Dear Ibusa, Time to Think Community-Based Tourism Initiative (CBT)

 

Dear Ibusa, Time to Think Community-Based Tourism Initiative (CBT)

By Emeka Esogbue

Since 2008, I have been in the advocacy of the establishment of tourism in Ibusa community using the Okpuzu Waterfall as a potential site for the initiative expecting that the Ibusa Community Development Union Worldwide (ICDU) would stay in the forefront in conjunction with the government at the state and local government levels to advance the cause. The community has the human resource capital to purse the initiative and the Ibusa Community Development Union Worldwide has the potential to rally around the people to plan the project. However, this only happens in the community where peace and unity exist with other necessary factors in place to make it a possibility.

There must be development such that even in the absence of government support in the community, the Ibusa people should rally to strive to develop their town. One common feature noticeable in Ibusa is the tendency to develop beautiful personal houses as against large commercial ventures which should commercialize the community hence, it is always beautiful houses everywhere without provision of work places for the occupants of the beautiful houses. Incidentally, infrastructures are absent in the community because government, the driving force is almost absent. For instance, rarely can anyone point to viable infrastructures in the community and rarely have the people thought of tourism in the community.

Incidentally too, the people venture into indiscriminate sale of lands in the community, shutting down the prospects of attraction of infrastructural development. In recent times, nothing is more prized to the Ibusa man than his land from which he hopes to derive capital after selling it and the phenomenon is increasingly leading to nearly every indigene young or old, becoming involved in the sale of land in the community for personal gains. As many argued, the business has not necessarily ushered development in the community as buyers are foreigners who make prospective purchases then resell at higher rates to other buyers. Worse still, residential houses appear to be the purpose of the purchases in the community.   

Since this article is about tourism in the community, it is apposite that the industry be critically defined for proper understanding. By general knowledge and widely accepted definition in the tourism industry, tourism is the act of traveling from place to another for leisure, recreation, or business purposes. It involves the movement of people to and from different destinations, resulting in economic, social and cultural exchanges and there are different types of tourism such as recreational tourism, business tourism and cultural tourism. A tourist site, tourist attraction or destination, on the other hand, is a place or location that attracts visitors and tourists, often due to its natural beauty, historical significance, cultural importance, or entertainment.

Again, there are different tourist sites but this author is concerned about the natural attractions under which there exists national parks, beaches, mountains, forests, waterfalls, and other natural wonders; historical sites broken down as museums, monuments, landmarks, archeological sites, and other places of historical significance and cultural attractions which covers festivals, event performances, art galleries, and other showcases of local cultures and traditions. These three types of tourist sites are essential to this article since the community is reasonably and naturally blessed to pursue the listed tourist destinations.

The Ibusa community is blessed with Okpuzu, a natural flowing body of water that drops from higher to a lower elevation with a near-vertical slope. Since waterfalls may be found in various landscapes including mountains, rivers, and coastal areas, the Okpuzu of the Ibusa people is found in a beautiful river called Oboshi. The Ibusa waterfall is beautiful, offering wonder but it can still be developed to a state-of-the-art waterfall. While waterfalls are natural formations, they can be enhanced, expanded or even artificially created to become state-of-the-art waterfall as sought in Okpuzu Waterfall of the Ibusa people to make inspire greater wonder to tourists. The water flow may be manipulated, adjusting the flow rate, direction or volume to create greater spectacular effect. The surrounding environment may also be altered with rock formation modification to create dramatic waterfall shape. If the Ibusa people choose, there could also be an incorporation of additional water features such as streams to engage the waterfall.

In the past, there have been suggestions to give the community a museum but the idea has often been either outdone by other issues or seen to die naturally. There were suggestions raised to knock down the Ibusa Town Hall built in the 1940s but the idea is rather the fate of quite a lot of other demolished monuments in the community. As it seems, no site in Ibusa is ever marked or preserved as a public property or to commemorate an event in the community. They either get smashed or converted to personal houses. The Town Hall bears the memory of a colonial venue where several imperial decisions regarding the community were taken by the local inhabitants. It could serve as a history museum if preserved, to exhibit historical artifacts, documents, and objects that tell the story of the community or the colonial era. It may even be combined to showcase the cultural and artistic traditions of the indigenous people of Ibusa. This is where the Ibusa Community Development Union Worldwide has a role to play.

Community-Based Tourism (CBT) is a type of tourism that involves local communities in the planning, management, and benefit-sharing of tourism activities. It will help Ibusa to preserve its traditional festivals such as the Iwu, Ine, Ichu Ekwensu and Iwaji and also promote cultural developments in the community. It can be established around the Okpuzu waterfall, incorporating physical structures that complement the natural environment while promoting the cultural preservation of Ibusa. An Okpuzu waterfall Cultural Heritage Site in Ibusa could house such centers as reception area with information about Okpuzu Waterfall, and local Ibusa culture. The developers may also decide to create a cultural village which will showcase the Ibusa life of crafts or generally, the Ibusa or Anioma way of life. More interestingly, there could be a designated spot for tourists to view the waterfall with interpretative signs and guides providing information about Okpuzu and Ibusa cultural environmental significance.

The potential site may also enjoy the services of guided community-tours to provide insight into the waterfall’s cultural and environmental significance as well as Ibusa’s history and tradition which will always offer tourists the interest they seek. Since the environment is also rich, a designated zone for environmental conservation such as tree planting, waste management and wild life protection will add to the life of the waterfall site within the Ibusa community. The establishment of an Ibusa-based tourism initiative around the Okpuzu Waterfall will help the Ibusa community to showcase their cultural heritage, promote environmental conservation and benefit economically. It will also assist the people to maintain control over their cultural resources and above all, the environment now being sold indiscriminately to foreigners who purchase them only to resell to other foreigners. Community-Based Tourism will invite economic empowerment, generating income and creating jobs to the teeming population. The project will foster community pride and ownership in the people of Ibusa, encouraging active participation in tourism management and decision-making.     

The Ibusa community enjoys human capital which can fuel economic growth, social progress and individual prosperity but the community needs to set aside disunity and internal conflicts such as personality clash to unlock its full potential. Only through collective effort and unity can Ibusa achieve its development goals such as the Community-Based Tourism Initiative (CBT).