Idanre Hills for UNESCO Heritage list

This will add to the list of other sites in Nigeria already on the list which include Osun-Oshogbo in Osun State and Suku cultural heritage in Adamawa State. UNESCO had already approved the nomination dossier on Idanre Hills and consequently despatched an independent inspector to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the facilities on the […]

This will add to the list of other sites in Nigeria already on the list which include Osun-Oshogbo in Osun State and Suku cultural heritage in Adamawa State.

UNESCO had already approved the nomination dossier on Idanre Hills and consequently despatched an independent inspector to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the facilities on the site as contained in the dossier.

At the end of the inspection tour of the hills, the UNESCO-accredited assessor and renowned archaeologist Dr. John Sutton, during a courtesy visit to the state Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, told the governor that from his findings, the dossier actually met the technical criteria for the listing.

“Your Excellency, I have done detailed documentation of everything I saw at the site and I am impressed by what all the stakeholders have done for the preservation of the site,” he said. In his remarks, the representative of the Director-General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Mr. Funsho Adedayo, who is the Director of Monuments Heritage and Sites, disclosed that the process of putting Oke Idanre on the World Heritage List started about four years ago, and praised the state government for its commitment towards the realisation of the dream.

The governor stated that there were no two places in the entire world like Idanre Hills as he lauded the beauty of the formation of the hills which he described as a special gift to Ondo State and Nigeria in general and emphasised that no effort would be spared to make Idanre the best tourist centre in the country and attract tourists to the state.

He also informed that, “By next year, the on-going Golf Course at Atosin will be completed. We are also planning to build a housing estate that will not tamper with the ecology of the area.”

The expedition festival on the Idanre last December -‘Mare’ in which mountain climbers from all over the world participated gave room for the discovery of several home-based talents.

In the light of this, it is hoped that the development will serve as a catalyst for the efforts of the state government to turn the state into a tourists’ haven and a-must-see in Nigeria.