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Ikotun hoteliers lose N3.9 billion to Synagogue crisis

By Laolu Adeyemi
11 June 2016   |   1:36 am
It is no longer business as usual for the hoteliers in Ikotun area of Alimosho Local Council of Lagos State as their business keeps nose-diving day in day out.
TB Joshua

TB Joshua

Patronage Drops By 90 per cent

It is no longer business as usual for the hoteliers in Ikotun area of Alimosho Local Council of Lagos State as their business keeps nose-diving day in day out.

The bearish trend of the hospitality business in the area might not be totally unconnected with the current economic situation of the country.
But the hoteliers in the area claimed that their own challenge was way beyond the current economic crunch.

Hoteliers who enjoyed frequent patronage of spiritual tourists from the Synagogue Church of All Nations said things went sour for them since September 12, 2014, when Pastor Temitope Joshua of the church ran into muddy water with government over the collapse of one of his buildings, which claimed no fewer than 100 lives.

They are currently bemoaning their loss due to low occupancy rate in most of their hotels.

When the Guardian visited the area, the ever-busy street, which houses the church and some of the hotels, was not busy in its usual manner.

Few traders who run some makeshift shops on the street had low patronage while some were busy looking forward to seeing customers.

Taxi drivers, which operate on the route, parked their private taxis, waiting endlessly for customers that never surfaced for an hour The Guardian spent on the street. It was obvious that it’s no longer business as usual.

One of the drivers, who spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity, said the Synagogue’s problem is not just affecting the hoteliers but all the businesses, built around the church.

“As a driver that plies airport route, I know that there is hardly a time an aircraft lands in Nigeria without having two to three Spiritual tourists of Synagogue church on board.

But now, the story is different because our government mismanaged the church ‘s building collapse case”.
The fair-skinned driver said: “The ugly incident has happened and the matter is in court but government needs to manage the issue properly because it is a destination for many spiritual tourists across the globe. Spiritual Tourism of this church helps build the nation’s economy”.

When the reporter spoke with some of the Hoteliers who share the same street with The Synagogue Church, they all chorused the same tune of 90 percent drop in their patronage.

Assistant Manager of Glorious Hotel and Suites, Mr. Darlington Usoh, said, the church’s debacle has affected his business badly and his patronage has dropped by 90 percent. “Since the Court matter started with the church, it has been a bad time for hotel business in this area.

Some of us had to reduce our staff strength for survival. The whole thing appeared to be as if we are starting the business all over”.

For the Manager of CED Lodge, Friday Okoji, Synagogue matter is not just affecting hotel business in this area but also affecting the state’s revenue and the nation generally because of the Forex exchange it attracts.
We only plead with government to handle this matter as case of a major destination in the country that attracts spiritual tourists across the globe.

Thousands of people died in Saudi Arabia and yet they investigated the matter, provided a way forward and never shut down their destination. Nigeria should learn from this.

Meanwhile, the hoteliers, under the umbrella of Pilgrims Hostels Association of Nigeria, claimed that they have lost over N3.9 billion revenue since the Synagogue Church of All Nations incident and the consequent rift with the Lagos State government.

“The total number of bed spaces of different categories for all the hotels in the Ikotun area stands at about 3500. Before the incident the hotels had 100 per cent occupancy rate in three days of every week due to the programmes in the church. But now, the occupancy rates fluctuate between 10 per cent and zero all week long”.

According to them, what this meant was that in these three days, instead of having their normal 3500 bed spaces booked; they could only boast of 350 rooms occupied.

Speaking further on the issue, one of the hoteliers, Chief Jerry Omoridion said, they have been crying for a long time and the government does not seem to understand their plight. “It is a serious issue for us because our means of sustenance is currently being wiped out”.

Before the occurrence of the unfortunate incident at the church, we have a total of 3500 hotel bed spaces.  The hotels have different categories of rooms, and the cheapest rate in Ikotun is N5, 000. But the story is different now.

“We now have 10 per cent occupancy rate and about 350 rooms are booked every night, while many had no patronage.

What this implies is that 3150 empty rooms, at an average rate of N5,000 per night. The implication is that we are losing nothing less than 189,000000 in a month. For the past 21 months when the matter began, we have a whooping N3, 969,000,000 as loss of revenue.  This is just a conservative estimate.

If we think about the multiplier effect of this on the economy, any sensible government will see reason to handle the matter carefully.

Asked what he was expecting the government to do since the case was already in court, Omorodion said: “This is a Spiritual tourist destination and no area in Nigeria has a steady inflow of inbound tourists like Ikotun, Lagos.

Government should put in place a machinery to get to the root of the accident, take punitive action where necessary, without portraying the destination as unsafe. Government should not send wrong signals to the current and prospective spiritual tourists.

All over the world, when there is an incident of such nature; there are sensitive ways of handling it. More than 2000 pilgrims lost their lives to the stampede in Saudi Arabia on September 24, 2015.  The country, knowing the importance of religious tourists, have taken the necessary steps and quietly moved ahead.  The Synagogue accident happened on September 12, 2014, since then we have been deprived of our livelihood due to the hostile signals from the government and we are forced to suffer.

“As a country, we should be able to learn from those that know better than us.

Omorodion called on the government to take a second look at the current case of the Synagogue Church and create better atmosphere for the tourism to grow in the area.

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