May 29th: Gov. Mbah inspects 5-star Int’l Conference Centre Hotel in Enugu

From Chinelo Kodilichukwu, Enugu

The governor of Enugu state, governor Peter Mbah at the weekend inspected the long -abandoned 5,000-capacity International Conference Centre hotel in the state.

Recall that, Mbah’s administration is currently completing and upgrading the 5-star Int’l Conference Centre Hotel, Enugu state to modern standard.

Mbah said that the five-star facility, which he described as an investment enabler, was in line with his administration’s vision to make Enugu the preferred destination for investment, business, investment, tourism, and leisure, and to grow the state’s economy from $4.4bn to $30bn in four to eight years.

He said: “What we are witnessing here today is just connecting the dots. Recall that we said to Ndi Enugu that our mission is to make Enugu state the premier destination for business, investment, tourism, living, and leisure.

“We know that there are key enablers if you truly want to make your state the number one destination for tourism. We know also that in order for the International Conference Centre to be attractive, there are also key enablers.

“You cannot be talking about using your 5,000-capacity conference centre optimally without having enough keys. Anybody coming to host a conference of 5,000 participants, the first question is where are the keys. At least, they would like to see a minimum of 10,000 keys because as they are coming, they are probably coming with their family, friends, and all that.

“Again, if we are also looking at attracting three million guests as tourists annually, beyond the international airport that we hope to operationalise very soon, the next question even for the airlines that will be operating here is a five-star hotel where they can accommodate their crews.

“So, this is why I said that we are connecting the dots, making sure that we have all the key enablers to be able to realise our goals, both in the area of making Enugu the destination for tourism and also making Enugu the capital for conferencing in Africa. So, when you talk about a city for conference, you should mention Enugu before Kigali or Cape Town in South Africa. What we are doing today is just to get us closer to that dream,” he stated.

Mbah emphasized that the government had made all necessary arrangements to meet its commitment to the contractors, who must work day and night, as there would be no room for cost variation or time overrun.

“We have been assured by the contractor that this project will be ready in eleven months. So, we are hoping to come here by April next year to commission this project.

“We are going to be on them and we have been assured that they are going to work day and night because we are hoping that the International Conference Centre where work is already going on will be ready a few months from now.

“We want to optimise the Conference Centre and we have been assured that there will be no variation and there will be no time overrun,” he emphasized.

The Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Geral Otiji, said the International Conference Centre Hotel had become most imperative, explaining that besides the main Conference Centre, which is able to sit over 5,000 persons, there were other adjoining facilities that could seat over a thousand people.

Also, the Managing Director of China Communications Construction Company, CCCC, Henry Li, who spoke during the inspection, commended the state government for entrusting the monumental project to them, and pledged to bring the company’s knowledge, expertise, and deep commitment to excellence to bear on the project.