By Frank Meke
The four year tenure of Nura Kangiwa as the head of the National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism ( NIHOTOUR) comes to an end by 12 noon today.
He was appointed by the president, Muhammadu Buhari, in August 2020 and by law establishing the national vocational training school, Kangiwa first tenure ends today and, like all government appointees, the president has the power to return him but his very dismal performance in office certainly doesn’t resonate with the renewed hope agenda of this government and even industry players.
Since there’s no vacuum in a government leadership position, it’s expected that the most senior officer in NIHOTOUR, in the person of Philip Egga Maga sits in acting capacity, pending the appointment and announcement of another Director General for the vocational institute.
NIHOTOUR is a dedicated training school for the unskilled junior and middle level manpower that needs to flourish human capacity requirements for the emerging Nigerian tourism, hospitality, and travel trade industry.
Unfortunately, previous appointees were not professional teachers with skills and knowledge to impact the curriculum development of the school, particularly in relation to the dynamic development and management expectations from an industry influenced by global benchmark in tourism, hospitality and travel trade demands and standardisation grossly missing
Sadly, NIHOTOUR was cloned out of its original foundational objectives, turned into a huge marketplace for constituency projects execution, many allegedly seen as special purpose vehicles to fret away money to questionable ends.
The development unarguably led to serious interrogation by the industry media, escalated beyond measure by the high handed attitude of the Nura Kangiwa led management of the institute in the past four years which was not answerable to no one in particular.
To say the least, his tenure was brash and unreasonable, largely ignored by the greater majority of the private sector players, particularly those who felt his four years in nihotour, was a long walk to the cemetery as the vision and mission of nihotour died on the laps of Hitlerish tendencies.
The primary delivery ecosystem for the institute experienced turn offs and rejections from hotel owners, tourism related operators, and travel trade professionals who either set up their own training schools or sought the intervention of other private schools to train their staff. The industry lost direction with free entry and exit regime by business owners, most of whom could not be brought under effective control and regulation despite legislative empowerment by the government through nihotour to check the developmental dislocations
Meanwhile, the supplementary budget for the institute in 2024 has been approved and released with the school once again expected to drive projects outside its mandate.
In budget breakdown sighted by me, the school is expected to spend 40 million naira on acquisition and installation of solar power systems only , five million naira to purchase office equipment and photocopy machine, 45 million naira for rehabilitation and repair of school and office complex, another purchase of computer system at 18.3 million naira and the development of children play Park for 45 million naira.
These itemised projects were merely tagged ongoing, and where they are actually located remains a mystery. Indeed, who supervises these projects is left to imagination, as Nura Kangiwa would no longer sit in office as DG NIHOTOUR from today.