Date: 2016-10-13

The Chairman, Harmony Holdings, Prof. Halidu Abubakar, has said that the company has taken over the management of the government-owned Kwara Hotel, to reposition and make it profitable.

Abubakar said this while addressing newsmen during the inspection of the hotel by the company's board on Wednesday in Ilorin.

The company formally took over the hotel on October 11. The hotel was established in 1975 by the state government under the leadership of late Colonel David Bamigboye, the then Military Administrator of the defunct Kwara State. The Chairman, who is also the Emir of Ilesha Baruba, said the hotel could not be allowed to degenerate.

He said the new management would ensure the best working environment and turn things around for the good of the people. Abubakar expressed concern over the backlog of salaries owed the workers of the hotel, saying that the situation was disturbing.

Abubakar said: "We are aware of the workers' situation. Their pain is our pain and we are ready to dialogue if they give us attention. "We want everything done on time as renovation of the hotel will commence as soon as possible."

He called for public cooperation and prayers for the new management to succeed. He lamented: "I feel like weeping when I see the status of this hotel as it’s gradually degenerating. "We in Harmony Holdings deem it fit to rescue the situation because we are also from Kwara."