Creative Industry

Skill Acquisition, Sure way to lift Nigerians Out of Poverty-Kangiwa

Published

5 years ago

August 4, 2021

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, 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.

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Creative Industry

FG Backs MyCityApp Launch of 100-Day Tourism Calendar to Drive $100bn Economic Growth

Published

2 weeks ago

September 15, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Federal Government has thrown its weight behind the launch of MyCityApp, a Nigerian city discovery and tourism platform designed to aggregate festivals, concerts, cultural events and lifestyle experiences into a single digital calendar.

The platform, which flags off the 100-Day Tourism Calendar, was unveiled on Monday at the Ember2Remember National Stakeholders’ Conference in Victoria Island, Lagos, with the initiative targeting Nigeria’s estimated $100 billion tourism and creative economy opportunity.

In a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja by the Media and Publicity Adviser to the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, the ministry said the conference was aimed at mobilising public and private stakeholders to transform the September-to-December festive period into jobs, investment and economic growth.

Speaking at the unveiling, the Minister, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said millions of visitors travel across Nigeria every year to celebrate, reconnect and experience the country’s diverse culture, stressing that the festive season could be deliberately organised and monetised to strengthen tourism’s contribution to the economy.

“This initiative is about moving beyond the traditional concept of a festive season. It is about deliberately organising, packaging, promoting, and monetising one of the most economically active periods in our national calendar,” Musawa said.

She noted that every visitor generates economic activity across several sectors, including aviation, transportation, hospitality, restaurants, entertainment, retail, technology, artisans and local communities.

The Minister commended MyCityApp Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Ifeoma Chukwu, for her vision and commitment to the initiative.

She urged state governments, event organisers, tourism operators, hospitality businesses and other stakeholders to list their festivals, concerts, exhibitions, food experiences, cultural celebrations, fashion and sporting events on the national calendar.

Musawa said the platform would enable Nigerians, members of the diaspora and international visitors to discover tourism and entertainment experiences across the country from a single, credible source.

Earlier, Chukwu said Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and creative sector provided enormous opportunities for tourism-driven economic growth.

She cited the contributions of tourism to the economies of countries such as Spain, France and the United States, arguing that Nigeria could equally build a $100 billion tourism economy.

Also present were Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Toke Benson-Awoyinka; Enugu State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Ugochi Madueke; NCAC Director-General, Obi Asika; National Gallery of Art Director-General, Ahmed Sodangi; ARCON Director-General, Dr Olalekan Fadolapo; and MTN Nigeria CEO, Dr Karl Toriola.

MyLagosApp and MyCityApp will serve as the digital engines of the calendar, distributing events through a 360-degree media ecosystem to audiences in Nigeria and the diaspora.

Stakeholders were encouraged to upload their events on MyCityApp to participate in the national tourism calendar urging them to upload events on http://www.MyCityApp.io.

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