Ikogosi Resorts: Raising the Bar Beyond Local Limitations

By Ayodeji Seriki

For logistic reasons, my plan to take my family to Dubai or South Africa for a holiday in December, 2025, was not to be. Though my wife and kids looked forward to the journey, they showed understanding when they saw the effort I made and how it turned out to be a road to nowhere.

Then, one of my colleagues in the office suggested Ikogosi Warm & Cold Spring Resorts as a beautiful alternative. He disabused my mind of those ugly nostalgic memories I had about the resort and revealed how a private company came in three years ago and turned the place around. He also told me how world leaders, diplomats, top government functionaries, and business executives have been thronging the resorts in recent times for relaxation, meetings, and vacation. Much as he tried to market it with latest stories and visuals, my mind was fixed at what the resort looked like years ago when it was like a ghost town, with dilapidated buildings, occupied by reptiles and birds. Then, it was common to read in various national newspapers embarrassing headlines such as ‘Ikogosi: nature abandoned wonder’, ‘ A resort crying for help’, ‘ Who looted Ikogosi resorts?’, and so on.

Even when I hadn’t made up my mind, I was left with no option because of the growing interest of my kids. They had gone online to view things about the resorts and turned themselves to in-house marketers of Ikogosi Warm & Col Resorts. Then they ‘recruited’ their mother, and it became one against 4. I surrendered, and we fixed the date. We left Lagos on 26 December, and within a five hours drive from Lagos, we arrived at Ekiti State. A few minutes before entering Ikogosi through Ipole-Iloro, the ambience changed, and we were all gripped by excitement. I tried not to show it despite the blissful enthusiasm displayed by my family members. Then the unexpected happened. On arrival at the gate, I got carried away by the aesthetics, lightening, and welcoming landscaping into the resort, and I shouted ‘wow’. My people burst into laughter. “Daddy has been defeated” my nine year old girl, Iremide said.

With this, I began a journey into an adventure that opened my eyes and minds to the best of natural elements and modern facilities. Of course, whenever I find myself in a situation like this, I instantly go back to my first love -journalism. Hence, I started thinking and acting like a reporter. For three days, I pushed more questions than any other thing. Interestingly, I concluded before I finished the findings. I didn’t need anybody to tell me that the new Ikogosi Resorts is being handled by a private enterprise because everything there represents excellence. The structures, the workers, and the facilities are all in the class of their own. One more puzzle; I assumed a foreign firm would be in charge. Alas! I was wrong again, Ikogosi Warm & Cold Resorts is currently being managed by Glocient Hospitality (a subsidiary of Lagos based Cavista Holdings). According to the management of the resorts, it was taken over by Glocient Hospitality in 2022 from the Ekiti State government through a concession arrangement. Between 2022 and now, the new hospitality company has invested billions of naira to turn around the fortune of the place.

Today, Ikogosi stands transformed – a world-class destination, and according to the management, it has already twice been celebrated as Nigeria’s Best Holiday Resort (2023 & 2024). At this point, I will single out the Ekiti State government for applause. Kudos must be given to the state for being magnanimous enough to let go of the resorts and let a private entity handle it. With what I saw, Ekiti has thus demonstrated in practical terms that, indeed, the government has no business in business, except the provision of an amiable environment for business to thrive.

Today, beyond the cold and warm water that flows in rivulets, with each, at the point of intersection, still maintaining its thermal properties – warm and cold – the resort offers more in terms of facilities. Though the springs are the major selling points for the resort, facilities like the inviting mountain for hiking, the swimming pool, the spa, and the tree bar are the ice on the cake. In the area of accommodation, the resort is said to currently have 60 guest rooms, several chalets, a presidential villa, modern conference facilities, 24-hour power supply, and robust security. Interestingly, more than 70% of its workforce are drawn from the host community and other Ekiti towns.

