The Alado of Ado Awaye Kingdom, Oba Ademola Olug­bile Folakanmi, has reiterated the commitment of the Oyo State Government to promote the Iyake Festival into inter­national tourism standard.

Oba Folakanmi said, “The festival is meant to create a foremost brand of tourism in Oyo State, Nigeria and the African continent and to showcase many of the out­standing endowments in Ado mountain, the only natural suspended lake in the world, the Iyake lake and to signifi­cantly increase investments in infrastructures around and within Ado Awaye through ro­bust Public Private Partner­ship (PPP) arrangement.

“The 2023 Iyake festival is important as the plan­ning committee is working towards externalising the festival scope to neighboring countries like Republic of Benin, Togo, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.”

The monarch stated this during a press conference at the Alado Hall, National Museum of Unity in Ibadan ahead of the forthcoming 3rd edition of the Iyake interna­tional festival scheduled to hold from November 14 to 16 in Ado-Awaye, Oyo State.

He added that the Iyake Suspended Lake is the only natural suspended lake in the world known for its healing power while affirming that it was recently rated third among the Nigeria wonders, and the most famous tourist centre in the state.

Speaking on the myster­ies behind the lake, he said, “Iyake Suspended Lake is among the wonders of the world, being the only natural suspended lake in the world. The lake is more appealing for its splendor, myths and arrays of natural wonders surrounding it. It is believed to be bottomless as nobREAD ALSO: Nigeria’s Free Trade Zones Attract Investments Worth Over $30bn – NEPZA MD

He further urged the Oyo State Government to explore the Iyake Lake in order to improve the state revenue generation, improve foreign exchange earnings, attract local and foreign investors and create wealth for the local community people.

“Iyake Suspended Lake is highly suitable for nature oriented activities such as camping, hiking, nature/eth­nic culture, wild life, moun­taineering, mountain climb­ing competition and nature photography.