One of Nigeria’s most prestigious hospitality centers, Kakanfo Inn and Conference Centre located in Ibadan and owned by Dr Lekan Are has added a new variety to its services with the opening of the exquisite Saba Saba Club.
Declaring the club open recently, the Chairman of Kakanfo Inn and Conference Centre, Dr Lekan Are, traced the history of its name to a restaurant, which he and his wife Olabisi, operated in Ibadan many years ago. While praising her for bringing back the name in a new form, he thanked the Chief Executive Officer of the hotel, Damola Are, for showing interest in his parents’ projects.
The club, which has the capacity to sit 75 persons at a time, will host guests to shows, such as the Divas Night every Wednesday, Karaoke Challenge every Thursday and CEO’s Night on Fridays. The Saba Saba Night comes up every Saturday while the Old School/Comedy Night comes up every Sunday.
Among the guests at the occasion were the founder of Subuola Memorial School, Bolatito Adesina Iyaogeh, Chief Tunji Amole, Martins Lawani, Dr and Mrs Ayodele Adelaja, Adekunle Are, Segun Fatoki and Debo Adegbola.
Are said, “The name Saba Saba is a recall of a restaurant we established many years ago. We had high profile clients, among them the late Chief Akin Deko. In Nigeria, if you put your business in people’s hands, they will run it down.
“As long as we were around, the restaurant was doing well. But we had to go to Liberia on a duty. By the time we came back during a vacation, we found out that everything was down.
“We managed to revive the restaurant, but when we left again, they ruined it. We found out, for example, that the head waiter bought a new bus and employed a driver that came to take him home. We were told that he had completed a house too. They ruined the place so we closed it. We started the hotel later.
“Damola has always shown interest in whatever we do. We once ran a poultry farm that was producing inconsistent yields. When we were around, the number of eggs picked would increase. But it would go down once we were not there. We were losing 40 crates per day. When we discovered this, Damola volunteered to visit the farm early in the morning everyday. The strategy paid off when he discovered the various ways in which the workers were stealing the eggs. He did a lot to help found the Saba Saba Club with his ingenuity.”
In her speech, the founder of the club, Mrs Are, noted the challenges facing an entrepreneur in Nigeria. She also thanked her son, Damola, for doing a lot to help sustain the hotel and establish the club.
To spice up the ceremony, there were performances by artistes, such as Tswaglee, Prince Larry, Keanzo, Ajax leo and King Ferrari.
Credit: punchng.com
