Return of Tinapa and C-River’s economic renaissance

By FRED BASSEY

The recent full repossession of Tinapa by the Cross River State Government—after years of legal knots and ownership complications with the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON—is a decisive turning point. The air is clearer, the asset is back home, and its future is no longer suspended in uncertainty. For the first time in more than a decade, Tinapa is once again a bona fide property of the State, under the direct control of a government willing to fight for its revival.

This action is more than a bureaucratic feat; it is a bold declaration of intent. It signals that the era of watching Tinapa rot in silence is over. The days of whispering about what might have been must now give way to a louder conversation about what can still be achieved. And in a time when states across the federation are seeking ways to expand their internal revenue and reduce dependency on federal allocation, repossessing a dormant but strategic infrastructure like Tinapa is not just timely—it is economically wise.

What this move has immediately restored is confidence. Investor confidence, especially.

Taking it further, what this clearly indicates is that there are moments in the life of a state when an old dream begins to breathe again—when what once symbolised ambition, innovation, and possibility finds its way back to relevance. That is the story unfolding in Cross River State today, as Tinapa, the once-celebrated business and leisure hub conceptualised during the visionary Donald Duke administration, steps back into national conversation. Not as a relic of what could have been, but as a revived asset marching toward what should now be.

When Tinapa was first commissioned, it carried with it the scent of something new in the Nigerian landscape—a bold model for tourism, commerce, and enterprise. It dared to imagine that Africa could host a modern integrated economic hub capable of attracting global investors, energising local businesses, and showcasing the best of what Cross River represents. For years, that vision inspired pride. And even in the seasons when Tinapa slipped into decline, the memory of its promise never truly faded.

Today, that memory is no longer nostalgia. It is a foundation for renewal.

For years, potential investors—both local and foreign—have looked at Tinapa with uncertainty. Nobody wants to invest in an asset entangled in legal ambiguities. Nobody builds in a place where ownership is unclear. The previous stalemate did not only stall development; it undermined trust.

By clearing the clouds and reclaiming full ownership, the administration has sent out a strong message: Cross River State is ready for business again. Ready to negotiate, ready to partner, ready to create value.

Already, the signals are promising. The government is in concrete discussions with players in the agro-industrial and manufacturing sectors—two sub-sectors that hold enormous potential for job creation and export-driven growth. Investors typically move where land, infrastructure, and policy alignment exist. With Tinapa now back in the State’s hands, these three elements are beginning to line up in a way that can attract serious capital.

Tinapa’s revival also enlarges the State’s portfolio of strategic infrastructure. The complex—complete with hotels, entertainment facilities, warehouses, retail spaces, and a world-class lake—remains, even in its underutilised state, one of the most expansive public-owned business resorts in West Africa. Reclaiming it creates room for reimagining operations, management structures, and long-term sustainability.

Importantly, this is not a resurrection that will happen overnight. Tinapa was not mismanaged in a day, and it will not be restored in a week. But repossession creates the starting point for a structured turnaround—one that can be gradual, deliberate, and far more stable than anything attempted in the past. It gives the State a clean slate upon which to design a modern blueprint for economic activity, tourism, light manufacturing, and investment inflows.

But no revival story is complete without public participation.

Tinapa’s resurgence will require more than government goodwill. It will require Cross Riverians—both at home and in the diaspora—to believe once again in the potential of their State. It will require entrepreneurs to look again at possibilities they once abandoned. It will require partnerships that stretch beyond ethnic lines, political divides, and private hesitation.

This is the moment for businessmen, innovators, creatives, and global investors connected to Cross River State to step forward. Now that Tinapa’s ownership has been settled and its future stabilised, the environment is being prepared for an investment renaissance. There are opportunities in hospitality, logistics, manufacturing, agribusiness processing, entertainment, and export-oriented commerce. The tools are available; what is needed is engagement and capital.

Tinapa is no longer a stranded dream. It is being repositioned as an investor’s haven—one defined not by the stagnation of previous years, but by the limitless opportunities that come with new leadership, clarity of ownership, and renewed purpose.

The repossession of Tinapa is therefore more than a political achievement. It is a resetting of the compass for Cross River State’s economic direction. It is an invitation for Nigerians to watch a comeback story unfold. And for those willing to dream with the State again, it is an open door into a future that still has room for greatness.

Tinapa is back. And this time, the story can only move forward.

•Bassey, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Calabar, Cross River State

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