₦airaland Forum

DeLaRue:
Just building a flashy project that lacks a sound business case is bound to fail.

The place is remote with the nearest airport being a few hours away.

Yet, it was planned with the expectation that it would attract visitors from all over Nigeria, and West Africa.

Please why would someone leave Lagos for example, spend 2 hours to get to a Lagos airport, fly may be an hour to Calabar, then get into a car for another 2 hrs or more of road travel on an average road, to get to Obudu

For leisure and shopping? That you can't get in Lagos, or any other big city abi?

With the way Nigerian airlines cancel flights incessantly, Lagos to Obudu could easily be a 2 day journey.

The state's successor Governors are right not to pour more money down the drain.

They got a landing strip. There was a time Limited flight land there.

mrvitalis:
Lmao obubu is over 6 hours away from calabar
Just like tinapa are foolish projects

Nigeria has less than 3 million people that spend 10 dollars per day
Cross river less than 5% of that

And you think it can sustain things like this

How many international visitors visit there yearly? Upto 1000 ?

If the place was sustainable banks would have taken it over

International visitors used to visit there.

brain54:
I don't really blame the government for lack of maintenance...

Low patronage means no revenue is generated there to maintain the place.

People prefer to travel abroad for vacations at the detriment of places like this!

You are very wrong on that one. Alot of Nigerians like to enjoy and they also love to enjoy in Nigeria. Mismanagement and the corrupt culture of the Nigerian citizens is to be blame for all of this. People do visist that place and it generates alot of funds, but the money generated there is been siphon by the workers the managemnet and eventually as well the little that made its way into government account is also been squandered hence nothing is left to maintain it after it was built. For this place to work well it should have been privatised. it is thsis same corruption and lack of management attitude by Nigerians and their leaders that will ensure that our refineries will never work. We are fantasitically corrupt people in this country. I wanted to do my honey moon there many years ago, i already made contacts and then as at 2016, i decided to google reviews on the place and all the negetaive reviews i got broke my heart, that was why i decided to take my honey moon abroad. I will not turn my honeymoon into a sad dissapointing events and bad reviews i got were all related to poor managemt.

mrvitalis:
When I see comments like this I laugh

It's not maintained not because we lack maintenance culture but because it's a revenue draining project

Most of you don't understand how economy works at all economics should be compulsory

Baba it was not maintained because of the high corruption in the country, not only the politians the citizens are extremely corrupt. If not ask yourself if even our refineries are also revenue draining projects even at a time we were importing petrol when in reality we have crude more in abaundance in this country. What about our electricity generating plants, is that a revenue draining projects, or are you saying we hardly consume petrol and electricity in this country.

I remember my time here in 2015, Such a memorable one. It's a pity how this place has become abandoned and delapidated.

DeLaRue:
Just building a flashy project that lacks a sound business case is bound to fail.

The place is remote with the nearest airport being a few hours away.

Yet, it was planned with the expectation that it would attract visitors from all over Nigeria, and West Africa.

Please why would someone leave Lagos for example, spend 2 hours to get to a Lagos airport, fly may be an hour to Calabar, then get into a car for another 2 hrs or more of road travel on an average road, to get to Obudu

For leisure and shopping? That you can't get in Lagos, or any other big city abi?

With the way Nigerian airlines cancel flights incessantly, Lagos to Obudu could easily be a 2 day journey.

The state's successor Governors are right not to pour more money down the drain.

You have a very valid point there, one of the factors that made me cancel my honeymoon trip there was that I couldn't get a direct flight from Lagos to Obudu. And actually, because of bad roads, the distance from Calabar airport to Obudu is over 4 hours. I never wanted to waste such precious time, and I also got a lot of negative reviews from past visitors as a result of poor management. They said the place is very cold, which is expected, and their fireplace heaters were not working, and the generators didn't work for days, and they also almost died of cold. So I had to cancel my trip. The poor management culture of Nigerians and the corrupt nature of Nigerians were the reasons that place didn't work. my bet going forward, the government should not be in the business of owning anything anymore, as they are very poor managers. If a governor wants to build something like this, they should partner with private individuals and give those private firms full control,l where the government only shares profit.

nony43:
International visitors used to visit there.

