The Nigeria Hotel Association (NHA) has decried multiple taxation from different levels of government, urging them to provide grants for the members of the association.

NHA President, Dr. Patrick Anyanwu, who made the appeal at a press conference in Bauchi on Thursday, observed that many members borrowed money from banks to run their businesses.

Anyanwu, who spoke against the background of the outcome of a recent delegate meeting held in Lagos earlier this month, said the association was working hard to unite members as one powerful body.

He said, “We are pleading for government grants because we are contributing a lot to the development of this country in terms of revenue, employment, and accommodating visitors from all over the world.

“The Government of Nigeria doesn’t have many hotels; it is members of NHA that accommodate their visitors from all over the world. They should think about giving us grants.

“Many of the hotels borrowed money from banks to uplift their business, but revenue officials keep coming to us with multiple requests for revenue. We deserve to have grants because, after states, hotel owners are the biggest sources of revenue to the government and the biggest employers of labour.

“When it comes to employment, for instance, there are hotels that employ more than 100 staff.”

He advised revenue collectors to liaise with the leadership of NHA in the states to know the calibre of hotels they demand revenue from, saying, “You cannot collect revenue by force and put pressure on the owners of hotels.”

The NHA National President, who said the association’s goal is to speak with one voice, explained that the grants would be used to put their hotel business in order.

“A hotel that was built 20 years ago has to be renovated to attract more visitors,” he explained, stressing the need for registration of new members and payment of annual dues regularly.

“If we don’t upgrade our hotels, they will go home with bad news, and it will affect the image of the country. We focus our attention on the government for grants because they are the ones coming to us to collect revenue issues, and if we leave those people we employ on their behalf, they will constitute a nuisance because a hungry man is an angry man,” he said.

Anyanwu urged owners of big hotels who have yet to join the association to do so.

He added, “Every hotel should register from the state to the national level. Most of these big hotels have refused to join the NHA because they feel they are capable of carrying their load.”

He said that NHA is not committed to tackling any problem encountered by members who are not registered with the association.

“You cannot commit an offence or have a serious issue and expect the association that you didn’t belong to carry the load,” he stated.

“People raised the alarm that they would kill somebody in their hotel, but after investigation, you discover that the hotel is not a member. Whoever is doing hotel business knows that they are supposed to belong to NHA because we do have meetings and update ourselves to know the challenges facing members in order to defend them when they are right and to punish erring members.”