Uwemedimo Udo
Proverbial ‘One Chance’ ?
Most Nigerian politicians have developed a habit of using words carelessly to play on the collective intelligence of their subjects to satisfy their inordinate ambition and curry undeserved commendations. The case of the Four points by Sheraton Hotel in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State presents one clear example of a leadership that was tainted with deceit and dishonesty in our democratic drive.
This grand deceit has forced my desperation to approach Wikipedia for help in trying to decipher what ‘project commissioning’ truly entails. According to them, ‘Project commissioning is the process of assuring that all systems and components of a building or industrial plant are designed, installed, tested, operated, and maintained according to the operational requirements of the owner or final client. A commissioning process may be applied not only to new projects but also to existing units and systems subject to expansion, renovation or revamping’.
It appears very unambiguous to every right thinking person that project commissioning should naturally signify the COMPLETENESS of a thing and nothing else. To commission therefore means beginning to put to use that which has been constructed. It becomes very untidy and a difficult thing to understand when a project that was commissioned on tuesday 26th May, 2015 at a very colorful event suddenly becomes slated for completion, over two years after.
A peep into the 2017 Supplementary Budget of Akwa Ibom State quickly reveals that the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel at Ikot Ekpene has been listed for completion by Akwa Ibom State government. It defies common sense and natural logic to have this happen in this digital age, as enlightened as we are. It makes me feel worse to know that this appropriation bill passed through the State Parliament unscathed. This is very pathetic. Does it mean Akwa Ibom people have just been swindled?
The hotel which was handed over to Starwood International, an American Leisure and Hospitality Company some two years ago by the immediate past regime in the State, after the hotel management contract was signed by the VP of Starwood, Mr. Hassan Ahdab SHOULD BE MAKING GOOD RETURNS ON INVESTMENT and not what we are being told now.
It may serve the interest of accountability and transparency if more information is made available by the State Government on the TRUE STATE of AFFAIRS in our hospitality heaven.
