Oasis
I am dubbing this joint as the best Sports Bar and Grill in Tamale - when it officially opens. Now where do I start? How do I tell the "story" of this "project" hatched by Mr A Alhassan? Anyway before I going any further, this is just to let you the reader know that I have not been commissioned to do this write up on behalf of Mr A Alhassan. I am doing this because as a close family friend, I have followed Andrew's project from inception to its completion [almost completion]. I am sure that as time draws nearer to opening this joint, Mr Alhassan will get the necessary media outlets to to a proper write up and announcement as to how is dream became a reality.
Fisrt of all, a bit of history. How do I know Andrew? I met Andrew many years ago in Tamale. I used to be a part time teacher at his mum's kindergarten school [which was run from their home in Tamale], before moving on to teacher General Science and Biology at Tamasco [Tamale Secondary School]. Eventually, Andrew moved to the UK to further his education, got married and had kids. I must have moved to the UK myself a couple of years after he did. We sort of kept in touch over the years, either by phone or meeting at various events in the UK.
Now lets fast forward to say four to five years back from present day; after a long stint of working as a Telecoms Network Engineer for Vodafone, Andrew decided to move back to Tamale, Ghana, As part of his plans to move back, he decided that he wanted to setup a Sports and Grill Bar in Tamale. On one of my visits to Tamale to visit the family, we went out to one of the night clubs in Tamale. There was nothing particularly interesting about this night club, it was just an ordinary night club serving drinks and food with music to listen and dance to. I think it has some space inside for those who wanted to dance. After settling down and having some drinks, Andrew unveiled to me his plans for this Sports and grill Bar he had in mind... First of all he asked me to take a good look at the surroundings we were in and the number of people that were enjoying themselves. He then laid some facts regarding the place we were at to me [apparently he knows the guy - Mike's Spot]. As I mentioned earlier, there was nothing special about the place. The setup was just simple, nothing fancy and yet Mike's spot was raking it in every night. Andrew then said, with the vision he had for his Sports and Grill Bar, he would be making a lot of money, especially with the decor and services he would provide. Andrews Sports Bar would definitely be the talk of Tamale.
Anyway, Andrew bought his plot of land in an area called Rice City in Tamale and the project commenced. Occasionally Andrew would upload a couple of pictures to his Facebook profile for friends and family to see how far he had got to etc etc. Last year in November I took a plane trip to Tamale to visit Andrew and the rest of the family. Andrew picked me up from the Airport and on our way to his crib at Airport residential area, we took a sort detour to his project. I was immediately thrown of guard. I immediately released that looking at something as a picture does not give you the right perspective of what that thing should give you. I was so glad he was showing this to me. As we walked round the place, he explained to ow the place was going to function and why the building was setup as per the architects drawings. I suddenly felt excited. I also felt so proud of him. This was a big achievement. The night life in Tamale has changed drastically from the time I used to live there. It is much easier to move about in Tamale. More and more people from other parts of Ghana have more than one means of travelling to Tamale. There are now plane flights from Takoradi, Accra and Kumasi to Tamale. A typical flight from Accra to Tamale takes no more than 45 minutes.
The Sports Bar is almost done. I think he plans of opening in late June or early July this year. I am not too sure of the exact date. All I know is that it is going to be an instant success. To compliment this article, I have some pictures which I have tried to arrange in some sort of "timeline" showcasing the beginning and where it current is at. Before I forget, Oasis is located at Rice City. I know this sounds a bit vague, but I will try and get better directions to Oasis later on and update this blog with it.
Yes, I saved the best till last. This is how Oasis looks now. I am sure there are still some micro touches to be applied here and there but as I mentioned before, pictures do not tell the full story, however let you imagination do the rest :-). Love it!!!
