The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Felix Omatsola Ogbe, has expressed confidence that the five-star Radisson Hotel and Conference Centre, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, would be completed and commissioned in December 2026, just as South Africa’s Edison Corporation, incorporating Radisson Hotels Group, assured of world-class services.
Addressing visiting top executives of Edison Corporation and Megastar Technical and Construction Company, at the conclusion of a one-day project management tour and workshop at the Nigerian Content Tower (NCT), Swali, Yenagoa, on Friday, Mr Ogbe described the hospitality facility as a top priority project to the Board, whose progress he would be “following up every day, every week.”
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“This project is critical to the Board, critical to Yenagoa, and to Bayelsa State and Nigeria,” he stated, adding, “With this hotel becoming functional at the end of the year, I believe there will be tourism in Bayelsa State; and that’s one of my dreams.” According to him, “When I took up this job [as Executive Secretary in December 2024], I said I must make this hotel work.”
He commended the team from Edison Corporation and the project contractor, Megastar Technical and Construction Company, for the quality and pace of work, and reminded its Management that much responsibility rests on the company for delivery on schedule.
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Mr Ogbe said, “most of the critical aspects of the project have been resolved in terms of mark-up room, scope of work in terms of financing and contracting strategies,” and that he was sure all hands would be on deck to ensure that work proceeded unhampered.
In his own remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of Edison Corporation, Mr Vivian Reddy, said the team from Edison Hotel Group was very excited to have come into a contractual arrangement with the NCDMB, assuring that “Radisson Hotel and Conference Centre, Yenagoa, will put this place on the world map.”
According to him, “What is so important with the group Radisson International is that, if anyone around the world looks for Radisson Yenagoa, they will see this place pop up, and it’s going to help to uplift the area in terms of visitors and tourism.”
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In a brief interaction with media men, he said, “Our role is to make sure we deliver a world-class quality hotel; from start to finish, we will open the hotel; we will furnish it.” He disclosed that his company is working with the main contractor to make sure the facility meets world-class standards.
On how the contractual deal with the NCDMB got finally sealed, he noted that it took great efforts. According to him, “Getting Radisson in here wasn’t easy: It took months and months – in fact over one and a half years – of discussions and thousands of pages of documentation.”
He pointed out that such rigorous processes were not without gains. In his words, “When a group like Radisson, one of the largest hotel groups in the world, decide and commit that they will come in here, it actually is a mark of confidence in the area.”
The Edison CEO, who is reputed to be the first South African businessman to lead a high-level business delegation from that country to Nigeria during the tenure of President Thabo Mbeki in 1999, was full of commendation for the NCDMB boss, describing him as “a great visionary, an excellent leader.”
“His vision and dream are going to become a reality,” he assured, adding, “We’re going to help him and make it – and it’s going to be the best hotel in this region.”
He also commended the project contractors and professional teams involved, stating that his team has every confidence in their technical competence.
On the team of Edison Corporation and Radisson International were Brian Sibusiso Mpono and Govindasami Monogren, among others.
The Radisson Hotel and Conference Centre, Yenagoa, as the NCDMB explained in a statement by the General Manager, Corporate Communications Division, Dr Obinna Ezeobi, is designed to meet global five-star standards and is expected to serve as a strategic hub for industry conferences, investor engagements, and high-level business meetings, thereby boosting economic activities in Bayelsa State and the Niger Delta.
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