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Mkar University Partners NIHOTOUR On Capacity Training, Appoints Kangiwa Ambassador
Joel Ajayi
The Director General of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), Alhaji Nura Sani Kangiwa has said that partnership and collaboration amongst training institutions in Travel Tourism and Hospitality will increase the manpower needs of the sector which has been in short supply compared to the high demands of services in the industry.
Kangiwa who stated this in Gboko, Benue state during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the Institute and Mkar University, Mkar – Gboko, expressed the readiness of NIHOTOUR to partner with institutions in the country desirous to enhance their capacity and manpower base to train professionals in the acquisition of skills in Travel Tourism and Hospitality.
Kangiwa who was quick to mention that the tourism industry has the capacity for job creation and offer of employment opportunities, noted that with increased teaching and learning opportunities in the sector, more youths will be trained in Travel Tourism and Hospitality trades, giving them the opportunities to be gainfully employed or be employers thereby curbing youth restiveness in the country.
The Director General who expressed satisfaction with the partnership, said NIHOTOUR looks forward to a very vibrant relationship between the Institute and the University that will bring about increase in the area of capacity building for lecturers of the University on the one hand, and high skilled and trained professional graduates on the other.
In his remarks at the occasion, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Zacharys Anger Gundu, said the University looks forward to establishing a vibrant Travel Tourism and Hospitality Department and it can do this with competent staff to man the Department which is what it partnership with NIHOTOUR seeks to achieve.
Prof. Gundu who stressed the relevance of the tourism industry in the economic diversification of the Nigerian economy, said Benue state in particular is highly endowed with tourism potentials that requires the professional services of skilled middle and high level manpower to explore for the socio-economic benefits of all.
Meanwhile, the authorities of the Mkar University have conferred on Nura Kangiwa the honour of the Ambassador of the University for his dodged pursuit and passion for impacting knowledge and skills in Travel Tourism and Hospitality education on Nigerian youths.
Prof. Zacharys Gundu, Vice Chancellor of the University who disclosed this as part of activities of the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the University and NIHOTOUR, said with the conferment of the Ambassador of the University, Kangiwa now has the responsibility of promoting the ideals for which the University was established as well as offer selfless service for the growth and development of the University as an excellent citadel of learning in the country and beyond, stating further that a date for the formal conferment ceremony on Nura Kangiwa will be made known soon
Featured
Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold
Joel Ajayi
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Tuesday inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.
The inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head PRESS and Public Relations Department Mrs. Kania Maliki Andeyaba stated that, Alake in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the US is a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, not a sale of assets.
Harping on the importance of the solid minerals sector to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, he noted that the administration was committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.
According to him, the Nigeria–US partnership as a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create employment opportunities.
“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” Alake declared.
“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers.”
The Minister said reports claiming the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture were untrue at best and products of riotous imagination at worst.
Explaining the policy thrust, Alake said Africa has historically held the short end of the stick in global economic transactions, and Nigeria is determined to change that model.
“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation . The investor gains, Nigeria gains.’’he said.
Nigeria, he stressed, had operated a mono-cultural economy dependent on oil, while solid minerals were exploited informally — with ores taken “from pit to port” without value addition.
Alake said government has now made local processing mandatory, refusing to grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria.
He said the policy led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa commissioned recently in Nasarawa by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.
Alake noted that investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Bola Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.
He charged the committee to discharge its assignment responsibly, saying its work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.
To this end, he told the Committee to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes capable of positioning Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.
In his welcome address, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration translates growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilization
Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritized three areas for US embassies — energy, artificial intelligence/super intelligence, and critical minerals.
Baas said Washington’s direction is to work with partners to secure critical supply chains while ensuring partners capture value.
“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.
In his vote of thanks, CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, NSMC said that the committee
is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria–US cooperation framework.
The inauguration reinforces the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification, industrial development and national prosperity under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
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