How many international visitors

The question should be how many visitors does the place need to break even... How many visits

michlins:
I know most of you hate facts and would rather live in your world of fantasy. According to world Bank and NBS(Nigeria bureau of statistics) Nigeria is the headquarters of poverty and over 120ml of us live below the poverty level. NBS went further to state that less than 5% if us have above 500k($300) in our accounts.

Add our increased levels of insecurity and kidnappings associated with road travel, how many people do you think have enough disposable income to afford the luxury of obudu?

Without reading what I posted you jumped into defending your lame point. There is no serious tourist destination anywhere in the world that depends on the locals for patronage, NONE!

michlins:
Nigerians are seriously poor and cannot afford such luxury. For people struggling with basic necessities, you don't expect them to visit such places at cost reflective fees. It's not possible and subsequent governor might not be able to afford to keep subsidizing such

You are wrong with your conclusion that Nigerians are poor. Yes we have a lot of poor Nigerians but in the real sense, Nigerians are not poor. go any good hotel in Lekki or Vi or any other big cities in Nigeria just ask of their price list for their hotel rooms I do not think any good hotel right now charges below 80K a night that is more then minimum wage, but it will shock you that all these expensive rooms are fully booked. People spend a lot of money on luxury in Nigeria. The truth is this money doesn't get into the government account because Nigerians are fantastically corrupt.

michlins:
. How many times will such retreat be held there? this is like Wike claiming that the conference center he spent billions is a revenue venture for the government

You people lack idea of what is really important in Nigeria. It's for the same reason governors gather people, spend millions on flyover that goes to no where. We need to prioritize spending on critical aspects of the economy

Truth isthat such projects should have been handed over to the Indians or Lebanese to handle, because your countrymen are fantastically corrupt. Look at Port Harcourt pleasure park built by Wike when he was governor, he handed them to Lebanese to manage and the project is still flourishing till date.

michlins:
A law should be made against embarking such projects by governors. What we need is cheaper and steady power (subsidized if possible), steel and iron mining plus production, textile industries revamp, massive agricultural investment. These critical areas employ the masses on a large scale


We need to prioritize industrial development over white elephant projects that will require government intervention to work. Let the private sector focus on the tourism sector. They can charge cost reflective fees and be able to maintain their facilities. You don't build something and expect subsequent governors to subsidize them

You have a point, but even the power sector suffers a lot from mismanagement, thanks to the fantastically corrupt citizens in this country. The government has no business being in the business of making profits; the earlier we know that, the better for us all. Our biggest problem in this country is that we do not learn from past administrations. When Obasanjo was advising Tinubu against revamping our refineries, you all joined hands to insult him. Now see the outcome.

ADAMUdaCOWBOY:
Without reading what I posted you jumped into defending your lame point. There is no serious tourist destination anywhere in the world that depends on the locals for patronage, NONE!

every tourist location depends on locals for patronage first before oyibo will jump on it. Obudu needs at least ten years of consistent marketing and branding before oyibo will jump on it.


Look at afro beats and see how many years it took us before it went international and it was even the internet that helped

maiunguwar:
Build the people, empower businesses, eliminate poverty and with time the results of an empowered population will manifest.

^^^
These are broad objectives.

Laudable but rather vague. The question is how they will be achieved. Be more specific about this.

fxexperts:
You are wrong with your conclusion that Nigerians are poor. Yes we have a lot of poor Nigerians but in the real sense, Nigerians are not poor. go any good hotel in Lekki or Vi or any other big cities in Nigeria just ask of their price list for their hotel rooms I do not think any good hotel right now charges below 80K a night that is more then minimum wage, but it will shock you that all these expensive rooms are fully booked. People spend a lot of money on luxury in Nigeria. The truth is this money doesn't get into the government account because Nigerians are fantastically corrupt.

Truth isthat such projects should have been handed over to the Indians or Lebanese to handle, because your countrymen are fantastically corrupt. Look at Port Harcourt pleasure park built by Wike when he was governor, he handed them to Lebanese to manage and the project is still flourishing till date.

see eh, you have a really myopic view about Nigeria and wealth distribution. Go to those Lekki, it's the same circle of people who came in last weekend that are coming this weekend and that's not a healthy distribution of wealth.

