Except Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, noone is born as a fantastic being right from thewomb of his mother.Heroism is self cultivated by doing that which others before had never done or thought of doing.Those who had ruled the world and whose legacies and landmarks are reference point of respect, honour and source of pride today were born as just mere individuals but they refused to be limited by the circumstances and locale of their environment.Rather than toeing the popular path of existence by just live and let live, they don't just lived but recoiled into their cocoons, to think out vibrant ideas and innovative projects which are novel in the annals of history to transform the society better than they met it.These ideas and projects always set them apart from the multitude as they tower far above their peers.When their peers and counterparts are embarking on propagandist odyssey with cosmetics, fake and copying puerile schemes they are there churning out sustainable progammes, projects and ideas that will tinker to a great extent factors of underdevelopment within their milieu.Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in that era of regional governments in Nigeria distinguished himself out of the rest by bringing forth novel projects, schemes and ideas in almost every sector of development which were then unthinkable by others.The free education, the Television Station, Liberty Stadium, Farm Settlements, Pilgrims Welfare and Marketing Boards and so many others which impacted directly on the people and the economy were then things out of the blues. Each of these epoch projects had its philosophical concept of direction.It is simply in the mode of this thinking that Dr Olusegun Mimko, Governor of Ondo State conceived many ideas and schemes to better the lots of his people by building a fortress of sustainability around them.One of those projects of robust reasoning and fecund mental cogitation is the Mare Mountain Climbing Competition initiated three years ago and which is wired round the Hills of Idanre, (this is Wonder).Dr Mimiko believes that every natural endowments and gifts in Ondo State must not only be venerated but substantially protected, preserved and enhanced so well as to mobilize wealth, generate employment and serve the social-cultural tourism expectations of the people.To ordinary mind, the fact that the historical Idanre Hills is a natural tourism attraction is enough for the beauty to end there. But to geniuses like Dr Mimiko, the beauty must further been enhanced by creating a brand of social economic'tourism activity that will ensure a phenomenal conglomeration of visitors in idanre,just to service the aura of Idanre Hills all the year round.And in the last three years, this initiative has continued to work wonder for the purpose of its conception. As Mare attracts new visitors all over the globe year in year out .These new visitors are intuitively the spreaders of the gospel of Idanre Hills to whoever they encountered.Thus the Mare Festival serves as a feeder and marketer of the Idanre hills with its own distinct characteristics of fun, thrills, excitement and socialization as exemplified by the 2011 Mare Festival of Mountain Climbing.Epilogue of fun, entertainment, tourism, empowerment and economic enhancementThe 3rd Edition of Mare Festival hosted in Idanre on Thursday 15 to 17 December, 2011 was beautifully wrapped in such a manner that it embraced all aspect of human development that enhances good living; it was fun, entertaining, touristic, empowering and economically responsible.Mare, was a shorten form of Mare bo, an Idanre dialectical warning to mountain climbers in those days that they should not fall when making a try to mount the hill.This Mare has also been improved in meaning to showcase the essential programmes of event.M: Marathon Race;A: Arts and CultureR: Rock ClimbingE: Entertainment Exhibition, and Empowerment.And all these were the fulcrum of activities which also separated 2011 Mare Festival from the past celebrations.The commitment of the State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Rahman Mimiko and the entire cabinet of his and the people of Ondo State who appreciated and acknowledged the import of Mare made it a worthwhile purposeful event.The event kicked off successful on Thursday 15 December with a long festival floats which had earlier in the day roamed the major streets of Akure en route Idanre ,and banked at the Methodist School, located at the foot of a huge blond hill. the venue of the Mountain climbing contestGaining entrance to the venue was a bit difficult as the multitude of people on ground now blended with over 300 vehicles which accompanied the festival floats from Akure that disgorged its occupants at the gate of the school.On the spacious field of the venue were planted large white canopies and a stage equipped with musical