Lagos nightclub owners have appealed to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to lift the ban on their business.

This is contained in a statement from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture in Lagos on Wednesday.

A representative of club owners, Toyin Sonoiki, made the call at a meeting with the ministry officials.

Mr. Sonoiki, while urging the government to consider their plight, promised that the clubs would adhere strictly to all COVID-19 safety protocols.

He added that most of the club owners still paid their staff even though clubs were shut.

“We promise to work with the government to identify clubs not complying with COVID-19 protocols,” he said.

Responding, the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, who empathised with the nightclub operators, said the government understood their pains and financial losses.

Ms. Akinbile-Yussuf added that nightclub operators needed to come together for ease of interaction and exchange of correspondence.

“Because of the fear of another surge in the reported cases of COVID-19, the government is now more circumspect than before.

“The state government will not want its efforts and successes recorded in the stemming of the spread of COVID-19 to be thwarted,” said the commissioner.

The Special Adviser to Mr. Sanwo-Olu on Tourism, Arts and Culture, Solomon Bonu, said the present emphasis was on regulating nightclubs.

Mr. Bonu claimed some clubhouses still operated contrary to the government’s directive.

Also contributing, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Adenike Adedoyin-Ajayi, said, “Club owners are major contributor to the state’s GDP, most important, the night economy of Lagos.

“It is our desire to allow you to operate so that you can continue to perform your civic responsibilities, but the situation on the ground is dicey.” 

The Senior Special Assistant to Mr. Sanwo-Olu, Tunji Seymour, added that the ministry would “go hard” on recalcitrant operators that failed to comply with directives. 

(NAN)