Creative Industry

Quality of Tourism practitioner panacea to effectively service delivery in Hospitality-Experts

Published

3 years ago

June 25, 2022

Joel Ajayi
Experts at a One-Day Interactive Workshop on Effective Customer Service Delivery for Tourism and Hospitality Professionals organized by the FCT Chapter of the Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria (ITPN) have asserted the obvious fact that an effective service delivery in the sector is dependent on the quality of practitioners and their professional competence.

In the paper titled ‘Effective Customer Service Delivery for Tourism and Hospitality Professionals’ he presented at the occasion, Alhaji Abdulmalik Hassan, an advocate for quality service, stated that excellent customer service delivered in the appropriate way, is a prerequisite for effective and efficient business management that guarantees customer satisfaction, patronage and retention.
He said service delivery in the tourism and hospitality industry deserves much more than it is because, due to lapses in the manner and way personnel and staff of individual tourism and hospitality organizations conduct themselves with customers, they end up losing customer patronage and running down their businesses, noting that we take for granted the way the gateman and receptionist welcome guests, and that once the guest does not receive an amiable reception from the on-set at the entry point, the organization losses the ability to command customer satisfaction let alone retain customer patronage.

In his submission, Hassan advocated for more attention on training and equipping lower cadre staff with the necessary skills to deliver better customer service than the current trends in which most organizations spend huge resources training their top executives.

Another facilitator at the occasion, Capt. Emmanuel LordsGreat who delivered a paper on ‘Re-Inventing Customer Experience for Tourism and Hospitality Industry’ posited that businesses have changed from manufacturing dependence to providing timely and quality service, and that due to increase in technology and globalization, there has been a dramatic change in customer behaviour which service providers must understand and come to terms with.

Capt. LordsGreat stressed that Customers are increasingly becoming aware of the need to get value for their money and will frown at poor quality service delivery from mediocre organizations. This therefore means that hospitality and tourism organizations must work on customer satisfaction and retention efforts which are key to keeping them from running away.

What drive customers away is rude and discourteous behaviour, inept, and incompetence dispositions of staff during service delivery.

He alluded that knowing the obvious fact that customers are the most important people to an organization, and also that organizations depend on customers not the other way round and are in fact the lifeblood of an organization, taking measures to serve them to the best of their satisfaction is fundamental and should not be compromised.

Nura Sani Kangiwa, Director General of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism who was the special Guest of Honour at the occasion, represented by Dr. Taiwo Famogbiyele, Director, General Studies, Research and Development, delivered the keynote address in which he affirmed that the success of harnessing the country’s tourism potentials through effective service delivery is highly dependent on the quality of professionals and practitioners in the sector, noting that there is urgent need for adequate sensitization in terms of education and impacting of relevant training and skills to the personnel and drivers of the industry such as the one organized by the FCT Chapter of the Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria (ITPN)
Earlier in her welcome address, convener of the workshop and Chairman of the FCT Chapter of ITPN, Dr. Mrs. Ebikaboere Seimodei said a flourishing tourism industry can only be achieved via quality service delivery which the country stands to benefit from its economic values such as generating income, providing job opportunities, ensuring foreign exchange earnings, increase in internally generated revenue via taxation and the attendant multiplier effects on other sectors of the economy, and when service delivery is poor, the result will be dwindling fortunes in the industry and low economic value to the national economy.

Dr. Seimodei then called on practitioners in the industry to support efforts of the FCT Chapter of ITPN in capacity development for enhanced service delivery, particularly in this age of increased technological skills and changing visitor/consumer preferences as well as meet the expectations of tourists in conformity with global best practices.
Other guests who gave goodwill messages at the occasion includes Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, National President of ITPN; Mrs. Susan Akporiaye, President of the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents (NANTA) and Barr. Funmi Kazeem, Hotel Owners Forum of Abuja (HOFA); who praised efforts of the FCT Chapter of ITPN by bringing to the front burner the issue of training and re-training of practitioners in the industry for better and quality service delivery by professionals.

Certificates were later presented to participants at the workshop as testimony of attendance and acquisition of the requisite knowledge and skills in the ethics of customer service delivery as professionals in the travel tourism and hospitality industry.

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Creative Industry

THANK YOU MOM-Barr Hannatu Musa Musawa

Published

7 days ago

October 29, 2025

The Gleamer

Written by Barr Hannatu Musa Musawa

…Every day I get to celebrate and honor being a mother, and honor my mother. Joining grateful children and mothers around the world to give gratitude and celebrate the special gift of motherhood is a priviledge.

I celebrate the blessing of motherhood every second of the day because it is the ultimate gift. I celebrate being a mother and having the most special mother every moment and want to give a loving shout out to my mother.

Anyone who knows my mother, Hajia Ladi Binta Musawa (nee Yusuf Gurshe Rafindadi), will be aware of what a difficult task it is for me to attempt to find the words to describe her. A role model to all who know and love her, my mother lives her life with great humility. Her selflessness and kindness to others knows no bounds. She is a fantastic person who has been blessed with a great sense of humor, a kind nature, and an unassuming ability to make all those around her feel special and loved.