instruments where different musical groups perfomed in sequential order'Seated under the canopies were traditional rulers, invited guests, Ondo State Tourism Ambassadors who were mainly some indigenes of the state who have made names in the field of acting and show business, members of the diplomatic corps, delegates from states, a bunch of Nollywood actors led by Mr Sunday Omobolane ( Pappy Luwe) and so many others who spread their presence all over the field with a conservative estimation of 70,000And Governor Mimko sang 'o ti mumi gbagbe'The opening ceremony was an entertainment package that gave an insight into the next two days event and made of speeches by the Commissioner of Tourism and Culture Mr Deji Falae who welcomed vistors to the stateThe Governor, Dr Olusegun Rahman Mimiko in speech while declaring the ceremony opens succinctly emphasized the reasons for branding Mare Mountain Climbing as a product.'The Mare Festival is a symbol of the collective characteristics of a typical Ondo State person. It represents, resilience, sportsmanship, daring heartedness, adventurous, handwork ,responsibility, reliability, doggedness, solidity, uncanny ability to survive against any odds, Ise takun takun,reasonability and dependability.'He pointed out that these characteristics must be venerated and packaged in such as chore value of reference for this generation and generation yet unborn with a particular relationship to a physical structure of reality which Mare stands for.Pointing to the Mare, Governor Mimiko said' we can see the Mare as it stand erect, strong, solid and resiliently defying the odds against survival and refusing to bow for repressive forces of nature. As ever like the Mount of Gibraltar'Apart from these, Dr Mimiko revealed that Mare is a natural gift of life planted by God which must be processed for the benefits of Idnabre people, the state as an entity, the nation as a country and the global word.'He remarked that the divine planting of the Mare in Idanre and Ondo State is not just for the fun of it or turn it to a reflexive object but God wanted the people to make use of it as a transformationalinstrument of change by enhancing its the social economic, cultural 'tourism potentialities for the benefits of mankind,'That is why we are here today.'Governor Mimko said that Mare Festival should not be subsumed as a purely entertainment or razzmatazz occasion meant to boost the traditional ego of the people but an economic venture meant purposely to make Ondo and particularly Idanre the world acclaimed tourist destination.'Mare is an opportunity at making Ondo a desirable tourists destination in Nigeria. With the Idanre Hills, Mare has come to create more awareness about the natural endowment and lush environment overwhelm with cascading hills of Idanre to a first time visitor who will tell others what he had seen here.'Governor Mimko also revealed the various exploits of the state in the areas of sports, culture and tourism at national competition,'We are not only building Ondo State as a model for states in term of infrastructure but striving hard to make it a brand of envy in the sports ' cultural and tourism sector. And this has been paying off.'Governor Mimko reeled out the various competitions both national and inter states in which Ondo had proved its mettle.He promised the over 70,000 crowd that they have not seeing nothing yet as ' My mission into the government is not to satisfy any personal ego but to build the state, its people and make the entire entity called Ondo ' state a model of beauty and reference point of how a state should be. This is my covenant and as I have laid my hand on the plough, I will not look back. I have not accomplished a quarter of my mission for the people of the state.'It was a rain of applause and wild jubilation and the shouting of Iroko as the Governor stepped off the stage for his seat.The wild appreciation and response to the Governor's speech by the crowd was so intense and impressive that a man loudly remarked 'Nobody can rig this man out of this state. It will be an act of suicide for a person to be planning to rig this man out of this state. Whoever is planning it should jettison it now. Iroko is solid in Ondo State. This affection is too real and passionate.'After, this earth moving speech of Governor Mimiko, the veteran musician and literati giant, Uncle Jimi Solanke mounted the stage with his soulful rendition of infectious songs which the Governor found irresistible.And Governor Mimko climbed the stage, danced little and had the microphone and sang 'o ti mumi gbagbe o baba, ibanuje igba kan. Ase were nise oluwa, oba ti a pe to nje.'And the venue erupted with loud and wild applause again as all the Nollywood, tourism ambassadors and top government officials joined the singer Governor on the stage in appreciation to God for taken away his source of sorrow into the ocean