We literally have zero middle class in Nigeria. You're either wealthy or poor. Others are people who have zero business showing off wealth or hiding their wealth for reasons known to them(civil servants especially)

michlins:
solution fun city gate fee is 1500. Do you think that's what it will take to run that place? Nike lake is constantly needing government intervention to run properly and the only because subsequent governors are from the same line

I wish I can show you pictures of attendees last Sunday at Solution FunCity, Awka. Besides, the entrance gate is #2000 after which any other services you which to be rendered to has its own price. The highest being the water or swimming arena which is 20k. The only setback it will have is that Anambra is a highly commercial or business State so people will only get to come weekends, most times from Friday to Sunday. But it will definitely survive and yield much ROI. It's a viable project. I applaud Gov Soludo's initiative in building such leisure center for Ndi Anambra.

EmekaA125:
I wish I can show you pictures of attendees last Sunday at Solution FunCity, Awka. Besides, the entrance gate is #2000 after which any other services you which to be rendered to has its own price. The highest being the water or swimming arena which is 20k. The only setback it will have is that Anambra is a highly commercial or business State so people will only get to come weekends, most times from Friday to Sunday. But it will definitely survive and yield much ROI. It's a viable project. I applaud Gov Soludo's initiative in building such leisure center for Ndi Anambra.

you're very funny.

Let the maths speak, how much do you think such a place will cost to set up, how much is the running costs, how much does it generate monthly and how long until it breaks even?

DeLaRue:
Just building a flashy project that lacks a sound business case is bound to fail.

The place is remote with the nearest airport being a few hours away.

Yet, it was planned with the expectation that it would attract visitors from all over Nigeria, and West Africa.

Please why would someone leave Lagos for example, spend 2 hours to get to a Lagos airport, fly may be an hour to Calabar, then get into a car for another 2 hrs or more of road travel on an average road, to get to Obudu

For leisure and shopping? That you can't get in Lagos, or any other big city abi?

With the way Nigerian airlines cancel flights incessantly, Lagos to Obudu could easily be a 2 day journey.

The state's successor Governors are right not to pour more money down the drain.

obviously you've not heard about the bebi airstrip and the aero contractor flight shuffle to and from the airstrip before now
Liyel sold that plane

michlins:
wouldn't it be better if government had invested in power generation and boosting productivity and then private investors can build such facilities and charge cost reflective fees and keep it running.

You folks largely represent our politicians who would rather build white elephant projects than build solutions for our fundamental problems

There's nothing wrong with government engagement in tourism Many countries, including advance countries, have game reserves, beaches, museum and other businesses built by government and managed by government or third-party.

Let me give just few examples:
1 - Cancun, Mexico
2 - Katwijk Coastal Defence, Netherlands
3 - Montenegro One&Only Resort
4 - Alpine Resorts Victoria is managed by government.
5 - Nike resort built by Enugu State govt, managed by Landmark
6 - Ibom icon hotel and golf resort built by Akwa Ibom State govt managed by icon hotels
7 - ikogosi spring resort built by Ekiti State govt managed by Glocient Hospitality
8 - Ibom air managed by Akwa Ibom State govt

We shouldn't excuse our poor maintenance culture and poor management by government as you guys always do under the mantra of government has no business doing business. Basic thing as hospitals, schools and roads, they can't even maintain. Very soon infrastructure will be added to things government should not do just so government officials can continue in their embezzlement and nepotism.

ADAMUdaCOWBOY:
Without reading what I posted you jumped into defending your lame point. There is no serious tourist destination anywhere in the world that depends on the locals for patronage, NONE!

Exactly. If Mount Everest was in Nigeria, it would have been like the story of this resort.

mank1234:
There's nothing wrong with government engagement in tourism Many countries, including advance countries, have game reserves, beaches, museum and other businesses built by government and managed by government or third-party.

Let me give just few examples:
1 - Cancun, Mexico
2 - Katwijk Coastal Defence, Netherlands
3 - Montenegro One&Only Resort
4 - Alpine Resorts Victoria is managed by government.
5 - Nike resort built by Enugu State govt, managed by Landmark
6 - Ibom icon hotel and golf resort built by Akwa Ibom State govt managed by icon hotels
7 - ikogosi spring resort built by Ekiti State govt managed by Glocient Hospitality
8 - Ibom air managed by Akwa Ibom State govt

We shouldn't excuse our poor maintenance culture and poor management by government as you guys always do under the mantra of government has no business doing business. Basic thing as hospitals, schools and roads, they can't even maintain. Very soon infrastructure will be added to things government should not do just so government officials can continue in their embezzlement and nepotism.

the difference between us and those nations is the availability of disposal income. Such facilities are expensive to maintain. Should government run them optimally, patronage will be extremely low (they're charging cost based fees)

If government decides to make it fully occupied,then they will have to subsidize them which is waste of resources because we have critical sectors that are in need of funding and subsidies.


