Nyok|28 January 2019
In one of his cerebral articles, influential social commentator, has ruminated on the tourism potential of the night life in Ikom, one of Cross River's busiest Town. Simon Utsu did it in his ONE NIGHT IN IKOM.
Ultimately, he demonstrated how the night life of this ancient Nigerian town is filled with tourism potentials. Excerpts:
'I recently spent a night in Ikom and I came to the conclusion that the Ikom night circuit is one of Nigeria’s untapped tourism potential. The man in the attached pix is the late Nigerian music legend, Prince Nico Mbarga- of the “Sweet Mother” and “Aki special” fame(amongst many other hits).
'From what I could deduced from my little time in Ikom, his influence on the Ikom pop culture is still being in the air decades after his death and cannot be overemphasized. The soukous genre which he popularized, is what blared out of the speakers in nearly all the sit-outs.
'I spent the night at Heritage hotels which faces the Ikom mountains and the live band experience was memorable- never heard any live band anywhere in the country perform better. Let me also mention that one of the sons of the late Prince Nico Mbarga was the bassist in that band. I stayed up till 2am listening to the band rendeting medleys of dozens of Nigerian highlife classics…
'With a good plan in place, Ikom town in Cross River can become a tourism hub overnight.'
What's your take? Do you agree with Utsu
