Enugu State Seeks UNESCO Heritage Status for Milliken Hill, Iva Valley, Other Historic Sites

Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State is seeking to partner with the Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy Ministry to recognize some heritage sites in the state, including the historic Milliken Hills and Iva Valley.

The Governor made this known when the minister, Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa visited the state.

These sites, according to the governor, are worth recognizing as global heritage sites. He emphasized that Enugu State has numerous factors that make it an important city, including its unique name, which means “city atop the hill.”
Gov Mbah stated also that Enugu boasts the highest number of waterfalls and caves, with notable ones in Awhum and Iva Valley.

During the visit, the governor explained his ambitious plans for the tourism sector, aimed at attracting at least, three million visitors annually.

“We have some ruling hills and we believe that some of them are qualified as heritage sites. We also have the highest number of water falls and caves, with the most prominent in Awhum, where we hope to build a canopy walkway, and the Iva Valley, where we plan to do a zip- line as well as other tourism attractions.

“We have quite an ambitious plan in the tourism space. Our plan is to see how we can attract a minimum of three million visitors into Enugu for tourism, every year. This requires that we take advantage of the pool factors that we have in the state.

“We are also building structures that will inspire and incentivize tourism, like our state of the art International Conference Centre. The idea is to make Enugu state, the conference capital of Africa and attract all the tourism activities. In those various water falls and caves, we plan to create a new kind of experience for tourists and turn them to proper tourism sites. We are investing hugely and we are hoping we could also work with your ministry. We have the Miliken Hill where we hope to build a world class theme park. That is already being designed. The idea is to essentially, not only have that place recognized as a heritage site but also ensure that we build a world class theme park there”.

The Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa, welcomed these plans and promised to work with the state ministries to achieve success in opening up more space for tourism to thrive.

“I look forward to working with you. We are working at a very robust plan of what we will do in every state. I look forward to working closely with the Tourism, Cultural and Creative Ministries to put a stamp on what you have to offer from the Eastern part of Nigeria”, Musawa stated.

Enugu, the state capital, is known for coal and iron ore mining, while deposits of limestone, fine clay, marble, and silica sand have been discovered in the state.