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IKOGOSI WARM SPRING A MIRACLE, SAYS IRISH BISHOP
January, 28 2008

Back in his motherland in Dublin , Irish Bishop, Rt. Rev. Richard Burke has seen many wonderful and awe-inspiring sights. But nothing compass with what he recently saw at Ikogosi, a sleepy community in Ekiti Sate. There the Catholic cleric came face to face with an awe-inspiring sight.

In that tranquil community, two springs flow side by side. But while one is cold, the other is very warm. And since that experience, Burke has been totally convinced that God truly loved Nigeria . His problem is however, with our leaders who he says lack the political will to develop the country.

“Nigeria is really a country endowed with bounties of nature but unfortunately, does not utilise the potentials for economic gains,” said the Bishop during a recent chat in Ado-Ekiti.

“I have been living in Nigeria for over 30 years now, yet until now, I didn't hear of Ikogosi where cold and warm water meets. That means the government has not been creating the awareness. But I'm grateful to God for making it possible for me to see such wonders at last”, he said.

The Bishop said he had never seen or heard of such warm spring all his life. “I believe there is nowhere in the world where cold and warm water meets, except at the Ikogosi spring. Any other one would be man-made, which is artificial. Ikogosi is a miracle of nature and a sacred place where God exhibited his power of creativity”. He appealed to Governor Segun Oni to urgently develop the place to a world class status, lamenting that foreign tourists were not aware of its existence.

According to him, if such a place had been in Europe or America , the whole world would be trooping there because such a site would have been turned into a tourists' delight.

“The governor should create awareness for the place by advertising it. The state will not regret it because revenue will be generated from the project. Tourists would troop into Ekiti if they discover that such a place actually exists. It is a miracle of nature and one of the wonders of God. God is very creative and you can see the creativity when you touch the cold and warm waters of Ikogosi springs which meet and flow side by side. It is an exciting and interesting site”, Burke noted.

The first female council boss in Ekiti, Hon Modupe Ogundipe, who is currently the Caretaker Chairman of Ekiti South West Local Government to which Ikogosi belongs, told Daily Sun that Governor Segun Oni has mapped out plans of how he would develop the tourism industry in the state and uplift the Ikogosi springs into a first class status.

Culled from Daily sun (Featurettes), Page 33
Story by Mathew Dike.