The Executive Secretary of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Otunba Biodun Ajiboye, has disclosed that Nigeria stands to generate an estimated 5-6 billion US Dollars from hosting over one million visitors during the proposed Annual World Orisa Congress.
Ajiboye made this known on Thursday in Abuja while briefing newsmen as part of efforts to sensitise Nigerians ahead of the proposed annual World Orisa Congress. He explained that the Congress would be a global gathering of practitioners, scholars, and enthusiasts of the Orisa tradition from around the world.
He highlighted the importance of the gathering as an affirmation of the coalescence of cultural identity with Africans in the Diaspora, saying this followed the yearnings of Africans in the Diaspora who were taken from Nigeria into slavery over 500 years ago to connect back to their roots.
“This project, which is also aimed at preserving and promoting Nigeria’s cultural history and heritage to the world, is estimated to generate USD 5-6 billion with Nigeria playing host to over one million visitors.
“There are about 500 million people across the globe that are related to the traditional religion of the African people and as devotees of different deities, they are yearning to return home.
“It is therefore the Institute’s desire to tap into the vast treasure trove of these 500 million people of Orisa descents from Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Brazil, and other Caribbean countries to converge in their ancestral home/roots regularly. In Brazil alone, there are over 89 million people who are ready to key into this vision.
“The Congress will provide a platform for sharing knowledge, experience, and best practices in promoting and preserving Orisa heritage.
“The convergence will be of immense benefit as it will bring about cultural exchange and enrichment, economic benefits through tourism and cultural trade, promotion of global understanding and peace, and the preservation of Orisa heritage for future generations. Some of these Orisa have fallen within respected UNESCO-recognised heritage,” he stated.
Ajiboye added that the project is also necessitated by the exigency of pushing up Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), thereby generating revenue for the government to improve the living standard of Nigerians, as promised by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his Renewed Hope Agenda.
“While Nigeria remains in dire need of creating ways and means of generating revenue and reflating the economy, one of the solutions to this challenge is through increased foreign exchange earnings.
“Globally, cultural outreach programmes in terms of cultural and ancestral convergence are known to be money-generating ventures, with Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, India, and China being front runners in bringing global audiences to their countries at periodic times.
“Nigeria at this time is left with little or no choice but to tap into the rich cultural opportunities to become economically sustainable as a nation,” he stated.
The NICO boss noted that, following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s State visit to Brazil, the Institute has received a lot of proposals and initiatives from the Brazilian authorities and people. These proposals were in tandem with what the NICO had already conceived as an all-embracing spiritual, cultural, and socio-economic collaboration: World Orisa Congress.
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