Lisa Town: The neglected tourist Haven
Lisa is a town located in a suburb between Sango axis to the South, Ijoko axis to the east bound of Lagos and to the West end of Ifo. It is under Ifo local government and as well Egba settlement.
The town Lisa came into the world limelight on 22nd of October, 2005 when a plane that took off from Muritala Muhammed Airport in Lagos enroute Abuja crashlanded just three minutes of take off with notable Nigerians like captains of industries lost their lives in the incident.
The whole country was thrown into sober mood and Nigerians were wondering the exact place the incident occurred.
However, Nigerians still believed that the plane crash did not go beyond the Southwest of the country, it was skeptical where it could be, not until a man from Lisa got in touch with the AIT office in Alagbado that the plane crashlanded in Lisa and was widely reported in the media. The attendant results of the report of the announcement were the influx of people all over the world to catch a glimpse of the site of the crash and the development of the area that followed. One interesting thing that both the Federal Government and Ogun state Government did was the turning of the town into a tourist haven where visitors from all walks of life visited almost on daily basis.
In addition, the Government constructed the road that leads to Lisa from Ijoko axis and the construction of a memorial arcade with the names of the victims inscribed on it in order to immortalise them. The construction of the road then added value to the community and the adjoining towns with the booming of business activities. Buying and selling were going on and the economy of that area really improved.
Furthermore, While in March 2006, the man that informed the media of the location of the plane crash, High Chief Najeemdeen Odugbemi was installed as the Baale of Lisa town by Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo who ascended to the throne of his father. With the installation of the Baale, there was a determination from the people of the land to add their support on the collective development of the town.
In this regard, As the people were given support to their Baale, the head of the town was also complementing the efforts of the government to make the place a great city.
Consequently, High Chief Odugbemi swung into action with the implementation of so many projects in the area for the benefit of Lisa people because he understands that government alone cannot do everything. The projects that were executed by High Chief Odugbemi for his people include market shops, health centre, paramilitary offices for So safe corps, construction of a modern police station, which is ongoing among others and so many to mention but few. As a result of these, the people of the town were grateful for their town head and the government for ensuring their good welfare and improving their standard of living. Surprisingly, it is interesting to note that the town has become a shadow of itself as the memorial arcade in honour of those victims of the plane crash, lost its value, as it was deteriorated to the extend that people no longer visit the place while the road that was constructed by OGROMA, Ogun state road agency, was no longer passable to even okada riders.
Astonishingly, Lisa town was later disconnected from the outside world as a result of bad road and returned to its old memory of neglect. Since then, Lisa town became a shadow of itself, it was abandoned and neglected by successive governments.The memorial arcade that became a tourist attraction could no longer attract visitors which affected influx of tourists and Nigerians to the place. Moreover, in order to still keep hope alive of the people of the area, the Baale of Lisa, who was upgraded to an Oba in 2019 by the state government, on quarterly basis for over ten years grading the road from Oyero down to Lisa to make it passable for the people, empowerment of women and youths in the town in order to promote business and improve the standard of living of his subjects. In view of the above, the state government under the leadership of Prince Dapo Abiodun is advise to visit the area for on the spot assessment of the place to know best to tackle the problems confronting the people. Notwithstanding, the neglect of Lisa town, Oba Najeemdeen Odugbemi is so passionate about the well being of his subjects. The royal father in quest for giving back to his community instituted a foundation to see to the welfare of widows, women, students pursuing their studies in the institutions of higher learning, most especially indigent students. A lot of beneficiaries have attested to this gesture saying that it has reduced to the barest minimum, case of criminality and other societal vices if available at all. Oba Odugbemi, Olu of Lisa Kingdom always fall in line with any government programmes and policies for the benefit of his subjects to the extent that during COVID 19, the health centre built by the royal father and well equipped, facilitated the health officials from the state capital for the vaccination of the people of Lisa town with almost 99per cent already benefitted while sanitisers and nose masks were provided for all the households in Lisa town. This should be noted that the royal father was doing all these societal needs to keep the people in the town together so as not to experience rural — urban drift as a result of bad road. Additionally, in area of security, the royal father has spent a lot to secure the lifes and property of his people by constructing offices for the security agencies like police, So Safe Corps and so on which is providing the desired results to the extent that Lisa town is safe and secure. On tradition and custom, the yearly Igunnuko festival is celebrated where people from all walks of life that cherish and value customs and tradition visit the town and take a glimpse of the event. The festival is to remind them of era of plane crash where the town was turned into “MECCA” of Nigeria. On annual basis, there is promotion of businesses as a result of buying and selling while the festival creates forum for them to meet and interact for better future. Be that as it may, the efforts of the royal father and the people of Lisa town is to ensure that life is brought back to the community despite the neglect from government. The royal father, Oba Najeemdeen Odugbemi, Olu of Lisa kingdom, since 2006 uptill now has spent millions of naira to uplift his people from poverty ridden community to prosperous town through various projects and programmes in the interest of the people, in view of this, the state government should be pathetic to the plight of this rejected and neglected Lisa town by coming to the aid of the people by giving them Ogun standard road that will last for a longer years so that, LISA TOWN which is the neglected area should return to the tourist centre which was known for.
Wole Shokunbi, is a former Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, (NUJ), Ogun state council.
