I'm a Christian, a firm believer in God and His majestic power to order the affairs of man on this plane of existence according to...
I'm a Christian, a firm believer in God and His majestic power to
order the affairs of man on this plane of existence according to His
perfect will. It, therefore, goes without saying that I’m also a firm
believer in providence, which Wikipedia describes as “the foreseeing
care and guidance of God or nature over the creatures of the earth.”
It was this providence that, once again, catapulted me to Las Vegas, in the state of Nevada from December 20, 2016, to January 30, 2017. In case, you have forgotten, Vegas is widely believed to be the money basket of the United States of America. Some people prefer to dub it the world headquarters of gambling. The city is sparklingly attractive.
I found myself by providence in this enthralling city as Lawrence
Bisong, my son-in-law, relocated to the place from Salt Lake City in the
State of Utah, the citadel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints (LDS Church), whose parishioners are known as Mormons.
I won’t sue you for defamation if you liken my journey from Nigeria
to Vegas to the well documented biblical journey of the Israelites from
Egypt to The Promised land; a journey that, all things being equal,
ought to have taken them only 40 days but which took them 40 solid
years! Did you say ‘why’? Well, as I could not afford to pay over a
million Naira for an economy return ticket, courtesy of the terrible
crash of the naira at the foreign exchange market, I opted for a cheaper
ticket. My son-in-law got me one on Ethiopian Airline.
This is how the trip went. After taking off from the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport, Abuja, at about noon on December 20, we had an
hour stop-over at N'Djamena in Chad, ostensibly to refuel. Thereafter,
the big bird took off for an over five-hour flight to Addis Ababa, the
Ethiopian capital. In case you didn’t know, Addis Ababa has become the
hub of most international flights to almost every part of the world.
Aviation is certainly a money-spinning industry for Ethiopia. In Africa,
Ethiopian Airline is a clear leader. The airline operates two fully
booked flights to Nigeria daily, i.e. to Lagos and Abuja.
Anyway, at the Ethiopian capital, we hopped into another Ethiopian
airline plane to begin a 10-hour flight to Dublin, Ireland, where we had
a stop-over of one hour. When the plane lifted up, it was for a
straight 14-hour flight to Los Angeles. After immigration formalities, I
had to wait to connect a 40-minute flight to my final destination, Las
Vegas. Then, the unseen hands of nature set in. My flight was delayed
for six solid hours due to bad weather. When we eventually took off
after the long spell, we landed at Vegas after just 40 minutes. In
total, I flew almost half of the world for more than 35 hours. Boy, was
it a pleasurable adventure for someone my age? Sincerely, I don’t think
so.
But there is one interesting aspect of the long haul that I like:
it afforded me the opportunity to mingle with different nationals.
Almost all the airlines were fully booked. Some who missed their
scheduled flight were rescheduled for the next flight.
I was curious to know why the rush for Vegas, especially on a
Friday. I got the answer from a friend I met on the trip, who introduced
himself as Steve, and who told me that 99 percent of the passengers
thronging to Vegas, including himself, were chronic gamblers who flood
the various casinos dotting the city on Fridays to fulfill their
passion, gambling. "The temptation to stake your money for winning the
jackpot is so high you never think of any possibility of losing,” Steve
told me categorically. “And when you lose, the money, your loss, goes to
the government because the casinos are heavily taxed."
Steve further told me that some hitherto terrible impoverished
people had become millionaires overnight through gambling and their
testimonies are a veritable source of encouragement to other gamblers to
rush to the city that does not sleep and where their lives could be
transformed overnight. However, the flip side is not too exciting to the
heart and the ears as some who came with their life savings had not
only lost all but also ended committing suicide. "When you hear of a SIN
CITY, here you are," Steve told me without betraying any emotion.
Not only gamblers love Vegas. Airlines too. According to those who
know, airlines make a hell of money flying to Vegas. They operate the
cheapest flights to the city round the clock. I got a foretaste of the
city shortly after I disembarked and headed to baggage claim to pick my
luggage. I saw gambling machines at strategic points in the hall with
some passengers gambling right there. What an infectious habit, I mused
to myself. Planes were landing and taking off every five minutes, and
the interesting thing is that you could not see any sigh of stress on
any of the passengers.
