Governor Bassey Otu has reopened a rehabilitated and upgraded Marina Resort in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, southern Nigeria.
Governor Otu, who was represented by the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, Mr. Elvert Ayambem, expressed satisfaction with the Managing Director of the State’s Tourism Bureau, Mr. Ojoi Ekpenyong for working assiduously on the Marina Resort.
Otu also expressed satisfaction with the new regulations, security network and general outlook of the resort, which he noted was an important infrastructure to the history of the people of Calabar and the state’s tourism industry.
According to the governor, the resort was shut down four months ago as a mark of respect to the deceased university students, who drowned while on a leisure boat ride along the Calabar channel and bereaved families.
He said, “What I have seen here is very impressive. You can see that fun seekers are ready for a good time. It shows that residents missed visiting the resort a lot. It shows clearly that the people are happy. Life has returned to Cross River State. It can be boring when families have no fun place to hang out, now families can visit here every weekend as it used to be.”
On security, the governor said, “The security stationed along the waterways is very critical to this resort and to us as a Tourism state. This is a clear statement to our people that they are not under threat. Fun seekers are truly secure and we are determined to keep our city this way, safe at all times.
“What has been done here is much and as time goes on there would be future upgrades, I assure you. There will be tremendous improvements in this resort and across other tourism sites in the days to come,” Otu assured.
Historical significance
In an interview, the Special Adviser to the governor on Special Projects, Mr. Ekpenyong Akiba commended the governor for investing in the renovation and upgrading of facilities at the resort, noting that the entire resort held historical significance to the people as the cradle of civilisation in Nigeria.
He further stated, “We are glad that the movie theatre is back, entertainment is back, enjoyment for families and fun seekers is back and peace is back to Calabar and Cross River State. We must commend the governor for making this place a reality. The management too must be commended for the hard work.
“I believe in the coming days what is left undone will be taken care of and the insecurity of the past will be no more. Indeed, we congratulate the government for reopening the resort on the day of Nigeria’s 63rd Independence Day celebration. We can rest assured that the investment needed across all our tourism sites, would be met,” he stressed.
Rebranded resort
Earlier, the Managing Director of the Cross River State Tourism Bureau, Mr. Ojoi Ekpenyong appreciated Governor Otu for his commitment to developing the industry and the approval for rehabilitation of the resort after the Four months closure.
He also stated, “It is a special day for us in the tourism cluster because we now have a rebranded Marina Resort. It is clean with a 24-hour power supply and tight security. Our vendors are ready, we have reactivated the police post, rebranded our internal security system and rebranded our service providers. Indeed residents and Nigerians are better for it.”
The Marina Resort was built on May 26, 2007, by the former governor, Mr. Donald Duke to promote tourism in Calabar and is home to a standard cinema, Slave Museum and many other entertainment centres.
Dominica Nwabufo
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