Osun Osogbo Sacred Groove

The Osun Osogbo Sacred Groove is a tourist attraction located in the city of Osogbo in Osun State, Nigeria. It is popularly known for it's uniqueness which is a sacred forest in the river banks of the Osun River.

According to long aged reports from the early history of the of the Osogbo people is founded on the mythical on spiritual beliefs along the lines of the tradition of the Yoruba people. The Osun Rive Goddess is credited with the founding and establishment of the Osogbo town. The Osogbo town is known for it's Osun Osogbo Festival which has been on for about 600 hundred centuries, it is usually celebrated every year by the people in the month of August at the groove, it was initiated out of the relationship between the river goddess Osun and  the first Monarch of the Osogbo kingdom Oba Gbadewolu Laroye.

The yearly festival always attract tourist from all walks of life, Osun worshipers, and spectators. The aim of the festival is for celebration, to cleanse the land called 'Iwopopo', the cultural reunion of the people with their ancestors and founders of the Osogbo kingdom.

The festival is a 2 week programme which starts with the traditional cleansing of the town called the 'Iwopopo', which is followed in 3 days by the lighting of the 500 year old, 16 point lamp called 'Ina Olojumerindinlogun' after which come the 'iboriade', an assemblage of the crowns of the past ruler, Ataoja of Osogbo and the Arugba, Yeye Osun and a committee of priestesses.

Over the years, the indigenous people have traditionally taken up the responsibility of taking care of the groove, using the myths and belief system which cannot just be carried out by an ordinary individual. This prevents any form of encroachment regarded as sacrilegious and encroachment to the gods and the goddess. The groove was taken into cognizance by UNESCO in 2005 as a world heritage site and has been linked to the consistencies that the festival has enjoyed over the years.

The Osun Osogbo festival has been a huge success in Nigeria and the world for centuries, it is worldly recognized and celebrated, there have been reports from the indigence that the Osun river helps in curing diseases and gives children to the motherless. It has been a beauty to the land and to the people.

Culled from the en.wikipedia.org
Image Credit: Osun.gov.ng

Unregistered Hotels in Nigeria to be Sanctioned by Lagos State

The Lagos State Government has advised operators of hotels, hospitality centers and other recreational facilities to register them or face sanction.

The State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, who gave the advice, said the registration would afford the state government to monitor activities at such places.

The ministry's spokesperson told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that hotels and facility centers must comply before the end of the year or face sanctions.

He said the registration was part of the ministry's efforts to upgrade the present standards of hotels and hospitality groups in the state to an internationally accepted standard.

He said the exercise would also serve as security-assurance for tourists and users that might want to lodge in them.

The spokesman said that the ministry would invoke the Hotel Licensing Law of Lagos State to ensure that all hotel groups and hospitality complied.

"A number of hotels and hospitality groups had refused to comply with the directive before now.
"Sequel to that, the commissioner, Mr Folorunso Folarin-Coker, had directed that defaulters be fished out," he said.

According to NAN he said that there had been an increase in the number of registered hotels and hospitality groups from the 450 recorded in May.

"We still have some miles to cover, with the current number of unregistered hotels; but we shall continue to appeal to them to comply before the year runs out," he said.

NAN
Image Source: Informationng.com

Starwood Hotels Ramps up Nigeria Portfolio with New Four Points in Benin City

Ethiopia, Sheraton-Addis

Accelerating growth in emerging market across the globe, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide incorporated, Inc. today announced the signing of Four Points Benin City, Nigeria.

POINT 1: Accelerating growth in emerging market across the globe, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide(www.StarwoodHotels.com), Inc. (NYSE:HOT) today announced the signing of Four Points (www.FourPoints.com) Benin City, Nigeria. Owned by Eagle Hospitality and Leisure Limited, the sleek new Four Points Hotel is built for the modern traveler with an emphasis on approachable design and stylish comfort. Conveniently located in the heart of Benin City  - the capital city of Edo State, one of the 36 states in Nigeria - the hotel is situated within a five minute drive to the airport and no more than 10 minutes from the government and business district.

POINT 2: "Four Points by Sheraton Benin City will further consolidate our strong Nigeria portfolio, opening up yet another emerging destination for international travel," said Micheal Wale, President Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Europe, Africa and Middle East. "With five hotels operating and another four in the pipeline, including Four Points Benin City, Nigeria is already one of our strongest markets in the region, and the signing of this hotel reinforces the growing demand for affordable lifestyle brands in rapidly developing markets."

"We are delighted to introduce the popular Four Points brand to Benin City and expect this new hotel to meet the rising demand for high-caliber lodging in this fast growing-market, soon emerging as a leading choice among business and leisure travelers," said Mr Chris Oshiafi, Group Managing Director of PanAfrican Capital Plc and chairman of Eagle Hospitality and Leisure Limited.

POINT 3: Four Points Benin City offers 176 spacious guest rooms and suits along with exciting food and beverage options including an all-day dining restaurant , a pool bar and the brand's signature Best Brewsᵀᴹ program featuring local beers at the lobby and lounge- the ideal spot to watch spot matches and unwind with friends and colleagues. Other hotel facilities include a-state-of-the-heart 24-hour fitness, an outdoor pool, 400 square meter of flexible meeting places and a fully equipped business center. The hotel will provide all of the brand's defining elements including the signature Four Point bed, complimentary bottled water in all the rooms and suites, fast and free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, an energizing breakfast with fresh coffee that helps guest start and end the day right.

