Many residential buildings in Ikotun-Egbe on the outskirts of Lagos have been converted to hotels and inns because of the presence of TB Joshua’s Synagogue of all Nations Church.
The Egbe-Ikotun area of Lagos, the once residential area, is of late beginning to attract a lot of attention and increasingly becoming a business hub, courtesy of the presence of Synagogue Church of All Nations.
Following the large number of people coming to worship or seek one religious favour or another in the church, the tempo and standard of life in the area have moved upward.
PUNCHNG reports that many house owners prefer to relocate to other parts of the city and let out their houses as chalets.
One of them, Mr. Gabriel Omatade, who relocated to Gemade Estate in Egbeda, said he had two houses now turned to hotels in the area.
He said he makes more than double the money he could have made if his house had been solely occupied by tenants.
“The easiest way to make more money from your apartment is to turn them to chalets. There are enough visitors here everday to stay in them,” he added.
The many hotels, lodgings, business shops and transport companies springing up around the locality are pointers to the pace of development in the area.
In fact, saying that there is no street in that neighbourhood without at least three hotels or lodgings would not be far from the truth.
The area has also become a hotbed of activities for some young employment seekers recruited to solicit customers and clients for the growing business outfits in the vicinity. These young individuals, PUNCH gathered, are paid commissions for every new client they attract to a hotel or any of the hurriedly organised lodging places.
“Each time I take a guest to any of the hotels, I write my name and the number of guests I bring. At the end of the day or month, I am compensated. Some hotels can give me a bag of rice at the end of the year. Others can give me commission based on what the guests pay,” a certain okada rider revealed.
No matter how indecent some of these lodgings are, guests still troop in, not minding their terrible states.