By Ebuka Onyekwelu, Ph.D
The Anambra State Commissioner for Culture, Entertainment and Tourism, Udoji Amedu, Esq., has outlined his key focus for the Ministry, aimed at revitalizing the tourism industry in Anambra State. With a clear vision for literary and legend tourism, marine tourism, leveraging the Anambra State marine world, as well as transforming the Ogbunike Cave and Owere Ezukala waterfall into a tourism ecosystem, Anambra State is gearing up for a leap in the world of tourism.
Mr. Amedu, who also highlighted his Ministry’s effort towards strengthening community tourism, said that the Ministry is developing a compendium of cultural and tourist activities across Anambra State to help guide visitors, and this will be available by December, 2026. “We are putting together community events that meet tourist expeditions like the Anam Sand Beach Carnival, Ofala Igwe Nnewi, and many others. We will experiment with this by December,” Mr. Amedu assured.
Expounding on the Ministry’s focus on literary and legendary tourism, the Commissioner noted that Anambra State is the home of legends and that tourists within and outside are very interested in the life and times of these Anambra giants and legends. Narrating his experience while holidaying in South Africa in 2001, he said he paid just to visit the home of Nelson Mandela in Soweto before he was imprisoned. In addition, this puts many Anambra icons as worthy influencers for the younger generation. This, he said, will be strengthened by a Cultural Centre, with a hall of fame, royal assembly and an African Village outlining distinctive people groups and cultural variations in Anambra State.
On marine tourism, Mr. Udoji Amedu’s elegant description brought to light Anambra’s extensive marine tourism opportunities. “The Anambra Marine World is an extensive tourist area that has not been explored. Ezu River, which borders Anambra and Enugu at Amansea, connects to the Orumba and Aguata area. The Ezu River then runs all the way to the Omambala River where you have a confluence; from there, all the way to Anam and stretches further through the Niger to Onitsha, Ogbaru and further to Ihiala,” Amedu narrated, noting that with a “very serious and massive leisure parks with jetty for boat ride around the long stretch, the State can harness the full weight of its marine tourism potentials.”
According to Amedu, the Ministry is also looking to establish a standard zoo and botanical garden, supported by a law for sustainability. “We don’t have any zoo again in the whole Southeast. We envision an international, very big zoo, with all kinds of animals,” he said. For botanical gardens, the Commissioner said the Ministry is considering three sites: Ogbunike Cave, Agulu Lake, and Owere Ezukala, where the State has substantial land for such a project.
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