The Ekiti State government has banned a planned 72-hour kissing marathon to set the Guinness World Record in the state.

The Ekiti government in a letter dated July 3, 2023, from the Ministry of Arts and Culture addressed to the Ekiti State Hoteliers Association warned that any facility that hosted the event would be severely sanctioned.

It was however learnt that the Kiss-a-thon is being organised by a group identified as Sugartee in an advert making around in the state and social media.

The Kiss-a-Thon, which is scheduled to commence on July 7 is slated to hold in a popular amusement park in the state capital.

However, in its reaction to the issue, the Ekiti government in the letter signed by the Director of Tourism Adebanji Adelusi on behalf of the permanent secretary of the ministry, Dele Ogunsemoyin noted that the planned event tagged ‘Kiss-a-thon ‘ was capable of denigrating the image of the state.

The letter further stated that “Kiss-a-thon” as an event is not only absurd, unhealthy, immoral and capable of denigrating the image of the state, it is a programme that runs counter to the values of the people of the state and therefore capable of plunging our youths morally backwards.

” Given the foregoing, the Ministry of Arts, Culture and Tourism hereby prohibits the hosting of such event or any other events like it in any facility that wishes to continue to operate lawfully in Ekiti State.

“To the above, you are hereby requested to convey the content of this Notice to the members of Ekiti State Hoteliers’ Association to effectively monitor their outlets against being used negatively to cause embarrassment to the Government and People of Ekiti State.”#

The development is coming barely a few weeks ago when Damilola Adeparusi popularly called Chef Dammy from Ilupeju-Ekiti, Oye Local Government Area of the state completed a 120-hour cooking marathon.