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With Okorie Uguru
To ensure constant electricity at a reduced cost, Glocient Hospitality, managers of the Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort, Ikogosi-Ekiti, Ekiti State said it has expended over $200,000, about N274 million to install renewable solar energy at the resort.
This was disclosed by the resort’s General Manager, Mr. Sharafa Balogun in an interview with selected journalists. He said the installation offers uninterrupted 12-hour energy at the resort, and also helps the resort to cut costs. He said: “The savings we are making with a benchmark of our 500 KVA electricity generator is over half a billion in a year. And that benchmark was done with our 500 KVA generator running for 10 hours. We will be making a savings of over half a billion.
“And again, we know if you’re running a hospitality business, even if you have one guest in your room, the generator must be on. And you know, there are things that you can’t run without: your internet facility and your pumping machines. This place is vast.”
The General Manager said the success of the hospitality company at the resort has further reinforced its desire to transform moribund resorts in Nigeria: “Our goal at Glocient Hospitality is to transform moribund assets, dead tourist attractions in Nigeria, into profitable businesses and national treasures and attractions. If you had been here four years ago, Ikogosi was not a place that was habitable. We’ve done a lot, and it will interest you to know that every transformation you see here is done by Nigerians: Nigerian expertise, Nigerian skill, and Nigerian artisans. No expatriate. It was done by us because we have capacity; we build capacity over the years. I used to be with a group in Lagos that brought in Radisson into Nigeria. I was with the group for over two decades. That experience of operatorship, management, conceptualization, construction, pre-opening, design is what we have brought in here to Ikogosi to transform the place.”
Balogun explained that the resort has helped to support the local economy of the host community by employing over 230 staff, with almost 70 per cent of the staff being female, and over 60 per cent of the staff from the community. He said: “You know, we’ve always said that government has no business in business, but what it can do is to create an enabling environment for businesses like ours, investors like ours to thrive. That the government of Ekiti State under the leadership of Biodun Oyebanji has been very supportive in terms of accessibility, you know, we have two airports that are equidistant to the Ikogosi. You have an airport in Akure that’s less than 50 minutes to Ikogosi. We have an airport in Ado-Ekiti that’s also less than 50 minutes to Ikogosi. We are in an advantageous location. You know, and also we want to encourage people to come. Yes, we have security challenges. However, it’s not as bad as people portray it on social media. And we also want to encourage us to promote Nigeria positively, promote the resort in Ikogosi as a national asset. People go all over the world to promote Kenya, Zimbabwe and the rest. Nigeria is a beautiful place. Ikogosi is a testament to that-where you have warm and cold water flowing side by side and maintaining their thermal properties.”
