By Maria Famakinwa

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Nigerians are known for throwing big parties and attending social gatherings. Hardly will there be a weekend without seeing Nigerians in different event halls looking colourful in chosen Aso-Ebi (uniform) to support the celebrant and also showcase the beautiful culture of the land. Social gatherings are indeed  good places to be as guests are treated to sumptuous meals. Considering the fact that citing an event hall is brisk business, some people  keying into it, little wonder the proliferation of event centres in strategic locations across Ondo State.

It is however worrisome that the one time lucrative business, where owners raked in cool money is no longer what it used to be as most Nigerians now prefer low key celebrations due to the poor economy of the country. A  visit at the weekend to a handful of popular halls where big social events were staged across Akure metropolis by The Hope revealed how dull the business has been  in recent times.

For example, a worker at one of such facilities located along Akure-Ilesa express way, Tayo, said that unlike in the past where the 800-capacity hall could be fully booked for the entire weekends in four months, they hardly get reservation orders for two weekends at a stretch these days.

According to him, the few customers who approach them also ask for significant discount below what they could give.

He said: “Patronage has been very low these days. It is as if people are no longer doing events. Our hall used to be fully booked for all the weekends for three straight months in the past, but now even if customers use the place this week, you might not get another client until maybe a month later. Even customers who are coming, the type of discount they are looking for is unrealistic. We are not the only one experiencing this type of problem, if you move round, it is almost the same thing, I know this because we have colleagues in other places. It is a very serious problem for us.

“Our fear is that we might be laid off because we gathered from a reliable source that the owner is contemplating closing down this place as he was advised by his family.

Another source told us that he might sell this place or lease it out. If the owner chose to go for any of these options, then we are not sure of retaining our jobs. Before now, we observed that the owner has not been coming regularly as he used to do in the past and when he comes, he always complain of struggling to pay our salaries. In order to cut down money spent, he paid some workers off in  December last year, but the situation has not changed. Sincerely speaking, this is not the best time to run an entertainment business because the state of the country economy determines the success of the business.

Another factor is that if one is not politically connected, such might not make headway running an event centre because most owners of this type of business get bookings based on political patronage and popularity,” he said.

A supervisor of another event hall in Oba-Ile, who simply gave his name as Olalekan, also lamented low patronage which according to him has made it difficult to pay workers as he revealed that sales had dropped by almost 70 per cent within three years.

His words: “I want to tell you that most owners of event halls in the State and other states are not finding it easy for the past seven years and made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Building hall for social activities is no longer lucrative as before. Some people are converting theirs to residential buildings while some want to lease theirs out. Some of our workers have gone because they could not be paid. It makes one to wonder if it was not the same business that generated million of naira to owners in the past. We now go as far as lobbying people to come and book the hall. We hardly get two customers in a month except during festive seasons yet, it cannot still be compared to what it used to be during festive seasons in the past.

“We were connected to a couple whose wedding was to hold January this year and we promised to give them reasonable price based on the agreement reached. To our greatest surprise, they didn’t show up. I ran into them last month and asked why we didn’t see them again only to be told that they changed their initial plan of having an elaborate wedding due to the economic situation.

“In this Oba-Ile alone, about three event halls which were in high demand before have been abandoned by the owners. We gathered from reliable sources that they have been trying to sell them but no one is showing interest. What is the need of investing in a business without yielding good results? One of the owners of this event hall borrowed money from the bank to build thinking that he would be able to pay up at a particular time which he could not. His inability to pay the money  is affecting the man’s health as we speak. People should be told that building an event centre is not a viable business for now. Not even with the present economic situation.”

Sharing a similar view, a manager of an event hall in Oda, who hinted that the business is the worst hit by the economic situation in the country revealed that they hardly get three booking in two months despite their efforts at searching for customers. The man who blamed the low patronage on the situation of the country added that some people who have the money are being careful of throwing elaborate parties for fear of being targeted by men of the under world.

He said: “I agree that the economic situation in the country is affecting all businesses, not only event hall owners, despite this, people still throw party because no weekend passes without one party or the other. My findings showed that some people who patronize event halls have now deviced  means of having low key parties for safety. Some of them who are bent on having elaborate parties travel abroad due to the insecurity situation in the country. This new trend among the rich is not helpful to our economies. It is like helping other countries’ economies to grow while you neglect yours. Going abroad to throw parties does not also guarantee safety because no place is safe all over the world. These are the challenges we have been facing as owners of event halls, it is not only a threat to businesses dependent on social events but also for a significant part of the Nigerian and African culture because whichever way you want to look at it, treating guests to sumptuous meals, drinks and good music in a lively atmosphere is a core part of most indigenous cultures across Nigeria, one that bring and bonds people together in a special way,” he said.

A farmer, Mr Olawuni Abiloye, who hosted his guests in his compound after the burial of his aged father was asked why he didn’t use an event hall to entertain his guests. He said: “It will be a double loss for me to lose my father and be paying debts after his burial. I see it as foolishness to spend lavishly on any social function when I can device a means to avoid being in debt. People will come and eat, they will go with few of them giving you peanut yet, they will complain of not being taken care of.

 “I think many people are just being wise. Nobody wants to spend all their savings or income on party and then go broke afterwards. It doesn’t make economic sense. With the current economic situation, it is not wise for anyone to spend lavishly. People will forget about whatever event you have few hours after, so why spend all your money on it? The problem is that the money is not even there. So the trend of opting for low-profile events is a good response to the economic situation in the country,” he said.