After the lure and accolades for creativity experienced during her visit to the La Campagne Tropicana Beach Resort, Ikegun Village, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos and rating of the resort as “A beacon of creativity and ingenu­ity, a testament to Nigeria’s richness and diversity, the visit of the Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Lola Ade-John visit to Epe was a different kettle of fish.

The Minister, who was initially thrilled at the vast tourism poten­tial of the riverine community soon lamented that the immense gifts of nature and abundant resources if properly harnessed to bring the world to Lagos State and Epe divi­sion, especially are not properly managed.

Mrs Ade-John acknowledged that though Epe town has enormous tour­ism potential, observed after taking a tour of the vast tourist sites, and submitted that the tourist attractions were not properly maintained.

Some of the tourist sites she vis­ited were the Oju Alaro Shrine, the Marina Waterfront, the Palace of Oloja of Epe and some iconic colo­nial buildings.

Speaking after the visit, the Min­ister said she was quite elated by the enormous tourism potential within Epe town, but expressed displeasure that the tourist attractions were not properly maintained to attract for­eigners.

She urged the community mem­bers must begin to see tourism as a money spinner which could engage them positively and appealed to the state and local governments to con­stantly sensitise Epe residents on the need to maintain those sites.

“The local government must work on sensitising the locals to always en­sure these sites are neat, it won’t at­tract tourists if they are left like this.

“I have just seen that Epe has more colonial buildings than Lagos Township, I urge you to keep what you have, treasure and nurture these sites.

“Epe is a beautiful place to be, with beautiful beaches, mangroves, seafood and all; these are what the backpackers want to see. We are go­ing to help you advertise what you have so that people can visit Epe more than ever before but the sites must be made neat,” she said.

The Minister urged the Lagos State Government to build a prop­er fish market capable of attracting tourists.

“I was at Makoko Fish Market to get some fish for myself as early as 6.30 am, I was surprised to see lots of foreigners and different types of seafood, honestly, and we are indeed blessed.”

The Minister urged the Lagos State government to build a more attractive fish market to further promote tourism, saying the devel­opment would encourage more peo­ple to travel to Epe on site seeing and make purchases.

Speaking on the abundant man­groves of Epe, Mrs Ade-John said, “The mangroves we have in Epe, here can be made to be like the Amazon forest in Brazil where tourists pay hugely to watch.

“It is painful that we do not appre­ciate what we have, we need to help people change their mindsets,” she said

In a response, Mr Tobun Abiodun representing Epe Constituency 1, at the Lagos State House of Assembly, promised to work on the sensitisation for the community members and assured the Minister, “All the com­plaints and we assure you that very soon we are going to start competing with other local government in the state and ensure Epe takes the lead in terms of tourism.”