Obudu Mountain Resort in Cross State is undoubtedly one of Nigeria’s best tourist attractions with natural bliss and quality facilities that any visitor would find irresistible. Paul Kavanaugh, an hotelier of many years standing, was for two years the general manager of the resort. He speaks with ANDREW IRO OKUNGBOWA of the magical, enchanting and revealing nature of the resort and his experience of Nigeria over the years
Background
Mr. Paul Kavanaugh is a world class hotel manager with many years of experience in the different aspect of the hospitality sector especially with managing city hotels, is the general manager of Westwood Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos. In 2009, he was contracted by African Sun, a Zimbabwean, Harare-based international hotel chain, to manage the resort, which was one of their earliest portfolios in Nigeria. But the management of the resort has since reverted to the Cross River State government, owners of the world class resort.
For two years, Kavanaugh managed the affairs of the resort and years after departing the facility, he still nurses a feeling for the resort, talking about it in glowing terms and describing it as one of the best well-kept secret of the world.
Interestingly, Kavanaugh who within the two years also explored most parts of the state and interacted with the people not only has fond memories of the state but actually describes himself as a proudly naturalised citizen of the state.
“I am proudly Cross Riverian, Obaniluku is my local government area and that is just the way it is. Obviously, Obudu in a way is my ultimate home but I am very proudly Cross Riverian that will always be my adopted state from now on,” he said.
The place is magical
Obudu Mountain Resort is the most incredible hotel environment that this country is blessed with. It is a special magical place that should be treated whether by state government or federal government, as a national treasure.
It should be submitted to be a world heritage site and should be protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural organisation (UNESCO). The place is magical and when you go up to the ‘Holy Mountain’ on your own and you sit on Holy Mountain, it is one of most spiritually beautiful places on earth.
I have travelled over 127 countries around the world and there is nowhere else better. Spain is fairly close but there is nowhere better to sit than on Obudu Mountain when the clouds are 200 metres below you, all white and fluffy and beautiful and the sun is shining and you can feel in your bones the whole spirit of the mountain.
If it was in American it would be the Yellow Stone Park, it would be protected by the nation because of the wonder that it is to the nation. Our land is the most important thing that we have and we should protect it. As a people we come and go but our land is our land and it is there forever.
Challenging resort to manage
Obudu is blessed with great and wonderful people. It is just special and a really magical people and very challenging resort. It is a real challenge and difficult to run. It provided me with all the challenges that I could face, it provided me with challenges I just couldn’t think existed inside a hotel.
It changed me dramatically
It changed me as a human being, it changed me dramatically as a human being and forever I will carry that mountain in my heart. I travel out and meet presidents and prime ministers of other countries and I proudly talk about the mountain.
Everything that I ever dream about before I came here; the perceptions that I had and then the realities of what I found were true. All the perceptions were true but the reality was so much positive. I remembered having bonfire parties on the mountain and everybody dancing and having to catch fun even though they were living a tough and hard life but they knew how to have fun. That was really lovely and really nice.
The same thing with Calabar because Calabar is a fun city and so different from a place like Lagos. I remember going to Calabar Carnival or Festival, just great event that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
Those first few years that I came here (Obudu) it was everything and more than I expected.
Nigeria has been amazing
For me personally, Nigeria has been life changing, it has been amazing and amazingly stressful. I am glad I learnt about ‘wahala.’ It may be the only country that I have ever come across a whole language about every other thing.
Everything I read about Nigeria before I came is only 10 per cent truth but what I never read about Nigeria was all the good stuff –the people, the music, the energy, the passion, the patriotism. There is so much greatness about this country.
…Fun and challenging
Nigeria has been fun, it has been challenging, it has been educational, it has been enlightening and it has been frustrating. It has been stressful but amazing. Quite simply an amazing country.
Nigeria is the country that it is all about its potential, it is all about its tomorrow and what it should but could become.
You are talking about the third largest country on earth in 20, 25 years’ time. What that will mean, how it would evolve, the educational need, the infrastructure need and the health need are huge. The potential of this country is absolutely phenomenon and the passion to deliver it is there.
Nigeria needs the outside world to grow
It still needs the outside world as every other country does because no country can be an island. Nigeria needs the outside world to develop but equally the outside world needs to realise that it needs Nigeria.
When you come here, understand that this is Nigeria and that this is not just Nigeria but this is ‘naija.’
Nigeria needs a hotel school and catering college
As for our industry, I will love our industry to get close together, to work close together. Not necessarily being competitive but we need to understand our responsibilities to the country and to work together. We pay consumption charges and the state should be using that money to build a hotel school and a catering college.
Whether they build it through private-public partnership or whatever model they use our industry needs it. And when they come, those big international hotels and companies should embrace the responsibility to participate in it.
When we have hotel school and a catering college here and we can bring those people (experts) here that will be very good for the industry because we as an industry needs that, we need a voice to champion that. As Westwood, we want to be part of that. Bring in people here to educate and lecture and train our people.
We need to grow
We need to grow, we need to improve and as an industry we need support. We need support from the federal government; we need support from the state government; and from the ministry of tourism. Almost every state has a ministry of tourism but how many tourists come to Nigeria?
It is difficult getting a visa to Nigeria
It is very difficult to get a visa, we should lower the cost of coming to Nigeria in comparison to our neighbours and make it easier and embrace people coming here and when they come and they meet Nigerians they go away saying the place is amazing, the people are really nice and quite different from the perception they all have from outside.
Why I left Obudu Mountain Resort
I left Obudu not because of Obudu, not because of the governor, not because of Cross River State or anything from the Nigeria side but I left solely and singularly because of the international management company that was responsible for the hotel at the time. I was an employee of theirs and I would spend most of the time embarrassed and ashamed to have my name associated with their name because what they were doing was wrong.
It was morally wrong, it was professionally wrong and as an industry it was wrong. I still talk to some people in African Sun and I still have some people in there that I would say are friends.
But I just couldn’t be a party to what was going on and so I had to leave because of that. I had a conversation with the governor and I said look, I just can’t do this.
After Obudu I have gone out of the country and back and forth. I came back to Victoria Crown Plaza Hotel on Victoria Island, Lagos. I met some great people and very challenging hotel and worked with probably the best deputy general manager that I have ever worked with in Africa. I got to learn about Lagos through that hotel, I got to learn about the difference here than to stay in Calabar and Obudu.
I left the hotel and worked at The George briefly helping to set it up before moving over to Westwood Hotel Ikoyi.
