Whenever the Mbadiwe family’s name is mentioned, it always evokes class, passion and excellence. These are qualities of their late patriarch and celebrated nationalist, Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe. To sustain the late politician’s virtues, his scions led by Chief Greg Mbadiwe are out to actualize one of their father’s dreams of contributing to the development of tourism and the hospitality industry in the country with the launch of a luxurious hotel and tourists’ haven in Lagos called King Celia Hotels and Suites.

The younger Mbadiwe recalled while his dad was alive,  he wanted to build a hotel in their hometown in the South East, but the project is awaiting attention right now. Instead, they are starting with the historic 5-Star hospitality haven, located in late Ozumba Mbadiwe’s first house in Jibowu, Yaba, the centre of old Lagos. The house was rebuilt into a plush hotel to immortalize the man and keep his memory forever in the minds of Nigerians and foreign tourists.

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“My siblings and I thought of immortalising our parents in our father’s first house located at Yaba from where he participated fully in Nigerian politics. The pedigree of this house is such that, part of it was donated to the then ruling party, National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1979. The former president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari lived in this house. I also grew up in this house. It is historic. Yaba was the end of Western region then and the beginning of Lagos. We decided to reconstruct the house and change it to a hotel and tourist centre in memory of our parents, Kingsley and Cecilia Mbadiwe and complement the efforts of Lagos and Nigeria,” said Greg Mbadiwe, foremost lawyer and former Nigerian ambassador to the Republic of Congo.

Spotlight gathered that Mbadiwe, who runs Brazzaville Beach Hotel & Resort in Barrage du Djoue in the heart of the capital city of Republic of the Congo with some Congolese businessmen, hopes to replicate same success in Nigeria with King Celia Hotels. And the luxurious edifice on two floors with 50 luxury rooms is ready to set a new standard in the industry and the Nigerian market with a distinct hotel experience rooted in quality, excellence and culture. It will be managed by renowned hospitality expert Hassan Fawaz.