By OSA VICTOR OBAYAGBONA | IYAYI OWEGIE | TOBORE JEROME

April 20, 2024

Shackmore Nyoka is the Managing Director of OTI Hotel, Benin, a key player in the hospitality and tourism sector. In this interview with The Nigerian Observer team comprising the Acting Managing Director/Managing Director, OSA VICTOR OBAYAGBONA, Advert Manager, IYAYI OWEGIE, and Political Correspondent, TOBORE JEROME, Nyoka speaks on issues surrounding the hospitality and tourism sector in Edo State, the Oti brands operations in the state and what OTI Hotel is doing differently to stand out from others. Excerpts:

Oti brand is a new name but it is actually managed by Amber Services, which is the management company that operates these two hotels in Benin City – Oti Hotel by Amber Services and Oti Resort Group. It was started in 2012. We manage hotels in Lagos, Owerri, Port Harcourt as well as in Benin City. It is apparently a big hotel brand that was mandated to take charge of Oti Hotel so that we are able to provide exceptional services for all the guests coming to Benin City.

What were your motivations for setting up in Edo State, given that there are already numerous hotels operating in the state, and how do you intend to make this venture a success?

First, we saw that there was actually a gap in Benin City with regard to accommodation and conference services for different people who were coming from different parts of the world. So, what we did was to come up with a structure that would be able to cater for those needs. If you come to Oti Hotel, I am sure you can see we have a rooftop bar which is not something that is common in Benin City as the city is not for nightlife. That’s why we started to put the rooftop bar at the top.

Having operated in Benin City for a while, what can you say about hotel business in the city, and what are the challenges that hotel business owners face?

In terms of business, Benin City is actually a very thriving landscape for hospitality services. I’m sure because Oti Hotel started operations in December 2022. Last year was our first year and looking at the numbers and the occupancy rate, it was actually an average of 62% occupancy rate which is quite high for somebody who is new in Benin City. We also did a market survey to compare our competition and everything. We checked out Protea Hotel, Home Ville Hotel and other brands. We discovered that they could not even accommodate all the guests that were coming to Benin City. So, there was actually a need for more rooms in Benin City.

That is why the Edo State Government is trying to bring another brand, Radisson Hotel, because sometimes we actually run out of rooms for people when they come to Benin City, especially on weekends. People take this place as a place of leisure, as a place of relaxation during weekends, even during Christmas period or Easter period where a lot of people come back from the diaspora. You know Benin City has a lot of people who are working outside Nigeria and during those periods, they all come back home and they all require a place where they feel safe, and can have the same luxury as in the places they came from. So, the business is certainly thriving in this part of the world.

For your business to be thriving, you are definitely doing something right. What is that niche you have carved that differentiates you from others?

We train and retrain our staff. Those in the front desk monitor staff in terms of receiving customers because once you come here, we want you to have an unforgettable experience; we want this place to feel like home and away from home for you, right from when you get to the security, and the checking process. Also, you will find your room with good air-conditioning. Apart from the services and our idea of selling, you know, if you go to other hotel brands, they welcome you by saying, How many we help you? But here, we have our common slogan, How may we serve you? We take all of us as servants to you so that you actually enjoy your stay and actually feel quite at home in our hotel.

What is Oti Hotel doing differently in the area of staff welfare?

First, our staffers are on competitive salaries. What we did was before we recruited them, we had to check around different hotels on how much they are paying, and also how much they are paying in Abuja and Lagos. So, we tried to make sure that we put in line with all those people so that we don’t end up losing our staff to Lagos. What we also did was to pay them what they call service charge. Remember, the federal government put a 10% service charge for hotel staff. Looking at that, their salaries were quite low as compared to other industries. So, on the 15th of every month, we also give that service charge which is 10% of the revenue. The more the revenue they make, the more the service charge that they also get. We also make sure that we provide uniforms for them yearly. They are also qualified for leave yearly, leave allowance, and medical.

This is in addition to pensions. We also have staff of the month award, celebrating their birthdays, among others. All these are to ensure that we retain our staff and they feel that they are part of the family.

As the Managing Director of Oti Hotel, Benin City, what are your targets, and how are you going about achieving those targets?

Wherever I end up posted to, its to make sure that at the end of five years, I would be able to have trained like between 10 and 20 people who can do the job better or to do like me. So, at the moment, I am working with a few managers for this part of the world. I train them on the rudiments of the hospitality industry concerning how do you manage operations? How do you manage your F&B operations? How do you clean rooms? How do you make a place like this?