of forgetfullness.At the peak of the ovation, Governor Mimko left the venue and super maximum fun, merriment and music show commenced till dawn marking a beautiful opening ceremony for the 2011 Mare Festival.The MarathonWhen Mare hoisted National FlagAs some guests were leaving the venue of the opening ceremony in Idanre to their hotel rooms in Akure ,on Saturday 16, December 2011, the second of Mare Festival, the Marathoners, were on their feet slugging it out with each other.By 11am, the die was and the winners have emerged at the venue which had guests seated under the canopies savoring the scintillating and titillating dances and acts of the various musical groups which entertained and performed in sequential order.The day was very special as spectators and guests watched one of the professional mountain climbers dared the Mare and hoisted the Nigerian flag on the 3,000ft above sea level, Mare.The affairs of the day which includes prize given to winners of the various competitions, and raffle draw was ably coordinated by Mr Ademujimi, the Chief of Staff to the Governor Mimiko who represented his Excellency.And they dared the MareAnd on Saturday 17 December, 2011, the men with steel hearts under the strict supervision of the professional mountain climbers from Spain and South ' Africa gathered together at the foot of Mare to dare the gargantuan, resilient and immovable Mare Mountain.And on the Mountain, a benchmark point of target had been marked with a guiding rope and a bell which the winner was expected to cling within a spate of time for the locals while the topmost was reserved for the foreigners.Many dared the Mare and failed woefully to make an impact while the few others showed shills and awell horned agility at reaching a higher point of reference, yet, Mare remains solid, resilent and strong as ever.Leading the pack from the international effort are; James Smith, who came first: brain Weaver who came second and Morijus Smigelshis, who came third.On the local level, Akinseye Temidayo, came first, Oluwashina Stephens, came second and Akingboye Cynthia, came third.Night of the Stars @ Olofin Grammar SchoolShina Peters, Ara, 9ice, Ajasa, Buga, OlamideAs the competitions were rounded off with cultural display and musical concert at Methodist School, the musical jamboree which was the grand finale was shifted to Olofin Grammar school, Idanre, a bigger venue.At Olofin Grammar School, there it was a fanciful stage with super lightening effect and heavily equipped with supersonic sound system and speakers.The setting was lovely , the crowd was heavy and the space large enough to contain the spectators and the their vehicles.As Goverrnor Mimiko arrived at the venue at 8 pm, the tempo of the music was heightened to high heavens.And the stars of the nights, the unbeatable Sir Shina Peters, the wonderful Ara, the talented 9ice, the ecletic Buga, the spiritual Lord Ajasa, worked themselves up silly and impressed the crowd till 2 am when Governor Mimiko declared the 2011 Mare Climbing Festival of Culture, Tourism, Empowerment and Economic development.What the people say'Mare has added value to Idanre -Oba Frederick Aroloye, Owa of Idanre'We thank God for sending Governor Mimiko, to see what we did not see in Mare. We are very proud of this initiative which has added value of reference and respect to Idanre. I am always grateful for that day that Mare was conceived. Some people thought that the best thing that can happen to the Idanre Hills had happened, that is being an international tourism centre or at least being a UNESCO Heritage Site. But see what we have been celebrating in the past three years, the birth of a new tourism product that has been attracting visitors to the Idanre in droves. This is splendid.'Olympic Council has showedinterest in the hills 'Tunde Balogun UK based Climbing Sports Consultant'Having lived in the UK for almost 25 years consulting for many Climbing Clubs in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, I was very happy when Governor Mimiko initiated the Mare Climbing Festival.'I said at last. We have a governor who is ready to tap the benefits in these rocks and hills which God has blessed us with but wasting away because previous leadership could not see the asset in them.'When, I brought these professional climbers from Spain and South Africa to this place last year, they marveled at what they saw and surprised that nothing international has been done to boost Mountain climbing Sport in Nigeria particularly in Ondo. The good part of it is that, Mare has attracted the attention of the Olympic Council which may consider hosting international climbing competition in Idanre.'This is a great achievement by I am at present in Idanre, Ondo State, covering the Mare Festival, an initiative of Governor Olusegun Mimiko, to mobilise the natural wonders in the state for social-economic development. Yesterday, was