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Dayo Johnson Akure

The Senator representing the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo South Senatorial district, Ondo state, Nicholas Tofowomo has proposed a bill for the establishment of an Institute of Culture and Tourism, Oke-Igbo, in the Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo council area of the state.

A statement by his media aide, Mr Olumide Akinrinlola said that the bill which was sponsored by Senator Tofowomo has been read at the Senate’s plenary.

According to him “tourism activities make up of a considerably high percentage of Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of many countries.

“So, I decided to present a bill for the establishment of the Institute of Culture and Tourism to improve sustainability in the tourism industry of Nigeria and generate revenues through it”.

“I chose Oke-Igbo town as the site of the institute to honour late Daniel Orowole Fagunwa, popularly known as D. O. Fagunwa, who hails from Oke-Igbo town and pioneered the Yoruba language novel in Nigeria.

“The late Fagunwa wrote his first novel in the bush which centred on the people’s culture and also on folktale traditions, including the story of supernatural beings and elements such as demons, witches and wizards.

“Till date, late Fagunwa remains the most widely read Yoruba language author, who has also influenced other African authors to write novels in their mothers’ languages.

Tofowomo added that ” His books did not just keep the culture and tradition of the African nation alive by influencing other authors but have also kept the African languages alive not to go into extinction, because of the adoption of English as an official language by many African countries.