For one to experience the coldness or warmth of the spring, it has to be touched, but there is a lot to see and feel in today’s Ikogosi without dipping your legs or hands in the spring. However, the spring sure remains the misery of the resort because it’s globally acclaimed as another wonder of the world.

No one has been able to explain this phenomenon, but some of the locals told me a story of what they believe was the cause of the hot and cold water cascading down and never mixing. According to the story, the two wives of the Oba were always at loggerheads, and while one was calm, the other was fiery tempered. It was so bad between them that even after their death, the calm wife became the cold spring, and the temperamental wife became the hot spring. Since no superior argument, either scientific or philosophical, has dismissed this, many people stick to the version of the story given by the locals.

For me, it’s the facilities and world-class standard of service that impressed me more. The reason is simple, the natural gift alone can not market the resort or attract the quality of fresh people currently visiting the resort. For instance, the rooms and foods are comparable to what is obtainable in a 5-star rated hotel anywhere in the world. The spa is not only sophisticated, it parades experienced hands. There is also a poolside bar that displaces top drinks brands, coupled with a mixologist who serves fantastic mimosas, cocktails, and egg, among other delicacies. Like in other global organisations, with global best practice, Ikogosi parades well-cultured staff members who are managing the customer service and front desks.

However, using Ikogosi as a case study, I can say with all confidence that Nigeria business is better off in the hands of private business owners. In fact, individuals and organisations do not need to look outside the shores of this country for the best place to hold their activities. With more patronage and converts like me, one can be sure again that nature has blessed Nigeria with so much for the country to earn appreciative revenue from tourism. As someone who enjoys traveling and visiting interesting places, my Ikogosi trip is one that I would love to repeat because it has left a lasting impression on me and I am so proud that it is in Nigeria.

While I appreciate the management of Glocient for ticking all the right boxes, one must commend the company’s chairman, John Olajide, for being patriotic enough to dam the consequence and put his hard-earned money in Ikogosi Apart from Glocient Hospitalities, Olajide’s Cavista also has ‘Agbeyewa Farms,’ said to be the largest cassava farm in Africa (also in Ekiti State), with over 10,000 hectares of land. There is also PayZeep, the Fintech company based in Abuja; and Cavista Technologies, a tech company that provides back-end software solutions and support to companies in the US, with offices in Nigeria, Botswana, India and the Philippines.

Finally, a mild and avoidable drama took place at the resort, which I think stakeholders should have nipped in the bud before now. There’s still a misconception out there that Ikogosi Warm and Cold Spring Resort is a public enterprise and so must be opened to all. This was the mindset of some people, mostly youths, who converged on the entrance of the resort with the entitlement mentality that the resort was a public utility that must be opened for them with little or no gate fee. In the fracas that followed the disagreement, the aggrieved members of the public almost pulled down the gate. I must commend the security personnel on duty for their professionalism and ability to apply emotional intelligence to calm the situation.

On this, I blame the state government, the management of the resorts and other stakeholders for not putting a good communication channel in place all this while, to inform and educate Ekiti people that their cherished natural heritage has been given to a private entity for effective management to boost the state revenue base as well as turning Ekiti to a major tourism destination.

With what I saw in Ikogosi, I can confirm and assure Ekiti people that the state government has done the best to lift the resort. Please, let us all live with this reality. We must all bear in mind that the resort’s current standard must have been both capital-intensive and operationally demanding. No wonder, today, the resort stands as one of Nigeria’s leading tourist destinations, attracting high-profile local and international guests. The testimonies from discerning visitors during the last Yuletide period strongly affirm that the resort is on the right path. Notably, the visit of the immediate past President of Botswana, His Excellency Dr. Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi is a powerful endorsement of the resort’s rising global profile.

For me and members of my family, it was an experience worth whatever we must have expended. It was so exciting that my kids had started mounting pressure on me before we left the resort when next we would return to Ikogosi. Jokes apart, we will come again.

Seriki, a media consultant, writes from Lagos