Investing in a risky venture always takes a lot of courage. So when Mr and Mrs Aliyu Hassan sowed their money in an amusement park where families and friends can have fun, it was no small step. Married for eleven years, the couple have succeeded in floating what can be described as one of the largest and modern amusement parks in Kaduna state and perhaps, northern Nigeria.
Equipped with many outdoor and indoor games, customers enjoy bouncing castle, pirate ship, bee ride, space shuttle, merry-go-round, train ride bumper car, basketball, small pony rides, electric sliders, bike rides, and motorcycle rides.
Speaking on what informed the decision to open an amusement park, Mrs Hassan said, “We have been in the business for about nine years. We ran a mobile amusement park and moved from place to place, state to state with it. When we got tired of moving around, we decided to set up a state of the art park in Kaduna because we realized that in Kaduna and Northern Nigeria, there are not many places to have fun with your children.”
Commenting on the affordability of the rides, she said, “The rides are quite affordable and the gate fee is free till the end of April and then people have to pay three hundred naira as gate fee.
“We have rides as low as two hundred naira, three hundred and five hundred naira. There are also free rides, like the bouncing castle, for the children to play.”
She pointed out that their major challenge is that of power since most of their rides are powered by electricity. Because of this, they need to power their generators at all times, especially when they have customers.
“You always have challenges here and there in business, but we are used to it really, we hope to see a lot of people come around because in Kaduna, I doubt if there is a place like this. So we are looking forward to seeing a lot of people coming here,” Mrs Hassan said.
A graduate of Political and Library Science from Bayero University, Kano (BUK), she said they started small with friends and family before they expanded. Now they have about 25 staff, barely enough to run the place because they have about a hundred arcades, twelve outdoor rides, a hall and the plan of setting up a 5D cinema and a face painting store. “So we will definitely need more staff in the future,” she said.
Mrs Hassan assured that rides in the park are safe because they were installed by experienced engineers. They also consulted amusement park experts within and outside the country and have safety rules and regulations drilled into their staff
Her husband, a graduate of Economics from BUK said he is optimistic that the park will make giant strides in the future adding they have received quite a number of investors who want to partner with them in the business. “What we are doing now is to ensure that we make the right decisions for its sustainability,” he said.
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