Again, I couldn’t stop wondering how the airport could cope with
hundreds of passengers in less than 30 minutes interval without any
commotion. The answer is not far-fetched. Vegas is in an arid land where
you see kilometers of virgin desert land sprawling before you.
The Vegas McCarran International Airport is located in an area
called Paradise, 10 kilometers away from the main city. In size, the
airport is three times bigger than our Nnamdi Azikiwe International
Airport in Abuja. Yet, the huge size is not peculiar to the airport
alone but also to all the landmark structures and monuments in Vegas;
ranging from hotels to hospitals, universities etc. The planners of this
city put into generous use the God-given expanse of land. I equally
noticed that not only commercial planes were on the tarmac but hundreds
of private jets of different colors too.
As I said, gambling in Vegas does not discriminate against class.
The vice is not class sensitive. From the poor to middle class, to
millionaires, you see all classes of people trooping into various
casinos/hotels to gamble. One Mr. Scott told me how a known millionaire
whose businesses were going bankrupt came in with what he said was his
last savings, $5 million, to stake for a jackpot but got just $3
million, losing $2 million.
What about a Chairman/CEO of a notable courier service, who
according to those who know him sensed his company was going under and
felt that the only way to salvage the terrible situation was to stake
his last $20,000. He was lucky. According to my narrator, he gambled
with the money and raked over one million dollars; just like that! What
do we call that? Luck? Or providence? Help me out, dear readers.
Still, that is not all about the frills and thrills of Vegas. It is
an unwritten rule that any hotel in the city should have a casino. The
supermarkets are following suit too having realized that nine out of ten
visitors to Las Vegas are casino freaks. Maybe in the nearest future
private homes will join the epidemic.
Ten top Casino Hotels in Vegas that make averagely N20 million
dollars a week are Las Vegas, Nevada, Aria Resort, Mam Grand, Bellagio,
Stratosphere, Treasure Island, The Venetian, the Mirage, Mandalay Bay,
Tuscany Suites, The Cosmopolitan and Mandarin Oriental.
Room rates at these hotels range from $300- $1000 per night. Most
of the hotels are not smoke-free while few are. The hotels are fully
booked. So, if you want to be part of the Vegas fun train, you must book
your reservation three weeks ahead. You need to be there at weekend to
see how people fill up the hotels to the brim, with people queuing up as
if waiting to buy tickets for a blockbuster movies; whereas they are
just waiting to get on the machines. The casinos pay millions of dollars
every week as taxes to make America more prosperous. As many as the
hotels are, those who cannot afford the high rates or cannot get one
take solace in sleeping in their caravans and vehicles. The weekends are
like carnivals in Vegas.
THE STRIP
If you are in Las Vegas and you have not visited a place called THE
STRIP, then, your trip may be meaningless. The Americans created this
city for casinos but also added irresistible tourist attractions to make
you empty your wallet, and buoy their revenue base. THESTRIP is the
most famous and fabulous stretch of road that has lots of incredible
attractions all the way. No wonder the cliché: "Stroll the Las Vegas
STRIP in all its glory.”
To enjoy the opulence and scintillating view of this place, arm
yourself with a camera and wear comfortable shoes. The attraction is
that almost all the major capitals in the world have one form of
presence or another. Easily accessible are: Paris, London, New York,
among others. Each of these has alluring landmarks to hold visitors
spellbound. One can move around these areas 24 hours non-stop, and
without getting tired. Las Vegas is dubbed the Sin City as some of the
activities we read in the biblical city of Sodom and Gomorrah are
practiced with impunity. Sex is openly advertised and you are confronted
with pimps with postcards luring you to girls of easy virtues; the
scarlet sisters. Random smoking and heavily drunk people are common
sights too.
In spite of the weird behaviors of the revelers, Las Vegas is still
touted to be one of the safest cities in America. The crime rate, I was
reliably informed, is the lowest because jolly loving people roam the
streets. And peradventure you are infirmed, and you need qualitative
Medicare, Vegas is the place to be. It is a city that cares as much for
men as also for pets. Believe this or not, Vegas has luxurious hotels
specially built for dogs, cats, and horses. Animals get as much quality
care as humans. That is one aspect of this city of sin and gambling that
you don’t want to miss the next time you visit America. Lesson learned
from Las Vegas is for Nigeria to develop her tourism which includes
gambling and betting to buoy her Internal Generated Revenue.
****
Folu Olamiti Media Consultant writes from Abuja.
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