The Westwood Hotel Ikoyi has a rich history. The first multi-storey building in the whole of West Africa, a landmark of remarkable reputation, the building, or Ile gogoro (Yoruba for 'very tall house') as it is fondly called by indigenes, was originally built for the renowned politician and orator, Samuel Akintola in 1959/1960. A residential block of 20 flats located on Awolowo Road in south west Ikoyi, it was built at the dawn of our independence, at a time when Akintola and Obafemi Awolowo, a renowned nationalist and statesman, were at the helm of affairs.