The Director General of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Alhaji Nura Sani Kangiwa has said that the agency has offered professional trade and occupational career guidance and counseling, training and empowerment to over 102,000 with an annual target of 4,000 personnel across the sector industries to build capacity, improve productivity standards and output to add to national economy since inception in 1987.
He stated this on Friday at the 2024 NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival and Gala Nite event with the theme ‘Sustainable Food Production from Farm to the Table.’
He disclosed that the event that is aimed at deliberately expose the professionally trained food and beverage production and service expertise and their wide array of prepared flavours of rich ancestral traditions that enriches the global gastronomic landscape, fosters stronger community bonds and promotes Nigerian culture worldwide.
“Furthermore, this event is to expose Nigerians and global community to the professional skillful art of appreciating and exposing our foods, cooking, culinary skills and cuisine to the hospitality, tourism occupational trades and the general public.
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“Hence, keeping with the spirit of exposing and promoting the works of trained competencies with quality assurance and standards is germane to achieving the Institute mandate.
“May I crave the indulgence of the present administration under the leadership of His Excellency President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to appreciate the introduction of the national development project and empowerment programme under the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ that is meant to create jobs for self reliance, generation of employment, boosting productivity and reducing unemployment, unrest and assured security, ” he noted.
Kangiwa stressed that NIHOTOUR being the apex body backed by the Act No.3 of 2022, is poised to produce and professionalise the workforce through training, certification and registering operative and practitioner personnel towards creating jobs, generating employment for self reliance, reducing unemployment, restiveness and improving national economy.
“To this end, our goal is to collectively shape the future of Nigeria gastronomy tourism, emphasizing its potential to empower local communities and foster rural development and socio-economic growth as an all strategic priorities outlined in the UN Tourism Agenda for Africa – Tourism for Inclusive Growth.
“As the UN Tourism and UN Food Organisation put it, Gastronomy is the art of food. It is a style of cooking from a particular locality and region from food and cuisine. Sustainability is the way that is not wasteful of our natural resources and can be continued into the future without being detrimental to our environment or health.
With the above statement, we appreciate the gastronomy product value chains where the food crop is sourced, farmed, cultivated, transported, warehoused, merchandised, marketed and supplied to the food and beverage producers, served and eventually plated on the table to be consumed. This further explains fully, the theme of this year’s festival, ” he stated.
Alhaji Sani Kangiwa expressed appreciation to the stakeholders, especially the Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John for supporting the agency in various ways to successfully to host the event.
“I want to specially acknowledge and appreciate all the public and private sector organisations, corporate bodies, foreign country embassies, Diplomatic Corps, partners and collaborators, invited guests and individuals that supported with resources, visited, participated and added value to make this event a huge success.”
Also, while speaking at the launch of the EcoGenesis Incubator Series on Skills Training and Empowerment of Visually Impaired Children for the Federal Capital Territory FCT, the DG called on
the sector workforce to take advantage of NIHOTOUR training programmes to start a professional career or up-skill and advance from craft to managerial levels to build their individual and organisation personnel capacity.
“Our training modules are stakeholders validated to meet challenges of specific occupational trades skills standards and quality service delivery for the tourism sector.
” To conclude my address, it is my desire that at the end of this skills training and empowerment programme, the young participants will put the additionally knowledge, skills and competences acquired to practice to develop occupational trade skills to make a living at long run.”
He thanked; “Minister of Tourism, Lola Ade-John for the wisdom and insight to initiate this programme to add value to the lots of FCT and Nigeria at large.
“I want to equally thank the FCT Minister, the Social Development Secretariat, AMAC and the authorities of the School for the Blind Jabi for accepting synergy and collaboration to have this project flagged off at the territory.”
