The Lagos State Government has again sensitised officers and stakeholders in the tourism sector on the expectations of the administration of Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu in the area of Community-Based Tourism as stated in the State’s Tourism Master Plan.

The Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, addressing a group of tourism officers during the stakeholders’ workshop with the theme: “Importance and Benefits of CBT”, held recently in Alausa, Ikeja, said the present administration is keen about making visitors experience the best the sector has to offer.

She said: “Community-Based Tourism is part of what was presented in our master plan last year and we are deliberate about this because unless we look inwards and harness all the potentials around tourism within our local areas, we will not attain much. This is the reason we got the approval of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to launch CBT in six Local Government Areas of the State”.

“We have established CBT in all the divisions of the State such as Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Oshodi-Isolo, Lagos Island and Eti-Osa to enlighten the stakeholders, tourism officers, the communities and members of the Local Government Service Commission so they can share in our vision and understand what we seek to achieve, which is to give Lagosians the best of tourism”.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs. Adenike Adedoyin-Ajayi, urged participants at the workshop to promote traditional culture and heritage, stressing that it would boost the tourism sector.

“Every one of us here should become advocates for Lagos State tourism. To this end, we need to develop local contents that will promote the sector as laid down in our master plan through preservation of our culture, showcasing our heritage and promoting our traditions through films, festivals and entertainment. We should stop emphasising the negatives about ourselves and present the positives”, she said.

Chelif River, also known as Chlef River, is the longest river that can be found in the North African People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.

Being 700 km (430 mi) long, its source originates from the Saharan Atlas Mountains, near the city of Aflou, then flowing through the Tell Atlas Mountains, to reach the final destination, the Mediterranean Sea.

The importance of the Chelif River is enormous as the river is often used for irrigation, which makes the water level to fluctuate all the time, however, this is done mainly in the lower part of the flow.

The water levels are always high in winter time, where the water levels then are followed by a period of very low water during which the flow rate may drop to several hundred or even tens of cubic meters per second.

There are plenty of tributaries that flow in this great river, among which the Sebgag River is the farthest tributary.

Three main dams have been constructed on the Chelif system at Ksar el-Boukhari, built in 1932, Ech-Cheliff, formerly known as El-Asnam, built in 1932, and El-Khemis, built in 1939, and they are all operated by the Algerian Agence Nationale des Barrages.

The Chelif River is not navigable, as the flow is irregular, but with its irrigation, cereals, oranges and grapes are the principal crops that are growing along the way to the Mediterranean, and providing a wonderful scenery in the almost deserted surrounding for those who would like to explore the amazing Algeria.