To have the blessing of being able to call Hajia Ladi, ‘Mom’ and Alhaji Musa ‘Dad’ is, perhaps, the greatest fortune of my life. Continuously, I learn and grow from the pure example set by them.

The energy my Mom pumps into the love and caring she displays to all those around her and beyond is boundless. She continues to be a source of inspiration to so many that she meets by her unselfishness, dedication and Faith in Allah. She unceasingly encourages her children, family, friends, neighbors and associates to work hard at life but always to put Allah first. Her faith cradles her and her loved ones even during the times when life throws curve-balls. The courage she always shows in the face of adversity and her inner strength are truly what great people are made of. She is a true blessing.

My greatest wish for my Mom, as I watch her dedicate her life to encouraging, supporting, educating, protecting, helping, loving, and caring for all those she comes in contact with on a daily basis, is for her to be able to see herself the way the World sees her; which is as a blessing, an incredibly special and amazing person. A woman who is indeed a pure soul with a pure heart, a remarkable role model and a woman with great faith.

Hajia Ladi Binta Musawa is a shining gem and an angel. She has incredibly strong values. If ever there was a portrait of a Godly mother, it is she. I am convinced that anything that is pure and good in me, Allah has planted it in me directly from my Mom and Dad.

My Mom is big on teaching. On a daily basis, she teaches me to live my life, make my decisions and conduct myself as if I am teaching my children and the next generation. One of her favorite quotes to me is one of Ghandi’s. “Hannatu, always be the change you want to see in the world…” she would say. This quote consistently reverberates in my head and sticks with me wherever I go. It is exactly how Mom lives her life.

Some of the greatest values I try to uphold; defending my honor religiously, keeping integrity, trying to do right, caring for the downtrodden, were instilled in me by Mom. Her lessons and example influence every good part of my life and positive thought process.

Mom teaches me the difference between right and wrong and urges me to constantly try to make good choices. She teaches me to be faithful to myself, to my family, to my culture, to my community, to my calling, to people around me, to my identity, to my bloodline, to my Father’s name, to Nigeria and especially to Allah. She encourages me to be more focused and strive and finish things that I start. She always urges me to try as best as I can to keep my word and learn to accept and take correction. And she always worries and counsels me about tempering the fiery temper I inherited from my equally incredible late Dad.

Mom teaches me that the things I should treasure should never be made with human hands. She teaches me that it is through giving that I will be filled and fulfilled. She teaches me that originality feeds the soul and energizes the mind. She teaches me to exercise greater patience and always try to endure. She teaches me the difference between right and wrong. She teaches me not to use my power to hurt others. She teaches me to always strive to give more than I receive. This is an example that she lives with daily. Throughout her life she has always been known to help people, even at her own expense. It is the way she lives, even now. She simply loves being there for others and making their lives easier. It is the times that she helps people that you can see the greatest joy in her eyes.

As a little girl, she often took me and my siblings to orphanages, shelters and hospitals so we could see people who were suffering; so we could develop a desire to help people who are suffering. She made us touch and feed lepers in the days when people shunned them. She worries for everyone more than she worries about herself. She tries to do all she can to fix other people’s problems. Her charity was to everyone she interacted with, anyone who needed her and that was what made people gravitate towards her. That is the kind of woman my Mom is.

For the duration of my life I will dedicate every morsel of who I am, everything I have achieved and all that I have ever done good and right to my Mom and Dad. I thank them deeply for loving me so much and being the brightest light in my life. I thank them for showing me what I should be and teaching me how to be free and how to dream. I thank them for being the ultimate example of forgiveness, compassion, friendship, kindness, strength, generosity, honesty, elegance, beauty, resilience, selflessness, care, hope and love. I thank Mom for telling me she loved me every single day of my life. Even when we were not together, she finds a way of getting the message across to me, even if it was just through her energy.

Mom is my rock, my anchor; my strong, beautiful, vibrant angel; my heart and my precious gift from Allah. I am beyond proud of her and everything she is. From the time I was a little girl, Mom and Dad have always been all I have ever needed in my life. My submission to the Almighty comes first beyond everything else and my dedication to Mom and the memory of my Dad I draw through that faith. I truly have exceptional parents. My siblings and I truly won the loterry as far as parents go! We thank The Almighty with everything that we have for the grace and gift he has given us in the form of parents.

…Every day I get to celebrate and honor being a mother, and honor my mother. Joining grateful children and mothers around the world to give gratitude and celebrate the special gift of motherhood is a priviledge. I want to encourage everyone to celebrate and pray for their Mom every single day whether she is living or passed.

“Hajia Ladi Binta Musawa, I wanted to tell the world about the essence of you, my salute to you so they can celebrate with me on my great blessing of you, so they can celebrate their mothers too. You impact the world around you more than you realize. I love you on your good days and on your bad days. I see your sacrifice and struggle day after day. You are not just a mother, you are a role model and an advocate My heart will always belong to you and I want to say “May Allah always be with you.” May we witness many more days together by Allah’s special grace. I LOVE YOU MOM… I THANK YOU!”

Written by Barr Hannatu Musa Musawa

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