From: Segun Babatunde in Bauchi
The Director General of the National Institue for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Alhaji Nura Sani Kangiwa has expressed confidence in vocational skill acquisition of the Nigerian arts and crafts industry in the fight against unemployment and poverty in the country.
Nura Kangiwa who stated this while declaring open a Skill Acquisition and Empowerment of Women in Arts and Crafts training session organized by the North East Campus of the Institute in Bauchi yesterday, pointed out that the fight against poverty in Nigeria is everyones’ responsibility and NIHOTOUR as a skill and vocational training centre, will continue to play its part in impacting the Nigerian populace with knowledge based skills that offer them employment and financial earning opportunities in line with the Federal Government’s agenda to fight poverty in the country.
Represented by the Coordinator and Head of the North East Zonal Campus of the Institute, Mr. Samuel Tanko Ibrahim, the Director General called on participants of the skill acquisition training program to use the opportunity offered them to make a change in their lives for good, noting that such opportunities are rare to come by.
In his remarks at the occasion, Alhaji Ali Babayo, Permanent Secretary of Bauchi State Ministry of Culture and Tourism said with the current trend of global events, Nigerians should look inward to be economically and gainfully employed to fight personal and national financial downturn which the local Arts and Crafts industry readily provide.
Mr. Nelson Lucas, Coordinator of the Bauchi Zonal Office of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), noted that tourism is a multi faceted industry that offers ample opportunities for interested key players to get trained and be gainfully employed in various trades including arts and crafts, noting that the skill acquisition training program was timely and called on the trainees to make the best use of the knowledge they acquire at the end of the training session for a better livelihood.
In his goodwill message at the occasion, Malam Alamai Murtala, Head of Department of travel and Tourism of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi said knowledge based skill acquisition remains the surest way to excel in any given trade or profession, while he noted that participants at the skill acquisition training program should see themselves lucky, he called on them to make judicious use of the skills they will acquire for their socio-economic benefits.
