the country that you could witness a waterfall for cheap, and I say welcome to the Agbokim waterfalls.

Ei'eke, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Idanre Hills

Now, let's take a quick trip to South-Western Nigeria, in the beloved Ondo state, to visit the Idanre hills - a nice collection of beautiful hills. It is a unique place, and one of the few places were you could find an elephant and a very unique creature, the Perret's toad, here in Nigeria. Let's take a quick look at these hills.

Ayobami Macaulay, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ABORISADEADETONA, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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The National Arts Theatre

Let's conclude with this excellent manmade structure - the National Arts Theatre in Lagos, Nigeria. The national arts theatre has been featured most times in Nigerian movies and documentaries, but when our home-bred artiste, Burna boy won the grammy, he did well to do a music presentation, right at its top.

This is expected, a Nigerian artiste, performing his arts, in the National Arts Theatre. It is a really nice place worth visiting; and currently one of the oldest national structures in the country, completed since 1976. Let's take a look:

Omoeko Media, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Zuma Rock

I wanted to stop with the National Park, but let's do one last one. May we?
Let's travel quickly up north to visit the Zuma rock, just along your way to the Nigerian capital city of Abuja.
The Zuma rock is an iconic nature piece in Nigeria, and this inanimate object even managed to find its way to one of the naira notes.
I wanted to talk about it because I was interested in a lot of myths and legends surrounding the Zuma rock. According to the observation of most persons, they have said the rock has facial features like a human, if this is true, I am sure this is the work of some of our ancestors. The people living around this massive rock believes that after death, life continues inside the rock.

Another interesting myth (could be fact) is that the rock is always on fire during the rainy season, so cringe I know! I have even heard people say that you can hear noise and voices at night if you live close to the rock. Little wonder you hardly find people living close to it. I cannot confirm or dispute these claims, all I can do is share pictures of Zuma rock with you:

Jeff Attaway, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Nigerian Magazine, Cultural Division, Federal Ministry of Information, Lagos., CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

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The Problem with Tourism in my Country

Sourced from Statista

The Nigerian tourist industry has significantly suffered decline over time. Looking at the bar chart above, in 2019 tourism contributed 4.9% to the countries GDP, but in 2020 just 2.8%, and this is definitely going to continue in the downtrend because of one major issue - SECURITY.

The security situation over here is very bad, and tourists from within and outside the country are scared to go on trips as they fear for their lives. Kidnapping, armed separatist groups, terrorists and more are now the reoccurring headlines, and no one with the level of insecurity in Nigeria will entertain the idea of visiting for tourism.

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Final Words

Nigeria is a blessed country with a lot of tourist attractions. While these tourist sites remain functional and will entertain some visitors, the social, economic and political climate that has spearheaded in current state of severe insecurity has made tourism a thing of the tough-hearted. We hope things change for good, but till then, you may enjoy reading about tourist cites, like indulging yourself in this post or seeking out virtual tourism opportunities, or still, plan strategically before visiting a tourist attraction.