Isese Festival

Isese Cultural Festival 2011: to usher peace, stability in Lagos

LAGOS State just  like some states in the country most especially in the South West, people worship a huge number of deities brought by  Olofin, who brought along with him, deities  that include Igunuko, Osun, Alaragbo, Egungun, Olokun  and Elegba.

History has it that it was while he was on a historical expedition from Ile-Ife to Lagos, the cradle of Yoruba land, alongside his entire family members that brought to Lagos Isese.

Today, all the deities are elaborately worshipped and celebrated like Christians and Muslims would celebrate Christmas and Eid-il-filri. In fact traditional worship centres where traditionalists and cultural devotees worship are everywhere in the state most especially in Ebute Metta were we have the likes Ijo Orunmila where weekly preaching's and teachings are honestly done.

It is not surprising however, that August 20th of every year was set aside to celebrate this wonderful practice and celebration of African traditional values and culture as done in America during Halloween and here in Lagos State is called Isese Day.

To this end Lagos State will again on the 20th August come alive with the celebration of The 2011 Isese Cultural Festival with the theme Ifa-Irosundi which will be hosted by the Mainland sect and it is usually rotated round the state.

This year's theme was disclosed to Travels & Tours during the appeasement divination for the successful celebration of the festival by the Opemuluwa of Agege Chief Kehinde Anipupo who also led others in prayer during the appeasement.

The appeasement divination which took place at the compound of the President of Association of African Traditional Religion, Nigeria & Overseas (AATREN), the Opemoluwa of Ikate, Elegushi Land, Chief Olusegun  Elegushi  were peace, stability and prosperity of Lagos State were prayed for and  Present at the meeting include all the state executives and the planning committee of the 2011 festival  headed by the paramount Apena of Mainland Chief Adegboyega Junaid.

Speaking with Travels & Tours during the appeasement divination ceremony in Lekki, the chairman of the planning committee and the Paramount Apena of Mainland Chief Adegboyega Junaid said that the programme for these years celebration has began and today marks the beginning of a new calendar year.

According to him, before the grand finale on August 20th, there is going to be a seminar on the Isese Day were the public will be enlightened on the importance of the festival to traditional religion institution.

On the issue of declaring every August 20th a public holiday for the celebration of the Isese Day just like the Christians and Muslims do have their own public holiday to celebrate theirs, Junaid said they are still awaiting the response of the state government no their request adding that just like every other religion in the country they also deserves to have their day declared a public holiday.

Also speaking to waka-about on the coming Isese Day was the Opemuluwa of Agege and the head priest during the occasion Chief Kehinde Anipupo, he said part of the appeasement is to pray for Nigeria and indeed Lagos State so that the issue of bombing in the North will not occur in Lagos and for the protection of the state and the  governor Raji Babatunde Fashola.

Golden Tulip Festac Lagos: The place to find luxury hotel experience

THE Golden Tulip Festac Lagos is a four star first class superior hotel, located in Lagos, the largest, economic and entertainment city centre of Nigeria. The hotel is located in Festac Town, one of the fastest developing residential and business areas of Lagos and situated along the express way and only half an hour drive from the International and Domestic airport and 15 minutes drive from the commercial port of Lagos.

Due to its location, the Golden Tulip Festac Lagos is the idea hotel for guests visiting for numerous reasons, since the airports and other business and entertainment areas in Lagos are within easy reach. The Golden Tulip Festac is a new hotel and offers a wide variety of services and facilities in a safe secure environment.

Speaking with National Daily waka-about, the Sales and Marketing Manager of the hotel Mr. Emmanuel Ele, said that the management of the hotel are committed to offer excellent services in a beautiful and functional setting.

He said the hotel is a Four Star property situated on a seven hectare site offering a secure and serene environment, in a setting of tropicalised landscaped gardens. Golden Tulip is only thirty minutes away from Muritala Mohammed International Airport and fifteen minutes drive from the city centre.

