The monoliths, standing stones or Akwanshi (living among the dead), as the locals call them, are distributed among over 30 communities and are among the heritage sites that are worth seeing in Cross River State.
In each community, the stones are found in circles, sometimes perfect circles, facing each other standing erect, except where they have been tampered with by weather or man.
The stones which stand between 1 and 1.8 metres (3 and 5 feet) high and are laid out in some 30 circles in and around some villages, especially Alok, are intriguing rather than awe-inspiring.
Hence, as Cross River State consolidates on building a full-fledged and all-year-round tourist destination, the state has also turned its attention to the proper preservation and promotion of all its heritage sites through legislation, which is expected to bring heritage tourism within the existing framework and structure of the state tourism market.
Besides the monoliths, the state has indentified other heritages that need legislation to protect them from human excesses, poaching, stealing, destruction and, ultimately, extinction.
According to the state tourism sources, the state executive council has approved a bill to provide for the preservation of the state heritage for the consideration of the State House of Assembly through the office of the state attorney-general and commissioner for justice.
Some of the provisions of the 2013 Heritage Bill include the preservation of buildings, objects, cultural materials (tangible and intangible) and structures considered to be of historical and cultural as well as economic significance to the people of the state and utilise their potential for tourism development.
To ensure proper preservation, management and promotion of these heritage sites and cultural icons, the bill will also provide for the establishment of a body of trustees made up of people with the requisite professional skill and experience who will take custody of these relics to restore and preserve them and manage their utilisation and maintenance. These trustees will be expected to bring to bear their vast wealth of experience and skill on the proper identification, demarcation, profiling and preservation of these sites and items.
When the bill is passed into law, it would open a new vista for tourists to the state to experience a most cherished aspect of the state tourism assets, which over the years has suffered neglect with little attention paid to it.
Wilfred Usani, special adviser to the state governor on Tourism Development, sees this new move as a welcome development and a step in the right direction as it is aimed at not only properly documenting and giving legal status to the various historical, heritage and cultural assets scattered across state, but also boosting and enriching the tourism offerings.
It will be recalled that since turning its attention to tourism as a vehicle for economic development, the state has not relented in the building and development of its tourism facilities and products as well as creating the enabling environment through legislations and policy direction for tourism to thrive through active Private Public Partnership model.
One of the prime products of the state is the Calabar Festival, a month-long yearly festival that is a blend of cultural and modern entertainment climaxing in the Carnival Calabar. It has since its first edition opened the state to the tourism world and continues to attract the attention of people from across the world.
Among its developed and cherished tourism infrastructure is the Tinapa Business Resort, an emporium of sorts with various facilities, which caters to primetime leisure and business tourists.
Article accredited: Businessday
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