Reuben Bojor/Calabar
Almost a decade after its gates were thrown open to the public, the widely acclaimed Tinapa Business Resort, which is fast losing its allure, is yet to yield expected returns
When the idea of building an international trade centre, the Tinapa Business Resort, like the ones found in Dubai, Durban and elsewhere was conceived by the then governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, many had doubts about the realisation of such a huge project. The doubts came with the assumption that Cross River did not boast such funds that would be required to accomplish it. The belief in some quarters was that it would, at best, be another white elephant project embarked upon to siphon state funds.
But despite cynics saying there was not the slightest chance of it being achieved, at the end of his tenure, Duke proved them wrong by completing the grand project which was commissioned by former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
The Tinapa Resort, which consists of super malls, shops, cinema centres, conference halls, a three-star hotel, and other high-end facilities, is located around the Calabar metropolis, and sits on a vast expanse of land with dots of mountains, offering a haven of peace and serenity, away from the bustle of the city.
But for almost a decade, with about $450 million said to have been sunk into its delivery, Tinapa Resort is yet to live up to its potential, and can be said to have fallen into the league of disappointing projects that are situated in other parts of the country. Stakeholders, including Cross River State Government, are yet to reap a dime from it, with the debt burden incurred put at about N70billion.
When TheNEWS visited the resort, it observed that, but for the Cinema centre and the Lake View Hotel still functioning, the centre is gradually falling out of shape. Some have even estimated the value of the resort in its not too pretty state at being nothing above $100million.
On enquiry, this medium learnt that several factors might have led to the worsening condition of the resort and its facilities. The federal government’s failure to concede it since it was under its Exclusive List as an Export Free Trade Zone with the Nigerian Custom Services, this barring business from thriving is one major factor that has negatively affected the fortunes of the resort. However, others have claimed that the resort centre has failed to thrive courtesy of the shortcomings of the stakeholders.
“Do not blame the Customs or federal government. The problem is caused by the stakeholders who are to dredge the shallow river so that huge vessels can move. But uncountable court injunctions by them is what is causing the harm. The moment everything is normal, the dredging will commence and everything will take off,’’ said an official of a federal agency which oversees the affairs of such facilities in the country.
Others have linked Tinapa’s uenviable state to its being designed to cater more for the elitist class. ‘‘I thought it would be a place like the Alaba market in Lagos where we the local people can go and sell our local produce and other wares. But what we see is that only the elites can afford to go there. I have never in my life seen where dollars rather than naira is the main currency of trade in the country,’’ Felix Igwe, a cab driver who operates within Calabar metropolis said.
It is alleged in some quarters that the sorry state of Tinapa is the major cause of the long time rift between Duke and former Governor Liyel Imoke, while there are also insinuations that Imoke is to blame for the ill fortunes of the Tinapa Resort. It was said that rather than lifting Tinapa from the doldrums, Imoke chose to embark on a similar project, the Calabar International Convention Centre, CICC, situated close to the Tinapa Resort.
Chris Ita, the former Chief Press Secretary to former governor Imoke, opined that though the then governor is not happy about the present state of the Tinapa Resort, his dream of having a convention centre of repute in Calabar, that will also serve its environs was never hidden and this could even complement Tinapa with a monorail linking both. ‘‘CICC is already working even as we are already completing the work. People have started booking for future events. It has taken a long time for the project to reach completion stage, and Senator Imoke has been working on it. There is no such place in the entire sub-region and the former governor desired to build one. It is a good thing that it is located near Tinapa, and it could cushion the resort’s sorry state,’’ he added. Stating that the governor was competing with Mr. Donald Duke is not a good thing. ‘‘The CICC and Tinapa are not the same. The facilities there are quite different from what we have in CICC and there should in fact be a synergy. And the truth is, while the former is International, CICC is local with all players involved not selected, which I think is the cause of Tinapa’s woes,’ Chris said.
Bassey Ndem, Tinapa’s Chief Executive, remains optimistic about its prospect, stating that its free trade status had received political approval and that customs chiefs would soon match that with the necessary paperwork. He also said the key target group for Tinapa is Nigerian traders who undergo severe financial expoitation by foreigners. ‘‘Our target customers don’t watch Nigerian television, they watch CNN. To them, Nigeria is not glamorous. We want them to associate Tinapa in their minds with Dubai or Paris. We are concerned with traders who jump on the plane every two weeks to Dubai or the far East, and those who would like to but can’t because they don’t have a visa or they can’t afford the flights. These are the people who will make up the numbers we need,]] Ndem said.