Which Nigerian state governor is going to cash in on the renewed popularity of our African anti-imperialist heroes and open a Valley of Patriots populated with their statues?

Ayo Akinfe

[1] You have to give it to our Congolese brethren for using the ongoing African Cup of Nations to revive an interest in our pro-independence and anti-imperialist heroes

[2] Patrice Lumumba led DR Congo to independence only to be removed and executed by Belgium and their local cohorts. They could not stand the thought of Africans taking control of their own resources and destiny

[3] It is very embarrassing that an Algerian player mocked Patrice Lumumba out of total ignorance. When he later apologised, he said he did not know who Lumumba was

[4] I suspect most Algerians will not know their own national heroes like Franz Fanon. These were genuine revolutionaries who fought the French toe-to-toe

[5] As we all know, of late there has been a lot of xenophobia in South Africa. Their youths carrying out these attacks on their fellow Africans do not know of the liberation struggle and the contribution of their neighbours to the fight to free them from the shackles of apartheid

[6] All this makes it pertinent that we have an African Valley of Heroes in Nigeria. What I have in mind is an entire park populated with the statues of the likes of Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko, Chris Hani, Winnie Mandela, Samora Machel, Patrice Lumumba, Sam Nujoma, Joshua Nkomo, Amilcar Cabral, Franz Fanon, Abdul Nasser, Thomas Sankara, Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Toure, Leopold Sedar Senghor, etc

[7] It should be built along similar lines to Egypt’s Valley of Kings. This Egyptian valley attracts an average of 5,000 visitors a day. During the busy season, the number of daily visitors soars to 9,000

[8] Are Nigerians aware that in 2024, Egypt generated tourism revenue of $15.3bn and this figure is set to soar to $17.8bn by the end of 2026?

[9] All we really need is for one Nigerian state governor to take the initiative and set said the land for the project. He then needs to commence the construction of hotels, restaurants, theme parks, transportation facilities, a security apparatus, etc to underpin the programme

[10] Getting international funding for this project should be very easy. For starters, it should be very easy to get Unesco to adopt the site and attracting private investment should not be a problem. If only we can wean ourselves off crude oil. This is more of a psychological thing as we cannot get ourselves to think beyond crude oil

ayoakinfe@gmail.com