Once hailed as Nigeria’s boldest leap into world-class tourism and investment, the Tinapa Business and Leisure Resort in Adiabo, on the outskirts of Calabar, now stands as a faded monument to unrealised ambition.
Launched in 2007 after a $350 million build under then-Governor Donald Duke, Tinapa’s promise seemed unstoppable. Spread across 265 hectares, with a shopping mall, film studio, casino, water park, hotel, and artificial tidal lake, it was meant to be Africa’s Dubai on the Cross River. The Federal Government even granted it Free Trade Zone status in 2006, sparking investor excitement.
But the dream quickly hit legal, political, and operational headwinds.
A Vision Undone by Red Tape
Tinapa’s ownership — in the hands of the Cross River State Government — clashed with federal laws that allow only the central government to operate free trade zones. The resulting uncertainty scared off investors, left shops empty, and created friction with customs authorities, who in 2013 began charging duties on goods leaving the zone.
By the time Duke’s successor, Liyel Imoke, was in office, interest payments on loans had piled up, facilities like the film studio sat idle, and the sprawling Lakeside Hotel stood mostly vacant. In 2017, drowning under N18 billion in debts, the state handed 85% of Tinapa to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) in a last-ditch rescue plan.
EndSARS: The Final Blow
In October 2020, during the nationwide EndSARS protests, looters descended on Tinapa, carting away goods, torching brand new vehicles, and vandalising the hotel. The state government estimated damages at N100 billion. By then, many saw the protests not as the cause of Tinapa’s collapse, but as the final strike against an already ailing project.
Promises of Revival — and Lingering Silence
When Governor Bassey Otu took office in 2023, he pledged to reclaim and revive Tinapa. In February 2025, the government announced it had reached a deal with AMCON to regain control after making an undisclosed financial commitment.
“We cannot sit back and do nothing to put the place in order,” Otu said at the time.
Six months later, however, the governor’s revival plan remains under wraps, with resort Managing Director Francis Ekom hinting only that “a milestone” has been reached, awaiting the governor’s unveiling.
The Road Back
Stakeholders say Tinapa’s survival will require more than speeches — it needs political will, investor confidence, and professional management. Without these, the shimmering waters of its artificial lake will remain a mirror reflecting one of Nigeria’s most expensive missed opportunities.
