The Minister of Tourism, Ms Lola Ade-John has said that her Ministry would partner with the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission, (NCPC) to develop religious sites in the country.
She disclosed this during a courtesy visit to the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Rev Dr Yakubu Pam in his office in Abuja.
The Hon Minister said she was in NCPC, to solicit support for tourism industry in Nigeria. She explained that the aim was to attract tourists, create jobs for the unemployed and to escalate revenue generation for the country.
In her words, “we usually think of tourism as having holiday abroad, but it is also about religion, we are used to going to Jerusalem, Mecca and the Vatican”
She further affirmed, “we also have a lot of religious sites of note both Christians and Muslims even traditional religions and we want to capitalize on that to increase revenue, she said.
In his remarks, the NCPC boss, Rev Dr Yakubu Pam said the initiative of the Hon Minister was laudable and thus there was need to make the world know about the many festivals and religious sites in the country.
He said there was need to establish and organize places that draw attraction of people outside Nigeria and people within.
According to him,” we have a lot of festivals, holy sites and traditional sites the world needs to know”.
Rev. Pam commended the courage of the Hon Minister and her zeal to develop tourism , stating that she is a model for other women in Nigeria.