POINT 4: " Responding to the demand for affordable yet innovative lodging options is core to our development strategy." said Neil George, Senior Vice President Acquisitions  & Development Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Africa & Middle East. "Four Points has the largest number of rooms in Starwood's global pipeline and it's compelling blend of comfort and affordability make the brand increasingly attractive for owners and developers,"

With over 200 hotels in nearly 40 countries around the world, Four points continues to penetrate new markets globally. The brand is on track to extend it's portfolio of rooms by more than 50 percent in the next five years.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Hotel Owners in Abuja Threaten to Close

The Hotel Owners Forum in Abuja has threatened to close down hotels in the FCT if the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) insists on increasing charges for waste disposal.

According to Premium Times, Mr. Ekong, The president of the forum made the threat in an interview in Abuja on Thursday, he said that the director of the board had challenged the hike in the charges, saying that it would lead to irreversible price increase in hotel services.

He also said that, "As if the prevailing harsh economic environment is not enough, on June 1, the AEPB issued a new billing regime to our members, which reflects more than 1,683 percent increase."

"This is over and above the provisions of the Waste Management Regulation of 2005, which is in the gazette. The said new bills were retroactively backdated to January 2012.

"It is noted that the increase in this new price regime is the highest rate ever witnessed in the history of price adjustment in the FCT."

According to reports, Mr Ekong said that the forum has given the board one month ultimatum to reverse the hike in waste charges, otherwise, the association would hold a street protest after which it would go to court.

According to Mr Ekong, the board had given the hotels 21 days notice to pay the bill to avoid the shutdown of hotels in Abuja.

Reports says that the Director, AEPB, Isah Shuiabu, said that the hospitality industry and other commercial ventures had been grossly under-charged by the board, hence the need for an increase. He said that the increase was not based on arbitrary administrative decision, but on technical objectives.

He said the waste charges would not only be on the number of rentable rooms, but on all other activities generating waste.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Hotel Owner in Debt- Generators Siezed

Mirage Hotel owned by the immediate past minister of culture and tourism, Chief Edem Duke has been in debt of N52M. According to reports by Punch. Cross River state high court in Calabar ordered the seizure of four of the hotel generators.

Reports says that the four generators were on Monday removed from the premises of the hotel in Calabar, the state capital by Sypet Oil and Chemical Limited.

The hotel failed to settle the bill of N52M which had increased from October 30, 2014 to August 29, 2016. The issue resulted from outstanding bill owed; as a result of judgement delivered in October 2014 by the preceding judge of the State High Court in Calabar, Justice Ofem ordered the hotel to pay the sum of N2.93M to Sypet Oil and Chemical Limited as balance payment for Automotive Gas and Oil (Diesel) that was supplied to the hotel for usage on the facility.

Punch reports that the hotel failed to settle the debt forcing the Oil company to approach the court for a garnishee order to enforce the judgement in July.

As a result of this, the payment have still not being made because accroding to report, Utang, The company solicitor said," This discovery has prompted us to effect judgement by carting away the generators which could be sold after seven days to settle the debt"

Image Credit: Pixabay

Reasons Why Hotels are Expensive in Nigeria

There has been lots of skepticism relating to the reasons why hotels are expensive in Nigeria.Lots of foreigners come into the country and make the same complaints, Nigerians travel out of the country and come back to give the same complaints. The question is why?

According to Vanguard Newspaper, it reported that An hotel consultant, Gbnenga Oladele in a chat said hotels rely on diesel powered generators which costs fortunes, coupled with the fact that there is a major issue with electricity supply in Nigeria.

According to reports, he said, " if i have one guest in my hotel, I need to supply electricity. Some hotels prepared their budget for this year on N135 per litre for diesel, but today diesel is being sold in the range of N245. The question is where do you put the extra cost? Is it on rooms or food?

He also said, the issue of multiple taxes ia also another problem, which needs to be resolved before the cost of hotel in the country can be addressed.

"The government that is supposed to be helping hotel business is killing the sector with excess taxes. In Lagos, you have the consumption tax after the VAT. How do you expect business to survive when one has to pay different taxes?

He also added, "but with the way things are going, businesses are finding it tough to cope, while unemployment is increasing."

From my perspective, hotel business in Nigeria is lucrative but within the last couple of months to a year now, it's getting tougher, hotels are being shut down because they can't afford to pay this so called TAX, some can't meet up to the competition, others can't afford to pay staff. Everything boils down to ridiculous tax demand, high cost of energy, poor customer service from staff; simply because hotels can't hire personnel with good work experience, they would rather go for the poorly educated ones that will accept the poor salary they are offering, lack of good infrastructures in the country, high NEPA bill.....

There has to be a solution for us to enjoy the hotel business and for the job to get into the hands of those truly qualified to handle it.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Friday Inspiration

Employers are at their happiest on Mondays,
Employees are at their happiest on Fridays - Mokokoma

It's Friday, go get your groove on and stay happy, - Sade

"For Friday: You will need to know the difference between Friday and a fried egg. It's quite a simple difference,but an important one. Friday comes at the end of the week, whereas a fried egg comes out of a chicken, like most things, of course, it isn't quite that simple. The fried egg isn't properly a fried egg until it's been put in a frying pan and fried. This is something you would,t do to a Friday, of course, though you might do it on a Friday. You can also fry eggs on a Thursday, if you like, or on a cooker. It's all rather complicated, but it makes a kind of sense if you think about it for a while" - Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt.

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