the opening ceremony of the event, Idanre was filled to the brim with visitors from all over the world. All the hotels and guest houses were full. I had problems having a place to sleep also in Akure because visitors to Mare have taken over. The Governor and we must not allow this to scale off our fingers.'It'll become an international festival -Nasir Kaka, NTDC'As a representative of Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, Director General, Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), I am assuring the Governor and the good people of Ondo State that this Mare will be turned to an internationally listed Festivals in the world. Chief Runsewe is making the move on this. It is gratifying that such a world class festival is springing up in this side of the country.'It is marvelous -Olaniyi Adewumi, 25 years old dwarf' Mare is another beautiful concept of Iroko gba sibe to develop Idanre. I feel the impact of Mimiko. He is a governor of the people. He has given somebody like me a hope. He bought me a grinding machine, which I am using now to feed myself and my parents. He also gave me money to maintain myself. He is real. These rocks have been here for years and no Governor ever did something like this that will bring people and money. I am not talking of Idanre hills. I am talking of Mare, which is an additional value. Let me tell you, he is working. We shall defend him for the second time. We love good things and good person in this state.Mare is economic booster par excellenceTo many people in Ondo State, the Mare Festival is an economic activity rather social jamboree and they are of the opinions that such a festival should be held twice a year because'It is money spinner -Gani Adeyemi, aka Oyintemi Okada operator, Idanre'Just thank Governor Mimiko on my behalf for initiating this Mare Festival. I believe he initiated this festival for those of us who operate okada. This is because, we always make big money in the three days of Mare. It is natural that whenever there are many people, the fare will increase. And let me tell you,our fare price has changed since Wednesday. And I also thank God that I have triple my daily proceed from about one thousand naira to four thousands naira daily. Yesterday, I made six thounsands, breaking a record, special thank to Mare and Governor Iroko. There is never been a which brings visitors to this town like Mare.It boosts my trade - Taiwo BlessingBeer seller, opposite Methodist SchoolMare is my money making ritual. Last year was great. I made so much money on beer and daily needs. This year is greater than last year. As you too can see, I did not see you here last week, even on Tuesday, you were not here, not to talk of coming here to buy coke. All of you that are here drinking at my shop today are not native of this town. It is Mare that brought you here. I and my family appreciates what Mimiko has done for us with Mare May God bless him.It is a development instrument -Solomon Oki'I am not a native of Idanre. I am from Oka Akoko. I live in Idanre. I am jealous and envy Idanre for what Mare has done to it. My own observation is that Mare is a development instrument fashioned by Governor Mimiko to rekindle the development in idanre. The time of hosting is very strategic to the people of this town. This is a period when people need money for Christmas. And here is Mare bringing a lot of people here who have to spend money buying one thing or the other here. Really, this is one developmental project which Mimiko will be forever remembered in Idanre in particular and Ondo State in general.'It encourages inter'states relationship and trading' -Dr Awwal HusseinShukura Trado Medical, Kano'Almighty Allah, the most beneficent, the merciful will bless and protect the governor of this state who thought of this festival which provided an avenue for me to make money every year. I started attending Mare last year when I saw the advertisement in a paper in Ilorin. I came with my stuff then and I sold all . This year,I had to invite other Hausa traders, you can see them to bring their ware here. You can see all of us happy. I came here with a double portion of my wares and I have sold all. My other brothers are very happy for coming to Mare. Allah is great. This is one festival like the Argungu. I beg the Governor to please continue to expand this festival so that we can continue to make money. I also thank the people of Idanre for their hospitality. You cannot believe this, we pay nothing for these store. They just collected three hundred naira from each of us. us per day. That is nothing. I am having this idea of having a permanent shop here or build a stall since tourists will be coming to Idanre heavily now.'I pray for more Mare ' Bisi AjibolaCEO, Bisi Catering Service' While I thank God for Mimiko's life, all I ask for is more of Mare because If I have to attend three of Mares in