NIHOTOUR Is regulatory Not Training Institute, Says DG

The Director of National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) Aare Abisoye Fagade has said by virtue of the act establishing the agency and’ sign into law in 2023 by former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, the institute was longer a training institute, but rather a regulatory body for all personnel operating under the tourism industry value chain.

Fagade made this disclosure during a stakeholders meeting with tourism industry practitioners in Abuja on Wednesday, this week.

He said, “NIHOTOUR, as it is today, is no longer a training institute. NIHOTOUR has been given extra powers. The reason we are here today is to talk on how we can use this power to create an enabling environment for stakeholders to harness the opportunities”

Fagade emphasized that within his tenure at the helms of affairs in the institute, he was determined to bring standards to the industry, and that the main reason for calling for the meeting was to ask for collaboration from the tourism industry stakeholders. He said: “We must work together to bring standards to the industry.”

In his speech at the meeting, the President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Mr. Nkereuwem Onung while commending the new NIHOTOUR boss for his vision and tenacity to make a difference in the institute, praised the former Director General for working assiduously to make sure the new NIHOTOUR act was passed and signed into law.

He said: “We are going to speak as a family. The federation was set up by government so that the private sector will have one voice, so that we do not work in isolation. While I commend the DG for his efforts, I want us to appreciate Alhaji Nura Kangiwa. If not for that DG, this present one will be looking for where to start from.

“ When the laws of NIHOTOUR and NTDA were signed, we were taken aback as private sector. It is normal that when a man is appointed and when he comes into the new office, he would ask where is the law is backing my office? They give him a law, if you are the one, you would want to implement that.”

However, the FTAN President noted that in the new NIHOTOUR act, the institute was overburdened with objectives and functions, and that NIHOTOUR was pushed to overreach its reasonable self.

He noted these current responsibilities of NIHOTOUR are unwieldy, impracticable and counter-productive.

Onung also drew the attention of the NIHOTOUR DG to some of the challenges of being a regulatory agency, and also some conflicts between the Act setting up the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) and the NIHOTOUR.

The FTAN president also alluded to the Supreme Court judgment of 2013 between Lagos and the Federal Government. He advised the NIHOTOUR boss: “As a president, I have always said that if we follow this law, we will not develop tourism in Nigeria. I always call for collaboration.
As we are going to the National Council for Tourism, we are asking that the private with the Federal Government, will found a body that would allow the private and the state (to collaborate) so that it will be easy for whatever you want to do from the ministry, agency or state. That is the way to go. For us, those were the observation in the law. The DG has a lot of lobbying to make, he has a lot of consultations to make. That is our position, and that is why I say this is a courageous DG.”

A major function for NIHOTOUR 2023 act is to register and standard the manpower within the tourism industry. And as long as a particular service provider is a part of the tourism industry as captured in the act setting up NIHOTOUR as amended, the law expects the personnel of that organisation to register and be certified by NIHOTOUR. He said the idea was to have a complete data of personnel working in the Nigerian tourism industry.