Harnessing South East Natural Potentials: Tourism And Policy Development Advocate, Dr. Uche Emmanuel Chinonso Writes South East Governors, Profers Ideas

OPEN LETTER TO THE SOUTH EAST GOVERNORS

By Dr. Uche Emmanuel Chinonso

Your Excellencies,

I write you not just as a stakeholder in the tourism and hospitality industry, but as a concerned son of the South East who believes deeply in the untapped wealth within our heritage.

Across the world, governments are monetizing culture, history, and spirituality through tourism and wellness industries worth billions of dollars annually. From India’s yoga retreats and Ayurvedic centers, to Japan’s Shinto shrines, to Brazil’s Afro-spiritual heritage tourism, nations are converting sacred spaces into global destinations while still preserving their essence.

In the South East of Nigeria, we sit on an equally powerful resource — our shrines, sacred lakes, spiritual healing traditions, and cultural heritage. These are not just relics of the past. They are potential billion-dollar assets if developed within a structured framework that balances respect, spirituality, and sustainable tourism.

1. Tourism + Spiritual Healing as Economic Drivers:

• The Ngodo Ishiagu shrine (Ebonyi State) is renowned for its cultural significance and ancient healing traditions.

• The Ogwugwu Akpu shrine (Imo State) has long been a place of spiritual reverence and is visited for protection and healing rituals.

• The Arochukwu Long Juju (Abia State) is a site of deep historical and spiritual importance, once tied to justice, commerce, and healing.

• The Ani Ozalla shrine (Enugu State), with its sacred python reverence, attracts both cultural believers and curious visitors.

• Around these sacred sites lie natural assets like Oguta Lake in Imo, Ebonyi’s Salt Lakes, and Enugu’s caves and waterfalls — destinations of healing, reflection, and attraction if branded with the right infrastructure.

2. The Framework for Billion-Dollar Shrines:

To achieve this vision, the South East can establish a Regional Framework for Spiritual and Wellness Tourism Development built on:

• Documentation & Mapping: Cataloging shrines, sacred lakes, and healing centers across the region.

• Certification & Training: Formalizing traditional healers through a Southeast Traditional Medicine & Healing Board, integrating them with researchers and health professionals.

• Infrastructure: Building visitor centers, eco-lodges, wellness spas, cultural theatres, and guided tours around shrines and sacred sites.

• Branding & Marketing: Positioning the Southeast globally as “Africa’s Spiritual & Healing Tourism Hub.”

• Policy & Security: Protecting sacred sites and ensuring safe, respectful access for visitors.

3. Economic Impact:

• Attracting domestic and diaspora tourists seeking cultural reconnection and healing.

• Generating revenue for state governments through permits, taxes, and cultural tourism packages.

• Empowering local communities with jobs as custodians, tour guides, healers, artisans, and performers.

• Establishing the Southeast as a unique global destination beyond oil and politics.

4. A Call to Action:

Your Excellencies, the time has come for us to recognize that our shrines, sacred lakes, and healing practices are not obstacles to modernization — they are pathways to prosperity.

If India can market yoga, if China can market acupuncture, if Japan can market Shintoism, then the Southeast can market Ngodo Ishiagu, Ogwugwu Akpu, Ani Ozalla, and the Long Juju of Arochukwu — with dignity, pride, and strategy.

I urge you to convene a South East Governors’ Summit on Spiritual & Wellness Tourism Development — to craft a unified roadmap, pool investments, and jointly market our heritage to the world.

If bold steps are taken today, within a decade our shrines and healing traditions will not only remain sacred but also become billion-dollar economic drivers for the South East.

With respect and urgency,

Dr. Uche Emmanuel Ch inonso