Reimagining Tourism, Empowering Youth, Preserving Culture
What if Plateau State was not only the “Home of Peace and Tourism,” but also the beating heart of Africa’s cultural imagination? What if, beyond the Shere Hills, the Riyom Rock, and the cool Jos breeze, there stood a wonderland that drew visitors to not only see but also feel; and rather than just witness the array of displays, they get to interact with the people’s heritage?
Imagine a cultural theme park in Plateau; not Mickey Mouse or Cinderella, but a living wonderland where Africa tells its own stories.
A Vision Rooted in What Already Exists
The Ten Commandments monument in Du, Jos South already shows us the hunger for experience. Every festive season, thousands flock there. They come not because it is a mountain or a rock, but because it is an attraction: a place larger than life, layered with meaning.
If one site can draw such numbers, imagine what a full-scale cultural park could do. Not a museum of inanimate objects, but an interactive village of life, rhythm, and color; where every visit is different, every day is a festival.
A Living Disneyland of Culture
Picture this: A culture-themed park with a sculpted Riyom Rock in the midst of it, lit in dazzling colors at night, a Plateau icon reimagined. Around it, villages representing the Berom, Afizere, Ngas, Tarok, and more come alive. Dancers whirl in full regalia, drummers thunder under the evening sky, artisans carve and weave as curious visitors watch and join.
Children gather under storytelling trees, listening to elders as they tell history in words and songs, their voices carrying legends that leap into the imagination. In another corner, a light-and-sound theater stages folktales with modern flair; mythology reborn for a new generation.
Every day of the week offers something new. Thursday may belong to the Berom, Friday to the Afizere, Saturday to the Ngas and Tarok, and Sunday to a grand “Unity in Diversity” parade. Each culture designs its showcase, manages its performances, and benefits from its own creativity.
This is not passive tourism. This is living heritage.
Youth Empowerment, Culture Reborn
This park would not only entertain, it would employ and empower. Plateau’s creatives (such as dancers, drummers, actors, designers, makeup artists, ushers, guides, chefs, and digital creators) would find a stage and a salary here. Instead of idleness, their energy would flow into productivity and pride. Every costume stitched, every drum struck, every story told would mean more graduates off the streets, more young people with dignity, and more families sustained.
At the same time, the park becomes a fortress of cultural preservation. Traditions are not hidden in museums but celebrated in motion, taught to children, shared with the world. Culture is no longer “old-fashioned”; it becomes fashionable, marketable, global.
The Economy Beyond the Park
And then the ripple begins. Tourists bring demand. Demand brings investors. Hotels rise, restaurants bloom, shuttle services multiply. Plateau’s metro buses could double as park-themed tour buses, painted in cultural motifs, ferrying visitors between hotels, airport, and attractions. Entrepreneurs set up lodges, cafés, craft shops, and tech startups to support the tourism boom.
The park sparks the fire, but the economy keeps it burning.
Why It Is Possible
Skeptics may ask, ‘is it realistic?’ Yes. Disneyland began as one park in California in 1955. It was small, risky, and doubted. Today it is an empire.
Plateau can do the same, on its own terms. Start with a hub around the Ten Commandments or Jos Museum and build gradually. A theater, a cultural village, artisan markets. Let each culture partner as a stakeholder, deciding their own showcases and sharing revenue. Let the park be run like a business, not a political project, with reinvestment guaranteed.
Plateau is already safe, already serene, already gifted by nature. What is missing is not potential, but vision and courage.
A Call to Dream Bigger
This is more than a theme park, it is a stage where our stories never stop. A chance to rebrand Plateau, to empower its youth, to preserve its heritage, and to attract the world. A place where visitors leave with more than just photographs, but with memories etched deep; of dances, flavors, stories, and friendships.
The future of Plateau tourism is not only in what God placed on its land, but in what we dare to build upon it. So let us dare. Let us dream. And let us make Plateau State known as more than just the home of peace and tourism, but also a home of wonder, culture, and imagination. Africa’s very own Disneyland.