One good thing about vision is having a partner that shares the same views and ready to journey together to make the dream come to fruition, The birth of Agodi Gardens an eco-tourism site with unique features long time ago is an historical landmark in the history of Oyo State with a view to recreate a shelter belt for Agodi GRA to recreate, unwind and at the same time utilize its potentials to contribute to the internally generated revenue for the state government.

The intention that boosted the status of Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State when it was new in its natural form with little human touch was later dropped due to negligence of subsequent administrations that did nothing to develop tourism sites in the state. In fact, an administration was said to have concluded plans to share and sell the land for residential purpose, but for timely intervention of some stakeholders, the initial plan was halted.

Agodi Gardens as people call it, now wears a new look and bears a new name, Agodi Resort and Conferences. The hitherto abandoned tourism potential is now a resort of international standard with components that feature in any standard resort around the world which include, a park where wild animals are domesticated, two standard swimming pools, children play park with a variety of games, functioning bar and restaurants , Lake and a large expanse of land for conferences and other events.

Kudos to the present administration in Oyo State under the leadership of Senator Abiola Ajimobi who rejuvenated the money-spinning venture with a view of reviving the legacies of our heroes past thus contributing to the economic development of the state as the attraction site which is gradually turning to destination will attract tourists and adventurers from all over the world.

The question and fear of whether the resorts will effectively function or sustained has been allayed as the Ajimobi led-government has entered into a private arrangement with JD Capital, a multi-disciplinary group of companies with a penchant for infrastructural development, water transportation, prime real estate, entertainment/tourism, oil and gas, marine and professional world class services.

At a media parley held in Ibadan at the resort, the chairman of the company, Mr. John Darlington explains the plans to make the resort a world class conference facility saying with the expanse of land available at the park as well as the ambience, building a world-class conference facility would turn Ibadan into a port of destination.

According to him, Nigeria lacked world-class conference Centre, adding that this had deprived the country the opportunity of hosting international conferences.

“With the coming of the world-class conference facility in Ibadan, the country would start hosting international conferences and the city as well as the state would benefit immensely from this,” he said.

Darlington, who further stated that as part of giving the garden international flavor its name had been changed to Agodi Resort and Conferences, said, “the first step of this rebirth process is the rebranding of and creation of a brand identity for the garden, this has commenced with the renaming of Agodi Gardens to Agodi Resorts and Conferences” because the new name has to communicate the audaciousness of the dream.

“We plan to transform Agodi Resort and Conferences to a world-class facility with 21st century eco-friendly type architecture featuring an international conference center with 1,000 seat capacity sitting on 8,000 square-meters with parking space for 300 cars.

Speaking on the projection for the garden in few years’ time. Darlington said “we shall develop and maintain other recreational facilities within the resort such as the canopy walk, zoo and the event center to attract high profile destination events. Also, we shall build and maintain standard golf range and a 3-hole back to back golf course overseeing the manmade lake and the natural landscape.”

The project coordinator Mr Gbemi Adio Moses while conducting pressmen round the facilities said the construction was designed with international standard in mind. “When the governor shared his dream of transforming Agodi Gardens into a world class resort and conferences that will also contribute to the economic development of the state, we conceptualized this idea and came out with a world class design, part of what you are seeing today and by the time we are through with it. It can conveniently compete with the likes of Central Park in New York and others around the world.”

Speaking on patronage, Mr. Moses corroborated Mr. Darlington who earlier said the revenue drive would be more encouraging if all other facilities are in place. “But as it is now, the patronage is good, people have been coming and they appreciate what they see here and by the time everything is in place, we are sure of better patronage.”

Mr. Darlington also disclosed that JD Capital has embarked on a marketing strategy that will keep the garden busy in the next four to six weeks. “We are focusing on providing international class entertainment with mind blowing concert and today, we will host a festival of fireworks and light like never seen before to wrap the year 2014 and usher in the brand new year 2015 in an event that will be attended by Governor Ajimobi, while the likes of P square, Dbanj, Yemi Alade, Sir Shina Peters and a host of other international artists will entertain people at the concert.”

In a bid to ensure that the rejuvenated park sustains the projection within the stipulated period, Mr. Darlington appealed to Nigerians to support the vision “we appeal to Nigerians especially corporate organizations with their presence in Oyo State to join us to ensure this laudable venture becomes a reality, we can all be part of writing history in Oyo State, we need their support through sponsorship and partnership.”

He however, commended the governor for his vision and assured the people of Oyo State that JD Capital is the right and competent visionary private sector partners to hold brands with the government of Oyo State and take the governor’s dream to the next level.”