By Iwara U. Iwara
Based on a very recent assessment, it is beyond fantastic to describe what the Calabar Marina Resort, holds in store for all manner of visitors, going forward.
In case you know nothing about this resort, it is located inches away from the bustling 11/11 roundabout, Calabar, on a historical piece of choice property where those British shipping merchants, Alexander Elder and John Dempster formed Elder Dempster & Co, built a shipping company that ferried all manner of slaves from West Africa to Europe. Today, this resort offers an ebullient mix of history, leisure and deliberate entertainment.
Built in 2007 by former Cross River State governor, the debonair Donald Duke, it awed many and drew a huge patronage to herself when her doors were opened to the public. Over the years, while successive administrations in the state have tinkered with its form and content, what the present administration of Cross River State governor, Bassey Edet Otu, is doing there, has upped the ante and magnified her offering.
As you drive into the resort, just before you navigate the first turn, on a part of the resort that use to be known as “Tortuga Island”, massive construction work has fazed out the wood and raffia structures that use to be “Tortuga Island”. What has gradually emerged is a multi-billion naira, multi-layered, private sector driven investment in a permanent one-stop entertainment and leisure place, which is a clear statement that, for once, the private sector in Nigeria is again showing faith in Cross River State with this investment. Creditably, this investment endorses the commitment of the Bassey Otu administration to create the alluvial plains for this kind of private sector investments.
Ekpenyong Ojoi, MD, Cross River State Tourism Bureau, CRSTB, confronted with the plain realities of this investment, informed www.calitown.com that, ” the Bassey Otu administration has notched up the foundation of our tourism initiative, which is basically to increase private sector partnerships and encourage donor bodies to come help develop the tourism sector in Cross River State as it was in the past.”
We dug deep and discovered that, Blake’s Entertainment, who operate the popular Garki, Abuja upscale entertainment hub on 1346 Ahmadu Bello Way, Garki, Abuja FCT, is behind the new lease of (high) life on the resort’s waterfront.
“On one of my visits to Abuja, sponsored by His Excellency the Governor. I had course to meet with the owner of Blaze Entertainment Nigeria Limited in Abuja. When I sought him out at that time, he was in America. I put a call to him and I requested that we meet when he returns. When he came back, we met and I said to him, “imagine having a place like the Abuja Blake’s on a water front” and he said where? “I said Calabar”. He looked intently into my face and said to me, “Ojoi, I know Calabar, I’m coming”, the MD told www.calitown.com.
When the Blake’s boss eventually came to Calabar, his arrival coincided with the day the cinema at the resort was reopened after an unfortunate fire incident which gutted it. Importantly, one thing struck him; Ojoi and his team had restored 24 hours light to the resort, the place was beginning to bubble again and the clear eyed businessman saw a massive window of opportunity to be exploited and he put his foot through, convinced it was the way to go.
Papers signed, construction work started; work that will birth a massive state of the art night club, a customized swimming pool area, hemmed in by a 40 millimeter thick glass, all round. There is also a masterfully designed barbecue and grill section, a bistro ( a small, relatively simple restaurant, especially one offering French or French-style food), a bakery, exclusive entertainment areas, all ensuring that once you are there, the smoothness of your excitement is a done deal.
“It is important to mention here that, for the magnitude of on-going construction work, courtesy of the Blake’s Entertainment investment, no fewer than 100 young persons are daily engaged in the site while another 90 young persons work at night; it is gainful employment with a positive domino effect. Some of them are in school, so they do part-time, come in the evening, give service, make money, go back to school, pay their bills and return the next day. As we speak, this has been happening for more than seven months now. Again, the carousel at the resort which has not worked for 10 years has been fixed, delivering a new carousel, far better than what was initially in place”, Ojoi revealed.
Remarkably too, former governor of Edo State, Luckly Nosakhare Igbinedion, buoyed by 24 hours light in the resort, invested in the cinema.
“Let me also draw your attention to investment at the resort by Abito. They came in and built a very standard jetty to cater to their eight 200 horse power boats, one gun boat and three 16-seater, 28-seater and 30-seater boat”, Ojoi states.
“The jetty Abito has upgraded was built by Elder & Dempstar in 1852. Abito also upgraded a lounge that we were using as a drinking parlor to a beautiful lounge, the best you can find in the whole of the South South region of Nigeria, for those travelling by water out of Calabar.”
“I must tell you that the Abito investment is about N2 billion naira, while the cinema is about N800 million naira. What we brought from Blake’s investment, still counting, is about N5 billion naira plus. All of these figures, represent the volume of private sector investment that amounts to about a whooping N8 billion naira and it’s still counting because we also like to see whether we can get a better private investor to invest in the hotel”, the MD explained.
He added that, “… because we want to create an experience at the resort, we’ve cleaned up the place. There’s a gun boat on the water, there are about eight soldiers permanently stationed at the resort, we have DSS personnel on standby as well as the police. It’s safe place by God’s grace so that when visitors come to this state they will at least have a place to go to and relax comfortably.”
Ojoi is emphatic that when you come to the resort, the infrastructure has been upgraded to ensure that you relax and enjoy the scenic view of the Calabar River as it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. You also should enjoy a lush stroll in the beautifully manicured lawns, while you wait for your safe and secure boat ride.
The cinema is serving a potpourri of A-list Nigerian and international movies, aside a visit to the Slave Trade Museum, where Black history stares you boldly in the face. Go a step further and savour the sweetness of exotic foreign and indigenous cuisine at the restaurants that favourably compete at the resort for patronage.
While you enjoy the chilled drinks and pristine coconut water on offer, you can let your kids enjoy the carousel or square up against other kids in the improved game hall.
The MD, compulsively optimistic, finally maintains that, the resort “is work in progress and we are still pushing, but I can tell you that what the governor is focused on doing there “is huge, it’s massive, you can see for yourself, this is what the government of Bassey Otu, has brought to the people of Cross River State. That is the true story.”
For a place as lovely as the Calabar Marina Resort, don’t doubt if we agree that the concept of the whole place has strategically changed and we think it is something to sound out.
Isima David Praise, additional article credit.
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