For the first time since the Seven Wonders of Nigeria Zoom Conference started, the 13th edition was held outside Lagos and was hosted live from Calabar, Cross River State.
The November 14th Conference had as panelists travel journalist, Lucky George Onoriode, the publisher of African Travel Times; Atinuke Nwakohu, CEO of Aviator Travels and the intrepid Omotoke Fatoki, popularly known as Alarinka.
The show began with a clip of the recent familiarisation tour and fact-finding mission to ascertain the present state of Obudu Mountain Resort in Cross River State.
Host of the webinar and organiser of the Seven Wonders of Nigeria project, Ambassador Ikechi Uko led the team of tour operators and travel journalists from Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Calabar to get a first-hand account of the situation and it was clear to all that, Obudu Mountain Resort is well on its way to reclaiming its lost glory.
Among the destinations unveiled were several popular ones and a few new ones. Lucky George highlighted the Kusugu Well in Daura, Katsina State in Northern Nigeria.
As the story of Egypt will not be complete without the river Nile or its ancient pyramids, indeed the story of Daura and Nigeria at large will not be complete without the legendary Kusugu Well.
During the reign of Queen Daurama, the major source of water for Daura was Kusugu well. But people were only allowed to fetch water on Fridays because of a strange snake known as “Sarki” that lives inside the well.
But with the arrival of a man who came from Baghdad in animal spirit brought to end the menace at the Kusugu well.
Queen Daura Mashawata rewarded Bayajidda by agreeing to marry him after which she gave birth to seven legitimate sons known as the Hausa Bokwai who became founders of Seven Hausa states. Bayajidda also another group of seven illegitimate sons called the Banza Bokwai who founded seven other states.
Idanre Hills was another place that got a mention by Lucky George as he gave some interesting facts about the famous rock settlement in Ondo State.
According to him, it was only in 1948 that the locals came down from the top to settle at the foot of the hills, after several years. He also highlighted some similarities between Idanre and the Sukur Cultural Landscape in Adamawa State.
He capped off his presentation by mentioning the famous Obudu Mountain Resort, giving the audience a bit of history about the place.
According to him, he was involved with the initial transformation when African Sun took over the management of the old Obudu Cattle Ranch, and the name was changed to Obudu Mountain Resort.
Lucky Onoriode George is a travel journalist and also the publisher and editor of African Travel Times Magazine. He is a specialist in the fields of media, marketing, and public relations. He also served as the Head of Business Day Newspaper as well as a tourism presenter on television.
He also worked as the Director of Media for Abuja International Carnival with the federal government of Nigeria. Lucky is a former member of the Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS] Task-force on Hotels, Motels, Inns, and Tourist Guide Elaboration as well as the former Publicity Secretary for the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria [FTAN].
Source: Atqnews