Goodluck Jonathan, who used to be the President of Nigeria, remarked that most of the projects he started as Governor of Bayelsa State were left unfinished right after he departed to become Vice President to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
Jonathan said today at the opening of the Best Western Plus Hotel, a new world-class hotel on Oxbow Lake in Yenagoa, that the problem with state-level governance is that when governors leave, their successors don’t want to finish the projects that were started with state funds, according to Daily Trust.
He praised the management of Best Western Plus for bringing such a high-end brand to Bayelsa.
He remembered trying to get private businesses to invest in hotels and restaurants while he was governor to make Yenagoa more appealing to tourists and business travelers.
He said, “As the first elected deputy governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha started hosting the African Movie Academy Award (AMAA) ceremonies. People from America, South Africa, and other countries came, including actors and actresses. It was a world event. You know all these celebrities live sort of fantastic lives. For the first edition, most of the guests from outside stayed in Port Harcourt because there were no hotels in Bayelsa State.”
“The goal of a state in promoting tourism is to get tourists to spend their foreign money in the state to help the local economy. If the state spends money on a program that brings people from all over the world and then the money is spent in other states, that is a bad investment.”
“So when I became governor, there were a lot of small hotels in Yenagoa. We can’t build a three-star hotel overnight, so we gave some money to our hotels to help them get better, but they were supposed to pay us back. We gave money to a number of people, up to N10 million, but because I left, no one got their money back.
“When we wanted to host again, we quickly gave contracts to build three hotels: the tower hotel and two three-star hotels. If they had built these three hotels, visitors to Bayelsa State would have had a comfortable place to stay. But somehow, when I left, even the people I got to work for us, we didn’t see what they did.
“That’s the problem with government,” he added. “When the governor leaves, the next one doesn’t want to follow up, and most of the money spent will go.”
Mrs. Initeme Aduke-Eromhonsele, the hotel’s Executive Director, and Dr. Harcourt Aduke, the hotel’s creator, talked about what makes the hotel special. They said it was a mix of style, comfort, and modern convenience.
They said that the hotel has stunning views of Oxbow Lake from the lakefront, which makes for a peaceful and beautiful setting for guests.
The grand opening of the Best Western Plus Hotel, which is part of the well-known Best Western brand, shows that Yenagoa is becoming a popular place for tourists, investors, and high-end hotels in the Niger Delta region.
Governor Diri praised the hotel owner for his foresight and dedication to investing in the Bayelsa economy by building such a high-quality facility.
He called the project a significant initiative that will help the state’s hotel industry, give young people jobs, and help the community grow.
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