Tourism in Nigeria centers largely on events, due to the country's ample amount of ethnic groups, but also includes rainforests, savannah, waterfalls, and other natural attractions. [1] Tourists spent US$2.6 billion in Nigeria in 2015. This dropped to US$1.5 billion in 2017. [2]
Abuja is home to several parks and green areas with the largest one being Millennium Park. Millennium Park was designed by architect Manfredi Nicoletti and was officially opened by the United Kingdom's Elizabeth II in December 2003. Another open area park is located in Lifecamp Gwarimpa; near the residence of the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. The park is located on a slightly raised hilltop which contains sport facilities like Basketball and Badminton courts another park is the city park, it is located in wuse 2 and is home to numerous outdoor and indoor attractions such as a 4D cinema, astro-turf, lawn tennis court, paintball arena and a variety of restaurants.
Lagos, subsequent to the re-modernization project achieved by the previous administration of Governor Raji Babatunde Fashola, is gradually becoming a major tourist destination, being one of the largest cities in Africa and in the world. Lagos is currently taking steps to become a global city. The 2009 Eyo carnival (a yearly festival originated from Iperu Remo, Ogun State), which took place on 25 April, was a step toward world city status. Currently, Lagos is primarily known as a business-oriented and a fast-paced community. [3]
Lagos has become an important location for African and "black" cultural identity. [4] Many festivals are held in Lagos; festivals vary in offerings each year and may be held in different months. Some of the festivals are Festac Food Fair held in Festac Town Annually by Festaconline, Eyo Festival, Lagos Black Heritage Carnival, Lagos Carnival, Eko International Film Festival, Lagos Seafood Festac Festival, LAGOS PHOTO Festival and the Lagos Jazz Series, which is a unique franchise for high-quality live music in all genres with a focus on jazz. Established in 2010, the popular event takes place over a 3–5 day period at selected high quality outdoor venues. The music is as varied as the audience itself and features a diverse mix of musical genres from rhythm and blues to soul, Afrobeat, hip hop, bebop, and traditional jazz. The festivals provide entertainment of dance and song to add excitement to travelers during a stay in Lagos.
Lagos has a number of sandy beaches by the Atlantic Ocean, including Elegushi Beach and Alpha Beach. Lagos also has a number of private beach resorts including Inagbe Grand Beach Resort and several others in the outskirts. [5]
Lagos has a variety of hotels ranging from three star to five star hotels, with a mixture of local hotels such as Eko Hotels and Suites, Federal Palace Hotel and franchises of multinational chains such as Intercontinental Hotel, Sheraton and Four Points by Hilton. Other places of interest include the Tafawa Balewa Square, Festac town, The Nike Art Gallery, Freedom Park, Lagos and the Cathedral Church of Christ, Lagos.
Obudu Mountain Resort is a ranch and resort on the Obudu Plateau in Cross River State. It was developed in 1951 by M. McCaughley, a Scot who first explored the mountain ranges in 1949. He camped on the mountaintop of the Oshie Ridge on the Sankwala Mountains for a month before returning with Mr. Hugh Jones a fellow rancher in 1951. Together with Dr Crawfeild, they developed the Obudu Cattle Ranch. [6] Although the ranch has been through troubles since, it has been rehabilitated to its former glory.
Since 2005, a cable car climbing 870 metres (2,850 ft) from the base to the top of the plateau gives visitors a scenic view while bypassing the extremely winding road to the top. [7] The resort is found on the Obudu Plateau, close to the Cameroon border in the northeastern part of Cross River State, approximately 110 kilometres (68 mi) east of the town of Ogoja and 65 kilometres (40 mi) from the town of Obudu in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State. [8] It is about 30 minutes drive from Obudu town and is about a 332 kilometres (206 mi) drive from Calabar, the Cross River State capital. [9] Charter air service is available to the Bebi Airport which lies between the village of Obudu and the resort. The ranch has in recent times seen an influx of both Nigerian and international tourists because of the development of tourist facilities by Cross-River State Government, which has turned the ranch into a well known holiday and tourist resort center in Nigeria. [10]
Also, Ibeno Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in the country and the longest coastline sand beach in Nigeria and West Africa. [11] It is situated in Jamestown in Akwa Ibom. The city is said to be named after the local government where it is located. According to historians, the beach is one of the oldest beaches in Nigeria.
The tourism industry is regulated by the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation (Nigeria). [12] In an attempt to raise the profile of the country's tourism sector, a beauty pageant, the Miss Tourism Nigeria Pageant, was created in 2004. [13] The winners in 2004, 2005, and 2006 have been, respectively, Shirley Aghotse, [14] Abigail Longe, [13] and Gloria Zirigbe. [15]
A challenge to the tourism industry in Nigeria is the dearth of accurate data that are cardinal in government decision-making. The federal Office of Statistics (FOS) has not been able to collate travel data to develop and standardize travel research. [16]
In 2017, Olufeko's research in design and its intersections with anthropology, led to a journey inside Sungbo's Eredo, bringing the rampart's narrative back into social dialogue.[ citation needed ]
Lagos, or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimate of 21 million, it is the largest city in Nigeria, and the most populous urban area on the African continent. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until the government's December 1991 decision to move their capital to Abuja in the centre of the country. Lagos is a major African financial centre and is the economic hub of Lagos State and Nigeria at large. The city has a significant influence on commerce, entertainment, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, and fashion in Africa. Lagos is also among the top ten of the world's fastest-growing cities and urban areas. In 2024, Time Out magazine ranked Lagos as the 19th Best City to visit in the World. A megacity, it has the fourth-highest GDP in Africa, and houses one of the largest and busiest seaports on the continent. Due to the large urban population and port traffic volumes, Lagos is classified as a Medium-Port Megacity.