How many private sector have you seen venture into such massive hospitality ventures? They just do hotel and add swimming pool and probably kiddies play ground and that's all. The reason is simple, feasibility studies will tell them that they will not break even and no bank will provide funding for such venture. Reason banks do it for the government is because they know that definitely, government will always pay back.


You might suggest they build and handover to private sector, that's corruption big time. They will set up the place,use government money to build the place and then use their cronies to run it. Which essentially means using government money to build themselves and generations investments.

How about they build power sector, hospitals,schools and other critical areas of the economy and subsidize them if possible or handover to private sector to run. At least, the general economy will benefit from them both the rich and the poor (who will be most beneficiaries) as they will be lifted from poverty forever

When every government decides to embark on projects not for providing solutions to any identifiable problem but for personal & selfish reasons...this is what you see...

michlins:
the difference between us and those nations is the availability of disposal income. Such facilities are expensive to maintain. Should government run them optimally, patronage will be extremely low (they're charging cost based fees)

If government decides to make it fully occupied,then they will have to subsidize them which is waste of resources because we have critical sectors that are in need of funding and subsidies.


How many private sector have you seen venture into such massive hospitality ventures? They just do hotel and add swimming pool and probably kiddies play ground and that's all. The reason is simple, feasibility studies will tell them that they will not break even and no bank will provide funding for such venture. Reason banks do it for the government is because they know that definitely, government will always pay back.


You might suggest they build and handover to private sector, that's corruption big time. They will set up the place,use government money to build the place and then use their cronies to run it. Which essentially means using government money to build themselves and generations investments.

How about they build power sector, hospitals,schools and other critical areas of the economy and subsidize them if possible or handover to private sector to run. At least, the general economy will benefit from them both the rich and the poor (who will be most beneficiaries) as they will be lifted from poverty forever

You mentioned handing over in both cases but opt to handover to private when it suits you while when it doesn't, you mention handover to cronies - logical fallacy.

The question is:
1) Can government build businesses and handover for management or privatise?
2) Are there successful scenarios of 1 above?

Comparatively,using your line of argument, I can also make a case by saying government has no business running a hospital or school when individuals can do that just because an ineptitude government failed to manage hospital or school efficiently.

For context, Ibom air made NGN96b in 2024. Was that a good investment by the state government or not? Yes it was:
Tangible - Money was made. The airline can be expanded or money plough to other sector
Intangible - More visibility for the state. The state airport is being utilised.

It pains me to see the places going to ruins. I was there in my third year, 2013 and what I saw was beautiful.

The place looks haunted.
Maybe Nollywood can use it as a set for horror movies... Ghostly visitations, alien invasion type of stuff... Lol

mank1234:
You mentioned handing over in both cases but opt to handover to private when it suits you while when it doesn't, you mention handover to cronies - logical fallacy.

The question is:
1) Can government build businesses and handover for management or privatise?
2) Are there successful scenarios of 1 above?

Comparatively,using your line of argument, I can also make a case by saying government has no business running a hospital or school when individuals can do that just because an ineptitude government failed to manage hospital or school efficiently.

For context, Ibom air made NGN96b in 2024. Was that a good investment by the state government or not? Yes it was:
Tangible - Money was made. The airline can be expanded or money plough to other sector
Intangible - More visibility for the state. The state airport is being utilised.

why I don't mind government investing in critical sectors and handing over to private sector is because regardless of what happens, the masses will benefit immediately both rich and poor. Using scarce resources to build something that will benefit less than 2% of the population while still subsidizing it is crazy and outright wickedness. If they want,they can easily fly to any part of the world and have fun. So let's not subsidize their fun at the expense of the critical sectors.

Before China, America and others started this massive investment in luxury and hospitality ventures,they built massive infrastructure that will lift people from poverty and increase the number of middle class. The most successful leisure venture (Disneyland) is privately owned and run. How many are in Africa and other third world countries. There, it's pure profit and feasibility studies over bragging rights.


