NBA Conference: Enugu Hotel Owners Count Gains

Operators of hotels in Enugu metropolis, on Tuesday, said the ongoing National Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association in the city had yielded huge profits.

Those who spoke with THE WHISTLER said their facilities were fully booked ahead of the five-day event which started on August 23rd, 2025.

Mrs Priscilla Emehelu runs a hotel on Nza Street in Enugu. She said, “The only period we had this kind of surge was during festive periods, such as Christmas and New Year. Enugu has always been a destination point for returnees, especially those coming from outside the country. They would stay for about a month.

“However, insecurity across South East reduced the pressure few years ago.

“But this NBA conference is overwhelming. The participants were after any accommodation within the metropolis. I can tell you that 99 percent of the hotels in Independence Layout were booked. The pressure shifted to other hotels outside the Layout. We want more of these conferences.”

Oliver Ezigwu works at a hotel located at GRA in Enugu. He told our correspondent that, “Our rooms were booked a week before the event started. We were also prepared to offer the best services. We didn’t increase the rates. The patronage is massive. The management charged the workers to ensure that they rendered the best services to the guests.

“Enugu has been repositioned for national and international conferences. We are making sure that our guests return to their bases with good impressions about us. We need them to refer their relatives and friends to our hotel. Even hotels down Golf Estate enjoy the same patronage.”

Mr Anyone Agu is a former Chief Executive of Enugu Small and Medium Enterprises. He praised Gov Peter Mbah for transforming the state for businesses to thrive.

According to him, “Mbah’s insistence on recovering and optimizing the state’s wasting assets, and finishing what his predecessors started may become the single most important signature of his legacy. Enugu State International Conference Center (ESICC), now revived and hosting the Nigerian Bar Association’s 2025 Annual General Conference, drawing the country’s legal community and their spend to Enugu, is a factor. That’s not optics. It’s both city and state branding, tourism receipts, and confidence signalling.”

A security consultant, Mr Eugene Eze, a retired police officer, told our correspondent that, “The hitech security in Enugu assures guests of their safety. That might have influenced the lawyers’ decision to hold their conference in Enugu. The hoteliers are just harvested from good government policies and programmes. It is expected of them to be paying their taxes to the government to enable it to do more.

“The government also improved the water supply to the metropolis. The Nigerian Guild of Editors had their national conference in Enugu not quite long. These are some of the factors that attract high-profile people to Enugu.”

Recall that the national President of NBA, Mr Afam Osuigwe, SAN, had stated that over 20,000 participants would attend the event.