LBy Palma Ileye
Academic staff in all the nine campuses of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, NIHOTOUR, across the country have undergone a Train the Trainer program to enhance the quality of teaching within the framework of academic exercises of the Institute.
A call from the Director General of the Institute, Nura Sani Kangiwa tasked the staff to see the exercise as a mission aimed to provide innovative world class manpower that has the enrichment of quality professionals in the industry and in line with global best practices.
Kangiwa who flagged off the exercise in Abuja through representation by Dr. Taiwo Famogbiyele, Director Research and Development, noted that the essence for the establishment of NIHOTOUR 34 years ago was to provide skills proficiency, technical upgrading programs and professional knowledge based education in the hospitality and tourism industry in both the public and private sectors of the country, adding that to remain true and committed to the mandate of the Institute, academic staff must be constantly exposed to the best practices in the industry which the Train the Trainer exercise is meant to achieve.
In his remarks to flag off the exercise, Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, President of the Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria, ITPN, reiterated the cardinal objectives of ITPN which, as an awarding body for certified professionals in the hospitality and tourism industry in Nigeria, was to ensure training by competent professionals that produce qualified personnel to be certified by the Institute.
Shedding more lights on the ongoing Train the Trainer exercise, Odusanwo said it was in the category of Certified Tourism Professional, CTP, designed as an accredited competence based professional credential recognized by hospitality, tourism and allied occupations employers which was the pinnacle performance based recognition program in the Nigerian hospitality and tourism industry awarded when employees demonstrate that they have mastered the required skills and met the standards of their profession in a practical job setting.
The program, which is administered as a collaborative national certificated award is being coordinated and superintended by NIHOTOUR as Coordinator of the Sector Skills Council, while the certificates are being awarded by the ITPN as the awarding body.
The two batches of trainees which included staff of Abuja, Kano, Lagos, Benin and Enugu Campuses for Batch One; and staff of Kaduna, Makurdi, Bauchi and Oshogbo Campuses for Batch Two, all undergone the training of the ‘Train the Trainer Program’ which was rounded up in two weeks.
