Like the fabled Cheshire cat in Lewis Caroll’s literary classic, Alice in Wonderland, Jim Ovia’s Marriott Hotel project is turning to a white elephant project, literally though. Few people will forget the unusual buzz news of the hotel’s emergence in the highbrow hospitality sector generated few years ago.
When news filtered out back then that the massive land on the ever busy Ozumba Mbadiwe drive, Victoria Island, Lagos would house the prestigious Marriott Hotel with over 150 rooms, an Olympic-sized swimming pool and a parking lot that can comfortably accommodate over 200 cars at once, not a few people looked forward to it.
Not just because of the company’s presence in over 170 cities across 50 countries or its impeccable records of pristine hospitality, but more because of the antecedents of the man behind the project: Jim Ovia, Chairman, Zenith bank. Hardly anyone doubted the project’s capacity to succeed given Jim’s famed abilities as a boardroom tactician and technocrat of repute.
While signing the multi-billion naira deal between Quantum Luxury Properties Limited and the Marriott, Ovia had disclosed that the Lagos Marriott Hotel would be ready in 2016 and would boast all the facilities and luxury associated with an international market leader like Marriott. He bragged and bayed about it. But nothing is happening there, even as you read.
The building remains nothing short of a still-birth, attracting curious stares, pitiful glances and questions bordering on the much-touted mojo of the proprietor. This is not unconnected with the fact that Jim is one of Nigeria’s most respected businessmen. But to what can we adduce the seeming nonchalance of the Delta State born billionaire to complete the project? Will Jim allow the hotel to simply fade out?…Time will tell.
