When a delegation of royals from Nigeria were invited to Uganda to attend President Yoweri Museveni’s the 50th anniversary of his wedding with Janet Kataha Museveni, they did not anticipate getting so close to why the country was named the Pearl of Africa.
A few days after the anniversary, the entourage was invited to tour part of the country and their guide made no mistake when he chose to take them to the Murchison Falls National Park.
In the park, the royals got closer to different animals, including elephants, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, buffaloes, moneys, chimpanzees, and all types of antelopes.
The monkeys, birds and hyenas probably kept singing welcome songs for the guests as they did a park drive atop open-roof vans.
Also known as the Kabalega National Park, the Murchison Falls National Park is popularly known for having the world’s most powerful waterfalls that emits large volumes of water about 300 cubic meters per second.
The park was gazetted in 1927 and to date it is the largest park in Uganda covering an area of 3840 sq km.
Murchison is located in northern Uganda and extends to a number of districts such as Nwoya, Masindi, Kiryandongo and Buliisa. It is home to 73 animal species including four of the big five (buffaloes, leopards, lions and elephants). Only rhinos are missing at Murchison Falls. The park hosts over 450 bird species.
After enjoying the park ride, the guests had a meeting with counterparts from Bunyoro Kingdom and Alur chiefdom.
“We share a lot in common. When I saw the Banyoro performing their traditional dancers I whispered to my Queen inquiring if they had been hired from Yoruba in Nigeria.”
These were the words of Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja 11, the Ooni of Ife Kingdom in Nigeria after being hosted to a colourful ceremony by the cultural leaders.
“We need to unite as Africans and work together for the development of our continent,” Ogunwusi said.
The Prime Minister of Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom, Andrew Byakutaga, hailed the state guests and listed several areas of cooperation including education, health, tourism, agriculture, preservation of culture and industrialization.
“As a kingdom we appreciate the partnership and we are going to work with our sister kingdom and ensure that we boast education, culture and investments,” Byakutaga said.
Prince Lawrence Opar Angala, the Prime Minister of Alur Kingdom, said they were ready to work with the Nigerian cultural leaders to improve cultural tourism.
