Breathing life back into a Yoruba heritage

• Published date: 24 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

It was the standard of a five-star hotel in the days of the defunct Western Region covering today's Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ogun and Ekiti states. Premier Hotel was the topmost destination for business people, professionals, top government functionaries, diplomats and celebrities who had anything to do in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.

Sitting atop Mokola Hill at the heart of Ibadan city, Premier Hotel has hosted the who-is-who in Nigeria from 1960s to date. Guests attending political engagements including campaigns, government functions, social events, book launches, seminars and conferences as well as festivals used to enjoy excellent service and the comfort that the hotel offered. It was the official lodging facility for guests of Western Regional government and later Oyo State Government. Its proximity to state secretariat, government house, Dugbe central business district and Adamasingba stadium, among others, added to its advantage over competitors.

But its reputation began to suffer when maintenance and upgrade of the physical facilities were neglected. Thriving hotels sustain their lead by maintaining and constantly upgrading their facilities in line with new trends. Internal decoration and upgrade of in-room, in-hall and in-toilet facilities are key to retaining customers. Premier Hotel began to fail in the areas, leading to dwindling revenues and reputation crisis.

By 1995, Premier, a hotel that was the dream of lodgers and holiday goers, was already a shadow of itself. It began to struggle in recording substantial profit. At a time, the hotel was struggling with maintaining its two lifts as age began to tell on facilities. The Nation reliably gathered that Oyo State Government also compounded its woes by delaying payment for services rendered. The debts ran into millions of naira every time. Then conference, seminar and workshop organisers began to look elsewhere for better facilities and comfort for their participants.

Respite, however, came the way of the hilltop hotel when Nigeria hosted the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 1999. The hotel was one of those used to accommodate players and officials for the tournament, which ran from April 3 to 24, 1999. The owners invested massively in the upgrade of the facilities at the time to pass FIFA approval. But Premier Hotel's fortunes plummeted again after the renovation outlived its impact. The hotel could not sustain the renovation due to lack of funds and heavy expenses.

At the time, the 87-room hotel had over 200...