a year, I will be okay financially. I cannot tell you how much I invested on food and drinks, which I sell here, and the profit. If this kind of festival is replicated in just three other places, then, my I will be okay. For this, Iroko will succeed. He created a platform for making money. He is great.'Mare of empowermentIn all ramifications, Mare is another platform of empowerment in a novel style. The government gave out free tickets to the masses for raffle draws, The lucky ones went home with various empowerment items as gifts.Mimiko has enriched me for life -Olubodun BosedeJSS 11, student, St Joseph Catholic School, Idanrewho won a fridge at the raffle draw' What else can I say other than to thank God and Dr Mimiko for empowering me for life by giving me this fridge through a raffle ticket which I obtained free. Imagine me having a fridge. This gift is turning me into a business girl. I am going to source money and buy a generator to be able to use this to sell cold pure water and minerals. Mimiko ma se o.'Mare offers me life -Rafiatu AminuEpa and guguru hawker who won a fridge and over N350,000' I am Rafiatu Aminu from Ilorin. I am a hawker of guguru and epa in Akure. I obtained a raffle ticket free, and see what has become of it. I am, and will, forever be grateful to Governor Mimiko who is transforming my life and those who donated a sum of 350,000 for me. If not for Mare Festival, where would I have come across this happiness and joy' The fridge will serve my new status. I will use the money donated to me to rent a shop, purchase a pop corn making machine and sell other things. The days of laboring endlessly on the street, hawking guguru and epa have gone. Thanks to Mare and Governor Mimko. My brother, you need to feel how joyful I am as Mare has helped me to come closer to the realisation of my dreams.'It's a good platform to market products -Yinka Folorunso, sales executive, promasidor'Mare is a veritable avenue for corporate entities which have mass, consumable products to sell. With over one hundred thousand people, each day, any product brought here will gain more clients. We are one of the sponsors and we have been able to refresh the people by serving them Mixing Choco free. It is part of our corporate social responsibility. We are happy to be here and thanks to Governor Mimko who brought this Mare concept. I pray for more of such.Next year's Mare will be grand -Stephen Alayande, CEO, Eagles House'As the marketing agent of Mare, I assure that next year's event will be grand, as we are now going out with full force, putting Mare in the the consciousness of Nigerians. We must commend Governor Mimko for this outstanding festival, which has attracted international respect and honour to Idanre and Ondo State. The next edition will be bigger and more splendid. This year's is marvelous.Where are the investors'Honestly, Idanre, as it is now, is a haven of opportunities for serious minded business icons who want a veritable place to invest in. And idanre is it.Idanre needs standard hotels, first class hotels. Idanre hills are attracting heavy tourist' traffick which the hotels in town cannot cope with.It is also in need of a standard supermarket, toilet facility, souvenir shops, standard buka or fast foods points.Anybody who ventures into any of these areas will never regret investing in Idanre.Memorable people of Mare 2011That 2011 Mare festival was a success is the handiwork of God Almighty,who used Governor Mimko as the driving instrument to liberate Ondo State from the shackles of underdevelopment, penury and wretchedness.However, mention must be made of those who made Mare Festival 2011 a phenomenal success.Owa of IdanreKabiyesi, Oba Fredrick Aroloye, is a traditional ruler par excellence. It is amazing to know that kabiyesi witnessed all the programmes of the event. He was very punctual and always regal, in appreciation of the various acts put on the stage.Kola AdemujimiThis Chief of Staff to Governor Mimiko is a good servant of the state and a reliable representative of Mr. Governor. He did well whenever the governor was not absent. He has a refined capacity to manage men and restore stillness into stormy waters.Kayode Akinmade This Information and Strategy Commissioner is a complete round peg in a round hole. He is a wonderful personality who knows his onions. He saved the festival from being messed up.The nollywood starsThese salt of Nigeria did their best in making sure that spectators and guest had nice time. Bimbo Osin; Sunday Omobolanle (Aluwe); Uncle Daboh; Saidi Balogun; Taiwo Hazan (Ogogo); Ebun Oloyede (Olaiya); Ara; Peter Fatomilola; Funsho Adeolu, and so many others.The professional mountain climbersThese experts at climbing mountains were a tourism spectacle in their own capacity. They made daring stunts on the hill and mingled well with the spectators.
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