With 471 exquisitely furnished rooms and suites on eight floors, Golden Tulip Festac Lagos provides the solution to all your accommodation and conference requirements. All hotel rooms and suites have internet connectivity and other facilities includes bar with two different styled restaurants offering Mediterranean and local cuisine, twenty four hour room service, WI-FI internet facility in all hotel outlets. The 1000m2 conference centre has ultra modern state-of-the-art equipment and facilities.

The hotel also has seven meeting rooms with various sitting capacities and a business centre. The leisure and fitness facilities include fully equipped gym with a room for aerobics, a massage room, sauna, steam bath, outdoor adult and children sparking swimming pool, two floodlit tennis court as well as twin squash courts in a secured presence as well as CCTV cameras.

Ele explained further that Golden Tulip derives strength from a sound management team whose motivation, professionalism and spirit of innovation represent her greatest asset when it comes to meeting and exceeding customer expectations. The hospitality group has more than 780 hotels, with 75, 000 rooms in over 50 countries worldwide with its group head office in Lausanne, Switzerland, offering services in the middle, upper and luxury scales.

According to him, it is also a major player in the in the global travel and tourism industry. The group is also a bench mark in services for companies and public institutions and presently has hotels spread across countries in Africa.

Religiou Tourism

Religious tourism: Fastest growing aspect of holiday industry

Tourism is one sector that Nigeria leaders have not really given the needed attention and development but it is also one sector that can really take this country out of economic problems if well developed and harnessed, needed infrastructure provided, an enabling environment created and good government policy implemented.  In this write-up, AUSTIN JACOBSON, took a critical look at Religious Tourism, a fast growing aspect of tourism that if properly developed could take Nigeria to the promise land. Excerpt.

RELIGIOUS tourism or Faith tourism is the fastest growth area in the holiday industry. Many of today's most popular tourist destinations are related to ancient places of worship or to the site of apparent miracles.

Religious tourism, also commonly referred to as faith tourism, is a form of tourism, whereby people of faith travel individually or in groups for pilgrimage, missionary, or leisure (fellowship) purposes. The world's largest form of mass religious tourism takes place at the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the annual Pilgrimage to Israel and now included in the Christian pilgrimage in Nigeria is Greece which the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) is planning to introduce into the pilgrimage calendar.

Religious tourism comprises many facets of the travel industry including Pilgrimages, Missionary travel   Leisure (fellowship) vacations, Faith-based cruising, Crusades, conventions and rallies, Retreats,    Monastery visits and guest-stays and Faith-based camps. 

In Nigeria today, Religious tourism has become the highest earner of foreign exchange for the country's tourism industry; it is also rank the second in Africa after Egypt and the highest in the black race.  The springing up of different Pentecostal Churches across the country and the various conventions being held annually and quarterly by this churches have virtually increase the numbers of arrivals from overseas countries who visit the country to attend various religious programmes.

According to the Director General of the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, while speaking with  waka-about in Lagos, said tourism statistics have shown that from the various annual conventions held by most of the popular Pentecostal Churches in Nigeria which includes The Living Faith Annual Congress,  Winners Chapel, The Redeemed Christian Church of God Congress, The Synagogue Church of All Nations, Christ Embassy and Deeper Life Bible Church among others point to the fact that Religious tourism is increasingly becoming a critical component of the Nigerian Tourism Industry that can be greatly harnessed for economic development.

The Annual Holy Ghost Congress held every December by the Redeemed Christian Church of God is reputed to be one of the largest gatherings of Christian faithful in the whole of black race. Delegates from across the world including Australia and New Zealand travel to Lagos, Nigeria to part take in this yearly event.

An estimated two million worshippers across the globe is said to attend the three days Holy Ghost Congress annually which is usually held at the church headquarters along the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way and during this three days period almost all the hotels in the axis and some parts of Lagos are always fully booked while food vendors and sales of other souvenirs goes on in a large scale.

The inflow of foreign exchange into the country at this period is very high and a lot of employment is generated for the inhabitants of the area. Transport operators in Lagos gains a lot during this period and the economic activities that takes place during this period is very enormous boosting the economic growth of not only the inhabitants living in the axis but also increasing the economic growth of other sectors of the economy that are direct or indirectly involved in the Annual Holy Ghost  Congress.

