Andrew Iro Okungbowa 
After so many months of careful planning following the completion of the majestic edifice and architectural masterpiece, Sheraton Lagos Hotel and Towers, located in Ikeja, Lagos, opened for business in September 1985, with Ikeja Hotel Plc, the proud owner of the hotel, making history as the first indigenous hospitality group to attract international hotel management chain, to line the country’s skyline.
Forty years on, the hotel, boasting about 340 guest rooms and featuring a number of impressive amenities and facilities, offering top notch service, remains tall and a symbol of the power of dream and determination to succeed, bracing all odds.
Olatunde Oluloye: Sheraton Hotel Ikeja has come of age
I started with the Sheraton Hotel before it ever opened. I joined Sheraton about six months before the opening date in 1985.
Working in the front office department was very tasking. Being the head of that department, your responsibility was in your own hands and that kept us to be able to give the service that was required.
Sheraton Hotel Ikeja has come of age, 40 years is a lot. It is still standing. Keep up the excellent service that this hotel was known for from the beginning.
Well done for what you are now, what you used to be and what you did for us. We say thank you.
* Olatunde Oluloye, Managing Consultant at Patterson Dove Hospitality Limited and National President, Association of Tourism and Hospitality Consultant in Nigeria (ATHCON)
Dele Coker: Sheraton Lagos is indeed a success story
When we opened we were given what we call the train the trainers’ course. After about a month or so, the rest of the staff, the junior staff, all came in and we had to train them.
You don’t say anything is impossible, you find a way, we found a way to make it happen. That was the mentality we all imbibed at that time, as well as discipline.
The discipline was regimented in those days. There was no room for laziness, it was very strict, very disciplined. I found that to be the perfect environment to grow a business. I’ve imbibed this in my own businesses going forward.
Sheraton Lagos is indeed a success story. I mean, when we started in 1985, who would have thought that the place would still be going strong 40 years later.
My prayer is that another 40 years, God willing, we’ll still be here and still going strong.
* Oladele Coker, joined Sheraton in 1985 as an F&B Supervisor and left as Banquet Manager after also being manager of all the three restaurants ( Pili-pili, Italian Restaurant and Crockpot) in 1990. He is a Founding Member and Executive Director of Hotel Support Services Limited (HSSL) Global
Mabel Ekukinam-Bassey: We weren’t sure it was going to work
When I joined in 1985, with a team of others, it was an interesting moment. There were a number of us that had foreign training and we had experts that were going to train us on the Sheraton standard.
I was a Supervisor in the Food and Beverage Department when I came in. I got to work in almost all the food and beverage outlets as a Supervisor.
Went to school in Switzerland and I learned how to provide room service while I was there in Switzerland.
So, it came easy. The restaurant was always full. We had people booking, and queuing to come into the restaurant.
At first, we weren’t sure if it was going to work. But then once people heard about it that was it. There was no stopping.
When you say four decades, it sounds bigger. You’ve come a long way. I’ve been part of it before I left, and I know what it entails to maintain the standard.
Happy 40th anniversary Sheraton Lagos Hotel Ikeja.
* Mabel Ekukinam-Bassey, joined the hotel six months before it opened; left after 15 years stint as Deputy Director, Food and Beverage Department; joined ExxonMobil; and presently with Ivy and Jade Management Limited
Olufemi Falebita: Sheraton was a total learning environment
I was, let me use the word, blessed to have partaken in a programme that took me into virtually every department at Lagos Sheraton. Starting from the back of the house, all through food and beverage departments.
Of course, it took me out of Nigeria to the Netherlands and from the Netherlands, talking about the Hague Hotel School, all sponsored by Sheraton by the way, and thena stint in London at the Skyline Sheraton in London and then came back to Nigeria to finish the entire Money Men Trading Programme.
Now, that experience set me up for the future that I’m in today.
In 1989, I was awarded the Sheraton Hotel’s President’s Award. I then dedicated that to my team because we were taught the value of teamwork. I can never forget that. I had a team of, you can’t believe it, they used to call us 24-7.
We had a small functioning banquet hall in those days. Just only one, and can seat about 100 to 120 people, and we would turn it around four times in one day.
Add 40 to 30 years because I started with Sheraton when I was exactly 30 and I became a manager at 30 years old. So you can guess my age now.
Sheraton was a total learning environment, quality standard, SOPs being followed. The GM didn’t have to be on top of your neck to get things done. We were a team.
The ultimate yardstick for success is in continuity. So my goodwill message is that please let this continue.
Happy 40th anniversary Sheraton.
* Olufemi Falebita, joined as Management Trainee Food and Beverage 1985; became Banquet Manager in 1987 and left in 1991 as F&B Manager Designate Gaborone Sheraton Hotel and Towers Botswana. Presently, Chairman, Institute of Hospitality (UK) Nigeria Region; CEO/Founder NetherMentor
