"The disease has seriously taken a toll on the festival," Sikiru Ayedun, Osun State Tourism Commissioner, told Anadolu Agency in an interview.
"That is because we are looking at a situation whereby every year we grow the attendance of people coming for our festival in the state," he said.
"Last year we had between 10,000 and 20,000 visitors, including devotees, tourists from abroad and celebrants," Ayedun recalled.
He said the Ebola outbreak shut the door against foreign attendants and gravely reduced the size of attendants.
"This effect is not just for the government," asserted the tourism commissioner.
"The hospitality industry, cuisine providers, artists and memorabilia artisans who ought to make money are all affected," he noted.
"But we appeal to the people to bear with us because it is better for us to be healthy than to create a wealth that would put us in crisis," insisted the official.
He said the state government hopes to heighten its drive for foreign investors in the Osun Osogbo festival, a significant part of which is the mass visit to the Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove, designated a world heritage site since 2005.