It keeps on getting better. Because what I have seen in Nigeria is after four to five years, the business begins to go down. This is what we are trying to change in their mentality that even in 10 years time when people come, they should be able to experience the same service that they had five or 10 years ago or even better. I wouldn’t be happy if I was still here 10 years later when there’s nobody to replace me.

After five years, I believe that there should be persons from Edo State who would be able to replace me and to do the job better than I because after the training that we have offered them, that is what we have been targeting as a group. We want to make sure that the locals are trained to do the job better, to be able to market at least all these things that we are doing and how it can spread to other parts of the state, not only Benin City, but Auchi and other surrounding areas. That’s my target as a person.

Like every other economy, there’s a time for highs, there is a time for lows. I believe this is a low period in terms of the average money that a person has to spend is utterly affected. And the issue of the government floating the naira, you can see that prices of a lot of products went up in the market. We were also affected because we depend mostly on farm produce for our restaurants.

Because we depend mostly on diesel for our generators, the price also went up at the moment, averaging N1,600 per litre. In other words, we are also affected. But what we have done is we know that it will take a long time for the market to adjust itself. So, at the moment, we have to work out with the chef, the operations team to see how we can address the situation in terms of not just increasing the price of food for the customers because we will end up chasing the customers away.

So, what we have done is we have looked into the areas where we can get alternatives. I will give an example. If you were using croaker fish, in the current situation, you can start using egg fish. Where you were using turkey, chicken and this, you can also look for alternatives. So, this is what we have done to ensure we still give our customers the old price for them not to run away from us. Even in terms of cleaning, they are all different cleaning companies like Justin, the Messy, like Hurricane, etc. You also have to source products that are cheaper, so that at least you don’t have to increase the price to your customers. In the short run, everybody is affected. But in the long run, I believe everything will be stabilised so that we don’t need to pass on the cost to our customers.

What are your views about the Expatriate Employment Levy which has now been waived by the Federal Government?

I’m quite happy because honestly, I think it was going to affect a lot of businesses and a lot of investors because already, for us to renew papers for expatriates yearly, we pay $2,000. It was actually another levy on top of another levy which was quite high. A lot of employers were going to allow those guys to go back and this thing was going to affect the development of this country because most of these people are here to add their knowledge. They are here to showcase their knowledge and we have been benefitting, so we are quite happy that it has been cancelled.

Coming back to Edo State, are there specific things the Edo State Government has done or currently doing to make the business environment conducive for your operations? If so, could you mention some of them?

Our biggest cost is power. And if you are running on diesel, you end up spending a lot. What the Edo State Government has done is to come up with the Ossiomo power supply. These guys have tried to provide power for like 18 hours a day, which is quite good for our business and then we are not spending so much on this. And this has actually helped our business to thrive.

Furthermore, recently, our governor facilitated United Airlines to start flying into Edo State. So, at the moment we now have more customers coming to Edo State during the weekends and this has actually boosted our business and what I am also happy about is that it is better for everybody. Recently, the Radisson brand started the construction of its edifice in Benin City. This will definitely push everybody to try and spice up your service. What the government is doing in the state is actually a plus for the hospitality business.

Yes, in terms of security, Edo is one of the safest states. This is one of the few states where you can see foreigners moving about freely without being accompanied by policemen.

So, what is your outlook for the hotel and tourism industry in Edo State, and what does the Oti brand intend to achieve in the near future?

Looking at Edo State, the future is really bright. From what I have seen at the moment, if a bigger brand like Raddison group wants to come to Edo State, it is because they have seen that something good is happening in the state. We now have the Marriott brand and other brands want to come to Edo State. This one speaks volumes about what Edo State is attracting in terms of investors, in terms of the tourism sector. The outlook is actually very bright.

As a nation, people need to really look inward and see where we can improve security provision because some states are still suffering from insecurity. Government still needs to do a lot more so that we can be able to attract more visitors to Nigeria who will feel safe with their families.

What would be your advice to the state and federal governments regarding the operating environment, and to the customers you serve?

My advice to the government is to continue to make the hostile environment conducive for investors. Why I say this is because we have a lot of taxes to pay, VAT, consumption tax, service charge, all these taxes that come up. My advice to the government is if they can also try and look at consumption tax, because I believe this is double taxation. After paying VAT, then you still need to pay another 5% consumption tax at the end of the day. At least if that consumption tax is waived, we would be able to improve the work for our staff, improve the building, improve everything. So, that is my plea to the government to have a look at that. In other states, they have done away with it. I believe that Edo will soon follow suit so as to encourage more players and more investors to come invest in the state.

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The Nigerian Observer is a daily newspaper published in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, since 1968 by the Bendel Newspapers Company Limited (BNCL) and is owned by the Edo State Government

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