Ijebu-Ode is a town in Ogun State, South Western geopolitical zone in Nigeria, close to the A121 highway. The city is located 110 km by road Northeast of Lagos; it is within 100 km (62 mi) of the Atlantic Ocean in the eastern part of Ogun State and possesses a warm tropical climate.
Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Cross River State was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. Its capital is Calabar, it borders to the north through Benue state, to the west through Ebonyi state and Abia state, and to the southwest through Akwa Ibom state, while its eastern border forms part of the national border with Cameroon. Originally known as the South-Eastern State before being renamed in 1976, Cross River state formerly included the area that is now Akwa Ibom state, which became a distinct state in 1987.
Calabar is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjacent to the Calabar and Great Kwa rivers, and the creeks of the Cross River.
Lagos Island is the principal and central Local Government Area (LGA) in Lagos, Nigeria. It was the capital of Lagos State until 1957. It is part of the Lagos Division. As of the preliminary 2006 Nigerian census, the LGA had a population of 209,437 within an area of just 8.7 km2. The LGA only covers the western half of Lagos Island; the eastern half is simply referred to as Lagos Island East LCDA.
Donald Duke is a Nigerian politician. He was the Governor of Cross River State, Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007 and the 2019 Nigeria Presidential candidate for Social Democratic Party, SDP.
Obudu is a local government area and town in Cross River State, Nigeria. The area features a tourist resort, Obudu Mountain Resort, which hosts an annual mountain running competition called the Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race. The town of Obudu is downstream from the Obudu Dam, which has caused acute scarcity of drinking water in the dry season. The town is approximately 17 kilometers away from Bebi Airport and is a 6-hour drive from Calabar, the capital of Cross River.
Omowunmi Akinnifesi is a Nigerian businesswoman, environmental ambassador and beauty pageant titleholder. She was the winner of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria 2005.
The Eyo Festival, otherwise known as the Adamu Orisha Play, is a Yoruba festival unique to Lagos, Nigeria and has a strong historical footing in Iperu-Remo, a town in Ikenne Local Government, Ogun State. In modern times, it is presented by the people of Lagos as a tourist event. Due to the history of its development, it is traditionally performed on Lagos Island. A notable festival date was in 2000 commemorating Justice G.B.A. Coker, a Lagos high chief, the Olori Adimu and the Olori Eyo of the Adimu Eyo cultural masquerade.
The Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race is an annual 11.25 km mountain running competition that takes place in late November in Obudu, Cross River State, Nigeria. First held in 2005, it has the largest total prize money available of any mountain race and is known as "the world's richest mountain race". The men's and women's competition winners receive US$50,000 each, and there is a total prize pot of around $250,000.
Obudu Plateau is a plateau found on the Oshie Ridge of the Sankwala Mountain range, in Cross River State, in the southeast of Nigeria. The plateau is found in Obanliku local government area of the Cross River State. The plateau extends towards Nigeria's south eastern border. The Obudu Plateau is spread over an area of over 40 square miles (100 km2) and rises to about 5,200 ft above sea level. The plateau is a giant massif in its own right, and its peak reaches a height of about 1,716 metres (5,630 ft) above sea level. The plateau is a habitat of rare species of birds.
The Sankwala Mountains are a mountain range in Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross River State in Nigeria. The Sankwala Mountains lie southeast of the town of Obudu, north of the Okwangwo section of Cross River National Park. The mountains attain an average elevation of about 1,800 metres (5,906 ft) above sea level.
Oshie Ridge is found in Obanliku Local Government of Cross River State in Nigeria.The ridge is about 1,716 metres or 5,630 feet high above sealevel. The word Oshie or Ushie denotes justice in the various languages spoken by the former and current inhabitants of the Oshie ridge. In fact, the name Oshie also spelt Ushie, is a popular male name for the Bekwarra, Obudu and Obanliku people.
Obudu Mountain Resort is a ranch and resort on the Obudu Plateau in Cross River State, Nigeria.
Eko Hotels and Suites is a five-star conference centre hotel in Lagos.
Bebi Airport is an airport serving Bebi in the Cross River State of Nigeria. It also serves as the airport for the Obudu Mountain Resort. The runway is 18 kilometres (11 mi) east of the town of Obudu.
Lagos Black Heritage Festival (LBHF) is an annual event in Lagos that also includes the Lagos Carnival. The festival is a feast of culture and history aimed to showcase the richness and diversity of the African heritage. LBHF celebrates African creativity with diverse performances such as traditional and contemporary dance, drama, music, painting, and photography expositions among others.
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