Gov. Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara says his administration will institutionalise the Ilorin Durbar and place it on the global map as a tourist attraction.
A statement issued on Wednesday in Ilorin by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, quoted Abdulrazaq as saying this when he received members of Ilorin Durbar Committee in his office on Tuesday night.
He said preparations for the Durbar and other such festivals would be captured in subsequent budgets instead of ad-hoc arrangements for such events.
“Ilorin Durbar has come to stay; our administration will treat it as a tourist attraction for the state.
” We will institutionalise it.
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“From next year, preparations for it would be captured in the budget and organisers and the affected ministry will have to go through the traditional budget defence at the House of Assembly,” Ajakaye quoted AbdulRazaq as saying.
The governor said the Durbar would be placed on the global map of tourist attractions like the Esie Museum, Pategi Regatta, and Gani Festival.
He assured the committee of his full support for this year’s event, including releasing the horses in the Government House for the colourful event.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the Ilorin Durbar is celebrated on the second day of Eid-el-Kabir and attracts dignitaries from across Ilorin Emirate.
Mr Suleiman Yahya Alapansapa, the Chairman of the Durbar Committee, said they had come to brief the governor on the activities of the committee.
“As a son of the soil and the son of Mutawallin Ilorin, AGF Abdul Razaq SAN, we want you to drive the process so that we can put the Ilorin Durbar on the global map,” Alapansapa, according to the statement, said
He urged the governor to also invite his friends from within and outside the state to attend the event.
Alapansapa, was accompanied to the Government House by other members of the committee and top Muslim clerics, said Kwarans were happy at the style and attitude of Abdulrazaq to governance.
The committee later presented the governor with gifts from the Durbar archives. (NAN)
