10 January 2019
Now I can evidently assert that Calabar, the Capital of CRS, Nigeria, is an epicurean city where hedonists in top political offices hide under job creation and tourism investments to burry stolen public funds and /or questionable hard earned money in hospitality industry establishment.
Study shows that some major hotels/hospitality industries in Calabar belong to top politicians and tycoons with records of underused/ misused constituency allowances cum masses oppression.
Though it is often argued that Calabar key hoteliers provide jobs and food for some commoners, the oppressed and jobless, the alarming rate at which hotel proprietors mistreat their poorly paid junior employees remains irksome and best understood by experience.
This I authoritatively say because I was a Management Staff Channel View Hotel Calabar (where famous music icon- Inyanya worked under me as one man band /karaoke master) and I knew what happened to the junior Staff in the system – many of whom went home with pea nut wages… as a result of “excess surcharges”.
Prior to now, it is recalled that the most known hospitality industries/hostels in Calabar were Channel View (former Mercantile Bank Guest House) , The Mirage Calabar, Axari, Le Chatteau Pyramid and then Metropolitan Hotel (now Transcorp Hotel) Calabar.
Supported by N50M CRS loans each, with 10 years repayment period, to enable affected hoteliers meet the standard required to accommodate international visitors during “Nigeria 1999 World football tournament”, hosted partly in Calabar, the aforementioned mentioned hotels gradually gave way to new comers in the industry.
Latest and most sophisticated new comer in the Calabar hospitality industry is a multi million naira luxury centre /5 star hotel edifice along MCC by Obutong Road and vice versa, depending on patrons' access direction. It is called “U WILLS Hotel” and allegedly belongs to Sen. Godswill Obot Akpabio, the former governor of Akwa Ibom State. An unconfirmed information has it that the name is an acronym derived from the corruption of “Unoma” (Sen. Akpabio's wife) and “Godswill” (Sen Akpabio's first name)
HAVE YOUR SAY!
Holyns Hogan is a public affairs analyst