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Tourism industry players in the country have expressed their dissatisfaction with the country’s persistently poor tourism education, following the recent announcement by the National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (NIHOTOUR).
NIHOTOUR is the most important tourism training institute in the country.
NIHOTOUR was established in 1987 following a tripartite agreement between Nigeria, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Labour Organization, with the aim of strengthening the capacity of the tourism and hospitality sector.
Currently, NIHOTOUR said it has successfully trained 80,000 people in four years. It noted that NIHOTOUR has established other campuses across the country, from 10 to 14.
Some operators who have analyzed the issue critically have rightly pointed out that there is no correlation between this statement and the poor standards existing in restaurants and bars in the country, saying that a change of leadership is needed at NIHOTOUR.
Obviously they are not happy because NIHOTOUR has not focused concretely on the execution of NIHOTOUR policies through training and education, despite the hundreds of hours of work, meetings and creativity of its officials.
It has been learned that the term of the current Director General of NIHOTOUR, Mr. Nura Sani Kangiwa, will expire this month (August 2024).
A source said Kangiwa may want to be reappointed for another four years after listing his “achievements” in office.
Maybe he thought he had given NIHOTOUR a boost and maybe he wanted to keep it going.
The source however regretted that tourism insiders are aware of the intense lobbying where the Minister of Tourism, Mrs. Lola Ade-John, who is the supervising minister of NIHOTOUR, is allegedly advocating for Kangiwa’s return even though he clearly does not deserve another term. Does Kangiwa have a chance of being re-elected?
A travel agent, Joy Umoh, said that would not be welcome. “I think the tourism minister is wrong if it is true that he is pushing for Nura Kangiwa’s second term. Mrs Lola (Ade-John) is relatively new, having served as tourism minister for only about 4 months (she was feeling ill and hence travelled abroad for several months soon after her appointment in June 2023). Could it be because Kangiwa gave the minister an office space at the NIHOTOUR office in Abuja? Kangiwa also accompanied the tourism minister on his first trip abroad. We know about the favours, but they are not enough to put aside performance and kill responsibility. By the way, what is that special thing Kangiwa has done? What value has he added to tourism education? It is high time President Tinubu start looking inward and checkmate these tourism parastatals (NIHOTOUR and National Tourism Development Authority, formerly NTDC) and their DGs who are just there to take salaries and live large. It will be sad if Kangiwa is re-elected for another controversial term. He may have completed a 4-year term of gross incompetence,” he noted. Adding, “This is partly why tourism in Nigeria is backward… We need to change our history.” Overall, tourism
operators in the country have frowned upon NIHOTOUR’s claim that they have trained 80,000 people in four years. They all say the same thing: “Where does the figure come from? Is it accurate?” One of them said “Kangiwa should be able to provide statistics. Data is gold. Training 80,000 people only exists in our heads.” Hotels are the most important target group for NIHOTOUR. But hotels across the country hardly look at NIHOTOUR when they think of training, as some of them said they have no time for NIHOTOUR.
Some hotels, especially hotel chains in Nigeria, have their own training schools. Others send their staff abroad for hospitality training.
A source at Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, said Hilton management has a training center where they continuously train their staff, no matter how long they have been at the hotel. He added that “I doubt NIHOTOUR has asked for a meeting with Hilton to present their curriculum/training programs. Well, I don’t think it will be good because some of us feel that NIHOTOUR teachers are not up to speed with new techniques and best practices in the service industry. Most of them are not familiar with what is required.”
The Institute of Tourism (NIHOTOUR) is responsible for providing training to hotel staff, travel agencies and tour operators, as well as organizations that depend on tourism.
Not a few said they expected NIHOTOUR’s communications to be much better than before Kangiwa’s arrival. A ticket agent for Abuja-based DevineGlory Travels, John Musa, said he did not believe their story.
“Are they (NIHOTOUR) publishing fake news and admitting ghost students? The public should be provided with the data and statistics of real students/trainees who have passed NIHOTOUR’s training.”
Another tour operator who said NIHOTOUR is not so solid said: “I was shocked to read the story about Kangiwa’s scorecard. I think he wants to continue funding his pet project, NSK Venture, in Argungu, Kebbi State and the Nigeria Polo Federation (he is the current chairman).
Meanwhile, our service industry is being shamelessly abused.” She continued, “For those of us in the hospitality industry, we know that there is no training for most of the people who work in restaurants and bars across the country. I don’t think that bringing together a few women and teaching them how to make chin-chin and donuts is the main goal of creating NIHOTOUR. Kangiwa’s scorecard is a telling tale of a sad story because NIHOTOUR is not adding value.”
However, other tourism stakeholders cheered Kangiwa’s consistency with the NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival, a novel move for the “sleepy” tourism institute before its appointment in 2020. A NIHOTOUR staffer who requested anonymity said NIHOTOUR has succeeded in creating awareness of the institute. “Nura (Kangiwa) should be commended for organizing the gastronomy festival in Abuja for three consecutive times. You know the embassies in Nigeria are interested in what we are doing now.”
Regardless, a Warri, Delta State based hotel owner, Mr. Ben Ihama maintained that the NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival has not raised the bar of NIHOTOUR’s business. “Truly, the popularity of Nigerian cuisine is waning with Kangiwa at the helm of the hospitality institute’s affairs. Local delicacies, food and drinks such as Ugba (also known as African Salad), Edikang Ikong, Tuwo Masara, Alibo and Kunu, which have become more successful because they have been accepted and enjoyed by people from different tribes across the country. Some of the ‘delicious delicious’ delicacies have even been exported. This has made people happy.”
Ihama also pointed out that the NIHOTOUR food festival is a brilliant idea but it has failed the “patriotic” test because the festival has been hijacked by various embassies that have gotten involved and have prominently positioned their own food and culture. Nigerian cuisine has taken a back seat.
“Unfortunately, Kangiwa was busy celebrating Senegal Jollof and Chinese cuisines at his extravagant food festival sought after by various embassies in Nigeria who seek to promote their culture, food and tourism in their countries. Hence, the festival hardly solved the problem of low awareness of our Nigerian food.” According to him, “I was worried when I saw how much Kangiwa wasted in running his NIHOTOUR deli. Being a government-owned establishment does not mean you cannot promote Nigerian cuisine from about six geopolitical zones and still make money for NIHOTOUR. In the past, we used to see efforts to promote Nigerian food like Chinese cuisine. Now Kangiwa’s NIHOTOUR has succeeded in giving the envoys in Abuja the platform to overshadow Nigerian cuisine. People are yet to ask Kangiwa what NIHOTOUR deli achieved after the various outings despite the huge sum committed to organize them.
Along the same lines, a tour operator turned banker, Michael Abia, frowned at the growing number of NIHOTOUR campuses. He lamented that the standard of tourism education is still very low. “I understand that NIHOTOUR has more campuses now. The funds would have been committed to maintaining the existing campuses. (Frowning and pointing in a direction) Look at the flagship of NIHOTOUR, Lagos Zonal Campus, NIHOTOUR on the way to Yaba from Fadeyi Bridge, you will not see any seriousness. I think the rating of NIHOTOUR has not changed over the years. One begins to wonder where the huge budget of NIHOTOUR is going? They are after estacode theft and pursuing a personal agenda to build a mosque. Monkeys do the work, baboons do the cutting. Let’s not be fooled.”
Maybe that’s why the demand for change in NIHOTOUR is stronger now. Apparently, people want to see significant development in the tourism industry.
The post Scorecard: NIHOTOUR DG, Kangiwa gets hits for making ‘false’ claims about training, by Justina Okpanku appeared first on TheConclaveNg.
