The decision of the Umo Eno administration to complete the long-abandoned 200-room hotel and a 5,000-capacity convention centre at the Tropicana complex in Uyo is a clear testament to the governor’s maturity, good intentions and good conscience. For the first time in a long while, we have a leader who is not driven by pettiness and meanness in the course of running the government. The Tropicana Complex was initiated by the Akpabio administration in 2008 as a major entertainment and shopping centre, but it was steeped in controversy right from inception. Former governor Attah lampooned the project, arguing that the location was not suitable for such a big multipurpose construction. Attah’s criticisms embarrassed Gov. Akpabio, and Akwa Ibom people lost interest in the project. Obong Attah is a strong voice in the state, and when he speaks, many listen.
The failure of Gov. Akpabio to deliver the project before he left office only reinforced Attah’s criticisms. Only the cinemas were functional when Akpabio left. The convention centre was abandoned at the foundation level. The hotel appeared fully built, but it was not open. The children’s park was abandoned with some equipment uninstalled. Rumours flew all over the place on why the Tropicana was abandoned. Some claimed that tests conducted had revealed that the soil condition was not suitable for the construction of a high-capacity project like the convention centre. There were also rumours that the hotel was sinking and would collapse in two years!
Sometime in 2019, I confronted Akpabio with these stories. He debunked the rumours and told me that the hotel was fully completed and the furnishings he ordered had arrived in 40 containers and that his successor had deliberately refused to furnish the hotel and open it for business. “But I hear that the building is sinking, Senator, I pushed back. “That’s a lie’’, Akpabio countered, adding, “The place is solid. I awarded the contract for the furnishing of the hotel to your friend’s wife (he mentioned her name). The containers had arrived, but my successor has deliberately refused to furnish the hotel and open it for business. With so much money spent on the project, the Tropicana Complex became the single biggest and costliest abandoned project in Akwa Ibom; it was synonymous with corruption and waste.
I was personally pained by the abandonment of the Tropicana because I had supported and endorsed the project in a series of articles I wrote then, distancing myself from Gov. Attah’s trenchant criticisms. I flew in from Lagos through Port Harcourt to attend the flag-off of the construction of Tropicana by President Yar’Adua. It was obvious that the president was not in good health, but he managed to attend the ceremony in person. The air was thick with expectation, and the excitement was palpable. Women sang and danced, and the speeches were energetic. Akpabio described the project as unique, noting that it would offer a complete family package of shopping and entertainment – while the children would be playing in the water parks, their parents would be shopping in the malls. The Tropicana was presented as our answer to the Tinapa in Calabar, which was created by another youthful governor, Donald Duke, as Nigeria’s answer to Dubai! But while the Tropicana limped along, the Tinapa flopped soon after Duke left office in 2007.
Gov. Udom Emmanuel added value to the Tropicana by renovating it, creating more malls and inviting a supermarket chain, Grand Square, as the lead retailer. Together with the cinemas, the place then became the best leisure and shopping destination in Uyo. But the hotel and convention centre remained abandoned. Instead of completing the two projects, Gov. Udom Emmanuel chose to build a 21-storey building a few metres from the hotel.
Each time I drive on Udo Udoma Avenue, the sight of the abandoned 12-storey hotel and the thoughts of the billions that went down the drains would tug at every strand of my being. I would then remember the promise made by Ben Murray Bruce, one of the major contractors of the Tropicana on the day of the flag-off. “Mr President’’, Bruce addressed President Yar’Adua at the ceremony, “this convention centre will be so beautiful that you will want to host the PDP National Convention here when it is completed.’’ He went on: “Mr President, before now, there were some petty farmers on this land, growing various crops, but we have assured the farmers that we shall extend scholarships to their children for relocating them from this location. That was in October 2008 during the fag-off of the project. President Yar’Adua died less than two years after the ceremony, and the Tropicana remained incomplete as a symbol of official depravity.
Etim, a retired banker, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Policy and Politics.
