October 09, (THEWILL) – The Director General of the National Institute for Hospitality & Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Abuja, Alhaji Nura Sani Kangiwa, has described the Bayelsa State-owned International Institute of Tourism and Hospitality, Yenagoa, as one of the most outstanding tourism and hospitality training schools he has visited, in terms of space and quality of facilities on ground.
Alhaji Kangiwa, who was taken around various departments of the institute by the Rector, Prof. Apuega R. Arikawei, on Friday, gave his commitment to NIHOTOUR collaborating with the Institute in the areas of training, certifications and capacity building, just as he expressed satisfaction with the quality of programmes being offered at the certificate and National Diploma levels.
The Director General commended the Bayelsa state government for establishing the institute, reiterating that the tourism and hospitality training school was the best investment that any government can make to provide the needed skills in youths to enable them to be either self-employed or become gainfully employed in the tourism industry, adding that the tourism and hospitality sector has the capacity to generate revenue, as well as create employment for the teeming unemployed youths in every state.
While underscoring the importance of the Institute, the visiting Director General noted that the tourism sector engages both the educated and uneducated people, saying that the industry has a place for all categories of workers because of its service-oriented nature.
He said NIHOTOUR has the mandate of providing professional and technical skills upgrading training to enhance the service delivery standard of personnel in the sector and across all disciplines and specialisations being directly or indirectly connected with the hospitality and tourism Industry.
Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Governor on Tourism, Mr Piriye Kiyaramo, informed the Director General of his pioneering role in drafting the bill that established the institute in 2012, as part of his voluntary efforts towards promoting tourism and hospitality sector in the state, saying that the prosperity administration under Senator Douye Diri has taken tourism as one of its development poles.
Mr Kiyaramo stated that Governor Douye Diri is concentrating on creating access roads across the three Senatorial areas in the state, describing access routes as part of the tourism infrastructure that will boost domestic tourism, adding that the institute was established basically to fill the manpower gap, particularly middle manpower to provide quality service delivery.
He said the institute has trained several persons including delegates from the Presidential Amnesty Programme, and CEO of Comfort Kitchen, where the DG had his dinner on arrival in Yenagoa, among others, in several skill areas, informing that the institute had previously conducted specialised training in collaboration with NIHOTOUR and wished to continue the existing cordial working relationship to enhance the quality of service delivery.
Earlier, the Rector of the International Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Yenagoa, Prof. Apuega R. Arikawei, briefed the Director General of the maiden matriculation of 48 pioneer National Diploma students in tourism and hospitality, adding that a fresh bill regarding the upgrading of the school has been passed by the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, awaiting the governor’s assent.
According to Prof. Arikawei, the bill, when signed into law, will enable the Institute to access external funding to provide the needed infrastructures to function effectively and efficiently in achieving the goals in the requisite areas of manpower development to service the industry better.
On his part, the Registrar of the institute, Dr Ovienadu Torutein, assured the Director General of the institute’s preparedness to partner with NIHOTOUR to conduct joint programmes to enhance quality service delivery.
Recall that the Director General of NIHOTOUR was in Bayelsa State to represent the Hon. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at the 2022 Customer Service Week, organised by the Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB) in Yenagoa. He took out time to visit the International Institute of Tourism and Hospitality in the company of the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Tourism and Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Presidential Amnesty Matters, Mr Alaowei Opukeme.
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