Fashola unveils N30bn tallest hotel in West Africa

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos
State, yesterday, unveiled the tallest hotel in
West Africa, the Intercontinental Lagos built at
a cost of N30 billion. Fashola unveiled the hotel in a ceremony also
attended by the Governor of Central Bank of
Nigeria, CBN, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi;
Oba of Lagos, Oba Riliwan Akiolu 1; ex-
governor of CBN, Joseph Sanusi, and other
dignitaries. The hotel located at Kofo Abayomi Street,
Victoria Island, Lagos, is a 23-storey building
with 358 rooms, 37 suites and a presidential
suite. The Intercontinental Lagos, a subsidiary of the
Intercontinental Hotel Group, IHG, is owned by
the Milan Group. Fashola said the new hotel showed that the
economy of the country was witnessing growth
daily but without corresponding employment. According to him: “The new sector is the
tourism sector. This is the only virgin sector in
the country, and it will help address the
challenges of unemployment in the country.” The governor said the new hotel had helped to
create new 650 direct jobs in the state. He noted that with the construction of more
hotels and hospitality outfits, more direct jobs
would be created as well as numerous indirect
jobs. Chairman, Milan Group, Ramesh Valechha said
the hotel will change the landscape of Lagos
and boost the hospitality industry in the state. He noted that the Memorandum of
Understanding, MoU, for the project was
signed on March 31, 2004 while it took two
years to complete the design work before the
conceptual- isation of the project began. He stated that the Lagos State Government,
Skye Bank and Wema Bank were in supportive
of the project. Valechha disclosed the building of the hotel
cost over N30 billion while 650 jobs were
created for Nigerians.