Fifteen years after it was abandoned, the Hotel Presidential, Enugu, came alive on Thursday with its commissioning as Governor Peter Mbah declared that his administration was building an economy where talent and hard work would determine outcomes.
The 100-room capacity Hotel Presidential, built by the Dr. Micheal Okpara administration of the old Eastern Region, had lain in ruins since 2008, defying efforts of past administrations to rehabilitate it following alleged paucity of funds and court cases.
Through a concessionaire, Amber Hospitality, the Mbah administration brought a new leaf to the iconic hotel with its rehabilitation.
Commissioning the facility in Enugu on Thursday, Mbah told a cheering crowd that the recovery of the hotel was part of his administration’s determination to make Enugu the preferred destination for investment, tourism, living, and leisure.
Explaining that his administration pledged to “convert dormant assets into productive assets; turn liabilities into engines of growth,” he stated that the facility “is a strategic enabler of our growth plan, comprising the ambitious target to grow Enugu’s economy seven-fold to at least $30 billion and to achieve a zero per cent poverty headcount rate.”
He added that to do this, his administration decided to “unlock sectors that create jobs at scale, deepen our tax base through growth – not higher rates – and crowd in private capital.”
He continued: “Our hospitality ecosystem today is simply inspiring: the 5,000-seat International Conference Centre (ICC) now anchors Enugu’s conferencing ambitions; the adjacent 5-star, 345-room ICC Hotel under construction will deliver premium ‘keys’ for large events; Enugu Air, which has given wings to our dreams and announced the scale of our vision to the world;
And now, the renewed Hotel Presidential adds a full-service icon back into the mix.”
Mbah said the new Hotel Presidential meets the expectations of today’s traveller: modern rooms and suites, efficient lifts and safety systems, contemporary conference and events spaces, improved culinary offerings, reliable power and water, and digital comfort.
He disclosed that the economic value was already visible, stressing that the hotel alone supports hundreds of direct jobs, culinary and events teams, engineering, landscaping, suppliers, and several other opportunities.
He pledged to strengthen local expertise in hospitality to enable Enugu youths to compete for jobs in the sector, adding that the dream had been enhanced through the full accreditation of hospitality programmes granted to the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu.
“We will strive to foster the blossoming of local content, farm-to-table supply chains that give our farmers predictable demand and fair prices, and procurement policies that favour MSMEs that meet quality standards,” he added.
