A Special Resort

The tourist attraction which is 85 minutes by speedboat from Warri and 45 minutes from Lagos, is a suspended wooden structure built on the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean. The facility boasts of 22 exquisitely furnished single rooms and four executive suites. It also has a night club, a well stocked bar, a pool room, hairdressing and barbing salon with state-of-the-art equipment, a gym and a restaurant.

The resort also has a large stretch of sandy beach that is suitable for outdoor events. Speaking at the commissioning, on 28 December last year, Dr. Uduaghan, who observed that youths were given all sorts of negative names during the ethnic strife, said he was delighted at the positive turn of events.

“Today, I am vindicated because out of these youths society labeled as being restive, out of these youths society called useless, out of these youths who society described as drug addicts, out of these youths society labeled as being militants, out of these youths people thought had no brains have become pillars of the society,” Uduaghan said.

And to enable people in government see the development going on in the area, the governor announced to the gathering that the first retreat by officials of the state government in January will be held at the 911 Beach and Resort.

Uduaghan said the resort has placed a moral responsibility on youths–whom his administration has empowered immensely–to invest in their communities so as to stem rural-urban drift, and promote inter-ethnic harmony and brotherliness. Specifically praising Emami for his efforts at creating employment for the people of the area, the governor charged youths to be creative without becoming violent or criminal.

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, founder of the Word of Life Bible Church, Warri and President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, said the resort is a testimony to the fact that the various ethnic nationalities in the area can live peacefully together to develop their various communities.

He decried a situation whereby indigenes situate their investments in Lagos, Abuja and everywhere else except in the Niger Delta.

Emami, the promoter of the beach resort, explained that he was motivated to embark on the project because of the need to bring life back to the creeks that have been neglected for so long. Revealing that he had to restrain himself from purchasing stocks, landed property in choice cities in Nigeria and across the world where he would make huge returns on his investment, Emami said: “What I have decided to do here is to show to the world that some of us can actually do better than what they think we can do. In Nigeria today, the average Niger Delta youth is seen as a militant, capable of causing destruction and not engendering development.”

He argued that the area will witness meaningful development only when indigenes of the area invest in it. Emami attributed the prevailing peace in the state to efforts of the Itsekiri and Ijaw youth leaders, adding that ‘‘you can see that we are working together.”

To practically demonstrate the peace enjoyed in the area, Chief Gabriel Mabieku, the Iyasere of Warri Kingdom, who represented the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, traveled to Escravos in a speedboat through a number of Ijaw communities. After the commissioning, an all-night party featuring top Nigerian music stars and comedians was held. They included Tuface, Faze, Mo Hits All-Stars, P-Square and X-Project.