A state owning an airline in Nigeria is still good investment because it's a sector that has very small players and is still very profitable. Look at air peace of few years ago and how big they have grown. So they can have at it

@michlins check out the examples in the images That place failed due to mismanagement and not wrong investment.

Cross River used to be preferred tourist destination in Nigeria pre-2010 and could have built on that momentum but desire for immediate gain would not allow it.
Just do a Google search on how much Kenya makes on tourism -wildlife Safari and landscape and tell me how Obudu cannot do something close.

michlins:
why I don't mind government investing in critical sectors and handing over to private sector is because regardless of what happens, the masses will benefit immediately both rich and poor. Using scarce resources to build something that will benefit less than 2% of the population while still subsidizing it is crazy and outright wickedness. If they want,they can easily fly to any part of the world and have fun. So let's not subsidize their fun at the expense of the critical sectors.

Before China, America and others started this massive investment in luxury and hospitality ventures,they built massive infrastructure that will lift people from poverty and increase the number of middle class. The most successful leisure venture (Disneyland) is privately owned and run. How many are in Africa and other third world countries. There, it's pure profit and feasibility studies over bragging rights.


A state owning an airline in Nigeria is still good investment because it's a sector that has very small players and is still very profitable. Look at air peace of few years ago and how big they have grown. So they can have at it

This statement doesn't consider balance of payment. A bulk of our import is services - medical, education and tourism. Anything to reduce those is a plus.

michlins:
see eh, you have a really myopic view about Nigeria and wealth distribution. Go to those Lekki, it's the same circle of people who came in last weekend that are coming this weekend and that's not a healthy distribution of wealth.

We literally have zero middle class in Nigeria. You're either wealthy or poor. Others are people who have zero business showing off wealth or hiding their wealth for reasons known to them(civil servants especially)

. You are not using your head to think. We still have middle class in Nigeria. stop following what some people are posting on social media. Nigerians love to enjoy themselves, but only a very are stingy with themselves. Tell me how many tourist destinations we have in Nigeria? Each time I want to vacation a little I search a lot for the best places to visit within Nigeria. a lot of Nigerians do the same. We have the recently demolished landmark beach in Lagos and some other beaches in lagos, then the lekki conservation park, but none can be compared to the serene nature presence you can felt at Obudu when the place was properly managed. some people like beach experience, some want to explore nature like me. People spend money in Nigeria and they are not the same people you are claiming same cabal. Do your head counts. Do you know how many hotels are there in Lekki, and do you even know how many rooms are in each? Try visiting any of the beaches in Lagos during festive seasons and see the number of people who troop in there just to have fun. Then come back and say everyone is poor. Nigerians are looking for a good place to go spend their money and relax, everything is not to work till quench.

mank1234:
Exactly. If Mount Everest was in Nigeria, it would have been like the story of this resort.

I tell you

michlins:
every tourist location depends on locals for patronage first before oyibo will jump on it. Obudu needs at least ten years of consistent marketing and branding before oyibo will jump on it.


Look at afro beats and see how many years it took us before it went international and it was even the internet that helped

It will take ten years and people like you say ot should be abandoned? Is it not you people that said it should be scraped because of no local patronage? Why not encourage that ot should be managed for ten years.

Chinjo2:
This is how Ayade killed the dream of Donald duke.
This is the same scenario playing out in Edo State where the governor is busy destroying everything that were done by Obaseki instead of him to build on them.
Nigeria politicians are evil

What did he destroy? You must be A cultists.

michlins:
you're very funny.

Let the maths speak, how much do you think such a place will cost to set up, how much is the running costs, how much does it generate monthly and how long until it breaks even?

The cost of building it was around #255 million. It was kicked off officially this July. People have been employed and posted to many sections of the FunCity. Students are beginning to come there already for excursion. It won't suffer any setback unless the next government after Soludo overlooks it but it's being handled by a private enterprise so it will definitely be running continuously without much government interference.

This is the solution.
Most people still don't understand that allowing Nigerians to run a government business freely is the shortcut to destroying that business.
Nigerians will look it, divert funds, in the name of national/state cake and 'workshop'

This is the only reason Port Harcourt pleasure park is still working!

sulaak:
Donald Duke should have sold the project to a private investor. The government are just not good at operating commercial ventures.