Creative Industry

Kangiwa Braces-Up On NIHOTOUR’s Mandate, Tours Campuses

Published

5 years ago

May 1, 2021

Joel Ajayi

In his efforts at grasping the reality of things on ground with the aim of repositioning the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism NIHOTOUR for better training service delivery in the nation’s hospitality and travel tourism industry, the Director General of the Institute, Alhaji Nura Sani Kangiwa has toured the Institute’s campuses across the six geo-political zones of the country.

The campuses toured so far by Alhaji Kangiwa includes Lagos, Kano, Enugu, Oshogbo, Bauchi, Kaduna and the opening of the newly acquired campus of the Institute in Makurdi, Benue state during which he solicited for the support of staff and students so that the manpower and capacity development needs of the Nigerian travel tourism and hospitality sector would be fulfilled.

Speaking at some of the campuses visited, Kangiwa said the essence of the tour is to have first hand information as well as on the spot assessment needs of the campuses in terms of staff welfare, infrastructural challenges, teaching and learning-aid logistics so that an academic environment will be provided for conducive teaching and learning beneficial to both staff and students.

Kangiwa who noted the varying developmental needs associated with every campus of the Institute, said if the Institute is to deliver on its core mandate, these deficiencies must be appropriately addressed, a task which he further pointed out was why he is at NIHOTOUR to carry out as well as reposition it for better service delivery.

The Director General has since, and to the admiration of staff and students of the Institute, began to address some of the challenges giving community members of the Institute the hope that with Kangiwa’s positively focused and dogged style of administration, better days are ahead for NIHOTOUR to deliver quality vocational training that the Nigerian travel tourism and hospitality industry has been yearning for.

It would be noted that earlier upon his assumption of office, Kangiwa has observed the low morale among staff, infrastructural deficiencies and the use of old model systems of teaching and learning, conditions which he said must be reversed if the Institute is to deliver on its mandate, stressing the need to inject massive infrastructural development, cater for staff welfare and the deployment of digital technology in learning and teaching of travel tourism and hospitality skills.

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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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