Ebuka Onyekwelu
February 1, 2024
The proposed 10-story world-class hotel in Awka, by the government of Anambra State, has continued to generate debate with many people finding fault with the idea or its mention. This prompted the press secretary to the governor, Christian Aburime, to write a full article dedicated to the proposed project. In the article entitled, “Why Anambra Needs a World-class Hotel in Awka”, the press secretary argued that world-class hotels are a status symbol that both points to development and attracts development. He also connected the Dubai-Taiwan and the Asian Tiger / Singapore models to the existence or presence of world-class hotels.
However, the efforts made by the press secretary to convince naysayers have not yielded the much-desired fruits. A reputable stakeholder who does not want to be mentioned had described the news of the government’s intention to build the hotel as “clowning.” According to this stakeholder, “Let me tell you, this behaviour is what you see when people want power. Once you get in, you walk your talk. Not to make promises. It’s not needed anymore. This government is building a flyover in Ekwulobia. Have they finished it? But even a flyover is a small project compared to building a world-class hotel. Do you know what it takes to build a world-class hotel? When will the government finish it? If they are serious, why didn’t they first go ahead and start it? Were you not in Anambra when the former governor started the international convention center? Were you not in Anambra when the former governor started the airport? Did that government make any noise about those projects till they were finished?”
It comes to mind that without any publicity, Willie Obiano’s government quietly started both the International Convention Centre in Awka and the Anambra Airport in Umueri, from ground zero in the last two years of his administration and not only completed both projects, but they were both in use before he left office on March 17th, 2022. Many people are faulting the approach of Soludo’s government to first talk about the hotel and start a conversation around it when the government is yet to perform groundbreaking for the project. In other words, the government might be placing publicity ahead of the real work and that is a recipe for project abandonment. More so, considering that Soludo’s government is also building Government House and Governor’s Lodge, both of which are significantly high-value projects.
On the other hand, some think that the idea nursed by the government of a world-class hotel in Awka is wrong and a misplacement of priority. Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah is one of those in this category. Reacting to the news, Ubah wondered why the government would be thinking of setting up a hotel when the one set up in Agulu has not shown to be a good venture. “The point is that the government has lost focus. How can you be talking about setting up a world-class hotel when you don’t even have the basic social infrastructure and human capital that support such investment? There is insecurity, there are so many challenges. But what is the priority of this government is a hotel. They are visionless,” Sen. Ubah said.
In his piece, the governor’s press secretary had said and I quote, “As a global imperative, stately hotels are stepping stones to progress in modern society.” In other words, he was saying that it is world-class hotels that drive development. This claim is shocking. He blamed the investor’s unwillingness to come to Anambra State on the lack of world-class hotels. Yet, another extremely terrifying claim by the press secretary. Citing the Dubai-Taiwan model and that of the Asian Tigers, Aburime concluded that the presence of tall, exotic hotels in those cities is the secret of their development. Unfortunately, these claims have no bearing on facts or truth. It does appear that the press secretary is not detailed on the Dubai-Taiwan development model or that of the Asian Tigers and Singapore. The Dubai-Taiwan and Asian Tiger models have absolutely nothing to do with hotels or tall buildings. Instead, they prioritize human capital. They simply focused on growing an army of world-class human capital as a means to their development. Theirs is a capacity-building development model. Good a thing, Mr. Aburime mentioned Singapore as one of the places with world-class hotels which the Anambra Government is now emulating. But this is what the founding father of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew said in his autobiography, “From Third World to First”: “My strategy was to create a First World oasis in a Third World region. If Singapore could establish First World standards in public and personal security, health, education, telecommunications, transportation, and services, it would become a base camp for entrepreneurs, engineers, managers, and other professionals who had business to do in the region”. The implication, President Lee said, was that “This meant we had to train our people and equip them to provide First World standards of service.”
It is therefore comical that the government would say or infer that a 10-storey world-class hotel is what Anambra needs to drive its development. To that extent, the idea of 10 story hotel in Awka remains inherently problematic and speaks to nothing, only perhaps, the government’s desire for an ‘ego-project’.
-The West African Pilot
