West Africa’s tallest hotel unveiled in Lagos

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos today unveiled the tallest hotel in West Africa, Intercontinental Lagos, built at a cost of N30 billion.

The hotel located at Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria is a 23-storey building containing 358 rooms and 37 suites and a Presidential suite.

The Intercontinental Lagos, a subsidiary of the Intercontinental Hotel Group, IHG, is owned by the Milan Group.

Unveiling the 5-star hotel, Fashola said the edifice would surely boost the hospitality and tourism industry in the state, while urging other entrepreneurs to look inward and invest their money in hotels and public utilities such as roads.



Fashola at the official opening of Intercontinental Hotel in Lagos



According to him, the unveiling of the hotel represented the increasing brands of hotels making Nigeria their choice destinations, saying that the tourism industry would be boosted by the new edifice.

“The tourism business is the major sector that creates jobs but sadly, this sector faces lots of challenges across the continent. The Lagos State Government is committed to providing the enabling environment,” he said.

Fashola harped on collection of consumption tax and urged hotels and other in the hospitality business to help the government to collect the tax for developmental purpose.

“Consumption taxes are not levied on hotels but on consumers. The role of hotel is to collect the tax and give it to us. It is by collecting this taxes that you empower us to provide schools, public utilities and others,” he stated.

Chairman, Milan Group, Ramesh Valechha said the hotel would change the landscape of Lagos and boost the hospitality industry in the state.

He disclosed that Memorandum of Understanding for the project was signed on 31 March, 2004 while it took two years to complete the design work before the conceptualisation of the project began.

He stated that the Lagos State Government, Skye Bank and Wema Bank were supportive of the project.

Valechha disclosed the building of the hotel cost over N30 billion while 650 jobs were created for Nigerians.

Regional General Manager, IHG, Africa, Karl Hala said the hotel is the leading hotel in Nigeria, saying the group had 170 Intercontinental Hotels in 60 countries of the world.

He described the unveiling of the hotel in Lagos as a significant milestone in the hospitality industry, adding that the group also had 20 Intercontinental Hotels in Africa and that the hotel was the only 5-star hotel in Nigeria.

Chief Executive Officer, Design Group, Bayo Odunlami said it took lots of challenging moment in the design and conceptualization of the project, saying he was happy that the group overcame the hurdles.




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VIDEO: Nollywood Star, Jim Iyke gets delivered from evil spirits @ T.B.Joshua's church!

Today's Live Deliverance Show on Emmanuel TV witnessed the deliverance of Nollywood star actor, Jim Ikye at The Synagogue Of All Nations Church Lagos Nigeria.

 

Jim Iyke ran and cried, and then fell at his feet as he was being delivered.
During the deliverance session at TB Joshua's church, the spirit spoke through him, saying, "it was the cause of his setback and disappointment".

 

CLICK BELOW TO WATCH VIDEO:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tupac’s Mum Files $1.1 Million Lawsuit For Unpaid Royalties

Tupac died 17 years ago, but his music is still making money...

According to reports, Tupac's mum, Afeni Shakur filed a $1.1 million lawsuit against Entertainment One for unpaid royalties from Tupac’s 2007 album Beginnings: The Lost Tapes, which included songs recorded in the early stages of his career.
Documents state that Entertainment One purchased the rights to the late rapper’s music which was previously owned by Death Row Records, in July.

Afeni claims the company owes money, and as the co-administrator of the Tupac estate, the she is also asking Entertainment One to hand over the master recordings for all of her son’s unreleased music.

Khloe Kardashian Drops ‘Odom’ From Twitter Account Name

A few days after dropping the name “Odom” from her Instagram account, Khloe Kardashian has made the same move on her Twitter account. While her handle remains @KhloeKardashian, her display name has been shortened to just Khloe.

42 dead, 100 missing in Niger boat mishap

Minna – No fewer than 42 people were on Friday drowned in a boat mishap on River Niger close to Malilli village in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger.100 others on board were missing in the mishap which occurred at about 2 pm.

The Public Relation Officer, Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Malam Ibrahim Hussaini, confirm the incident to NAN in a telephone interview on Saturday.
Hassaini said the incident occurred around 2 pm when the traders were returning from Malili village back to Tunga Illo village across the River Niger, after the day’s market.
He said the details were sketchy, but the boat which had over 150 passengers capsized midway and drowned 42 people, while 100 others were missing.

The spokesman said that local divers from Malili village had recovered 42 corpses, while efforts were being intensified to rescue possible survivors or the corpse of those drowned.
“At the moment search and rescue is ongoing on the river.I will make the details of the incident later, but the agency has dispatch its officers to assist the villagers in the rescue efforts,’’ he said.
Hassaini said the recovered corpses would be given mass burial close to the river bank, adding that neighbouring villages had been alerted to look out for floating corpses.

The Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Saidu Ndako, confirmed the boat mishap.“I received the information late in the night that a boat had capsized and 42 persons have drowned in the incident, while rescue operation is ongoing.We believe that the boat was overload because the boat’s capacity was put at 60 passengers, but over 150 passengers were said to be on board during the incident.The debris in the swollen river may also have been responsible for the incident,’’ Ndako said.

Ndako said that the government condoled with the family of those who had lost their loved ones, and pray that Allah grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. (NAN)


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