The people living in the area during this periods makes lots of money, the general economy of this area improves astronautically and the general development that has come the way of the area is so much that the rate of economic development along the axis has greatly improved. New hotels are been built which provides employment and residential quarters are also been erected by private individuals who wants to take advantage of the growing development in the axis.

The Christ Embassy is also one of the fastest growing Pentecostal Church in Nigeria, reputed to be the most advanced technology driven religious organization in the black race; the church has branches across the entire world with members spreading across the whole continent. It Operates from Lagos and also holds the Annual Leaders and Partners Conference and popular crusades like Atmosphere for Miracles and Healing from Heaven. All this programmes are attended by worshippers from across the globe and a lot of foreign exchange is generated into the economy of the country through the visit of these members from across the world.

The immigration record on arrivals into Lagos for the past two years through the Muritala Muhammad International Airport indicates that the Synagogue Church of All Nations had the highest arrivals of visitors into Lagos. These visitors are mostly from Europe and South Africa who come to Nigeria to visit the church for one spiritual Conference or the other and other Christian purification purposes.

Currently the foreign population of the church is almost out numbering that of Nigerian and on a visit to the church by waka-about, it was discovered that the European members have virtually taken over most of the administrative aspect of the church which is an indication that foreigners arrive in high numbers into the country to perform Religious tourism in the church.

The high arrival of this Europeans and Africans led to the church building an exotic hotel that will accommodate the visitors and this not only creates job opportunities for more Nigerians but also increase the volume of economic activities in the Ikotun Egbe base area of the church.

House on the Rock, another Pentecostal group hold its yearly festival tagged the Experience in Lagos, with high profile international gospel artistes in attendance, thus boasting the confidence of foreigners that wants to come to Nigeria.

Joburg SA

Joburg: The City of business and leisure tourism

South Africa is one of the emerging economies in the world today, the country's fledging economy is said to be the best in the whole of Southern Africa and one of the aspect of the economy that is responsible for this growth is tourism. AUSTIN JACOBSON, who was in Joburg, South Africa, on a farm trip explained how and why Joburg has been credited to be the city of business and leisure tourism, every tourist, is looking forward to visit. Excerpt

JOHANNESBURG is one of the world's leading financial centres and it is the economic and financial hub of South Africa, producing sixteen percent of South Africa's gross domestic product, and accounts for forty percent of Gauteng's economic activity.  Due to its commercial role, the city is the seat of the provincial government and the site of a number of government branch offices, as well as consular offices and other institutions.

The city is also blessed with history and tourism archives which have made the city one of the most sought after in today's world of business tourism. Investigations by waka-about while in Joburg disclosed that the city holds sixty five percent  of the economic activities in the whole of the Southern African Region making it the business  hub in the region.  In a 2007 survey conducted by MasterCard, Johannesburg ranked 47 out of 50 top cities in the world as a worldwide centre of commerce (the only city in Africa).

The container terminal at City Deep is known to be the largest "dry port" in the world, with some 50 percent of cargo that arrives through the ports of Durban and Cape Town arriving in Johannesburg. The City Deep area has been declared an IDZ (industrial development zone) by the Gauteng government.

The service and other industries include banking, IT, real estate, transport, broadcast and print media, private health care, transport and a vibrant leisure and consumer retail market. Johannesburg has Africa's largest stock exchange, the JSE although it has moved out of the central business district.

Now talking about history and leisure tourism, Joburg is blessed with fantastic and fascinating tourist attractions that have made it stand out as one of the most sought after destinations around the world with places like The Lion Park; it is situated in Gauteng Province near Lanseria Airport and Four ways within easy reach of Johannesburg and Pretoria.

The park offers terrific up close views and other exciting interactions with a large variety of predators and large herbivores indigenous to Africa. The Lion Park is home to over 80 lions including the rare white lions and many other carnivores such as cheetah, wild dog, brown and spotted hyena and black backed jackal and a wide variety of antelope which roam freely in the antelope area

Guests have an opportunity to interact with some of the animals in the Cub World area which has a giraffe feeding platform that puts you at eye level with our tame resident giraffe creating a fun experience for all ages. Then there is the popular cub interaction which allows guests to touch the cubs.

For those who have been hearing about Apartheid and the evils it perpetrated in South Africa, in Joburg, tourist have the opportunity to visit the Apartheid Museum, the first of its kind were they will be opportune to see and know about the rise and fall of Apartheid. 

Tourist will also have a swell time in Joburg when they visit The Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens which was established in July 1982 and is the youngest of the gardens managed by the National Botanical Institute.

Against the backdrop of the magnificent Witpoortjie waterfall, this Garden (previously called the Witwatersrand National Botanical Garden) covers almost 300 hectares and consists of both landscaped and natural veld areas. The history of the Garden shows that it was founded in 1982, but has been a popular venue for outings since the 1800's.

Any tourist coming to Joburg will always have at the back of his or her mind the popular Rivonia Trial, the trial that sent the famous Ten ANC freedom fighters to jail for their fight and struggle for independence. The house they were arrested that faithful night is called Lilies Leaf Farm in Rivonia. Lilies Leaf Farm is the hide out of ANC during the liberation struggle in 1969.

According to the tour guide who took us round the facility, Mr. Zein Khumalo, Lilies Leaf Farm was bought by the ANC through an account in Switzerland by funds from the Soviet goverment and it was were the commanders of the armed wing of the ANC holds meetings on in this farm on  how to carry out their plans against the apartheid regime.

If care is not taken, one could betray emotions by bursting into tears when been conducted round this facility because it clearly depicts the height of apartheid and what these heroes went through while fighting for freedom.

Uptil now, it is not yet known how the white apartheid government got to know about the farm and when the meeting was been held but it is believed that the American government then gave the information to the white apartheid regime in exchange for one of their spies that was arrested. This gigantic tourist facility was reconstructed in 2005 and opened as a museum in 2008, it is worth visiting.

The Johannesburg Zoo is also one of the fascinating places to visit when in Joburg. It was established in 1904, and historically, it has been owned and operated by the city of Joburg, the Zoo is an epic centre of living sciences and makes an interesting place for for any tourist seeking pleasure and relation to visit.

For those who love arts and gallery the famous Johannesburg Art Gallery is the biggest gallery in the sub-continent, with a collection larger than that of the South African National Art Gallery in Cape Town. This is the home of some of the most prized works not just in the country but also in the world.

Today, the gallery is a national monument housed in a three-storey building boasting 15 exhibition halls and some sculpture gardens on the grounds of Joubert Park. It is a must visit for lovers of arts and culture.

The Elephant Sanctuary is a family orientated operation catering for both young and old. It is focused on education through interaction, so tourist will not only learn a lot about elephants, but also get to touch, feel, feed, walk trunk-in-hand and even ride these magnificent animals. The Elephants Sanctuary is highly intelligent and delightful and when meeting them you will discover that each one has a different character, personality and temperament.

Joburg also boast of the best hotels anywhere in the world, the hotels in Joburg has the best of facilities and beddings that can cater for any type of guest with the warm and courteous service hospitality has to offer.

For sport lovers, they are assured of the best in sports and this was readily confirmed when we visited the Inanda Polo Club that hosted the African Polo Tournament which Nigeria took part in. The tournament was quite interesting as it brings together opportunity within the business community to network and have fun.

The tourism in Joburg is well organised with tour operators taking care of all tour activities and these was well done during the farm trip with Josh Explorer, Tours and Transfer doing a very good coordinating of the trip in conjunction with the South Africa Tourism (SAT).

Speaking with the Chief Executive Officer of Josh Explorer Mr. Joshua Mdluli, he said that Joburg has got all what a tourist requires for his or her holiday relaxation. According to him, the joburg has the best in Safaris and historical sites that are overwhelming. He said the best of hotels can also be found in Joburg and the kind of services provided are of immense value.

On this Farm Trip, waka-about had a first class hospitality treatment with cruises around Sandton City in a custom build limousine and the best of leisure every tourist would love to get and this can only be readily available only in Joburg, the city of leisure and business