Creative Industry

SERVESAFE: ITPN Partners Humanitarian Ministry to train Caterers

Published

2 years ago

October 3, 2022

Joel AjayiIn continuation with its quest of ensuring safety and hygiene of food served in the National Home Grown School Feeding Program (NHGSFP) in terms of quality and safety of its delivery and consumption, the Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria (ITPN) is training caterers and support experts involved and handling the program to ensure compliance in food safety and hygienic procedures in the alternative school feeding scheme. Speaking at the venue of the training program in Abuja, National President of the Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria, Chief Abiodun Odusanwo, said the Institute employed the services of competent and qualified professionals in food hygiene and safety to impact the knowledge and skills of food preparation, management and service to consumers in the safest ways that ensure the desired health benefits of food consumption for beneficiaries of the new, improved alternative School Feeding Program. Chief Odusanwo noted that food-borne illnesses are a major public health concern especially in the home grown school feeding program meant for children as it can impact negatively on their health and of individuals, giving rise to reduced economic productivity, adding that in the event of outbreaks of food-borne diseases, this costs the nation millions of Naira annually to address. He said illnesses which are mostly caused by the consumption of contaminated food or water, poor hygiene, cross contamination, improper handling and inadequate heat treatment of food, can be averted if those engaged in food preparations and other handling processes and procedures are expertly trained with the requisite management skills on food safety handling which the Servesafe modules in the alternative school feeding program seeks to address. He disclosed that the key challenges facing the enhancement of food safety in the country include lack of awareness of the socio-economic importance of food safety, absence of adequate information on incidence of food borne disease outbreaks, lack of understanding of food safety and quality standards as outlined in international agreements and the inability to enforce compliance commensurate with the demands of enforcement of regulatory bodies, noting further that it is in response to these challenges that the Servesafe Quality Assurance Supervisors, Caterers and Support Experts trainings were organized. The two training programs which were executed by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in collaboration with the Institute for Tourism Professionals of Nigeria, saw participants of the Training Programmes drawn from all Training Centres, Caterers Food Hygiene Handling Experts across the country drilled on key food safety areas including: ‘Overview of Safe Food’; ‘How to Avoid Food Contamination’; ‘The Servesafe Food Handler’ and ‘Servesafe Facilities and Pest Management and Control’. Other are: ‘Servesafe flow of Food Production and Service’; Servesafe Cleaning and Sanitation’; Servesafe Flow of Food Production and Service’ and ‘Servesafe Food Safety Management System’ and were presented with Certificates acknowledging them as qualified food safety supervisors and qualified Food Hygiene Caterers respectively in the country’s food value chain and hospitality trades.

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Creative Industry

Stephanie Linus, Juliet Ibrahim 8 others Appointed Jury Members For Zuma International Film Festival

Published

1 month ago

November 13, 2024

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

Ten-member 10 jury of reputable Nigerian and foreign filmmakers to adjudicate on all entries in the competitive category of the Zuma international film festival, 2024, scheduled to hold in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital from December 1st to 5th, which is jointly being organized by the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has been announced.

Announcing the constitution of the ten-member jury through a statement issued in Abuja (on Monday, November, 11, 2024); Brian Etuk, NFC’s Director of Public Affairs, said “the jury is most critical to the selection of winning entries and composition of the jury reflects the premium and niche of ZUMA International Film Festival, as one of the continents fastest growing international film festivals and market events”.

He said, this explains why membership of the jury includes both Nigerian and foreign film stakeholders who have in the recent past promoted authentic Nigerian and African resonate stories, and continue to contribute immensely to the growth of inclusive global film production.

Stephanie Okereke Linus, an A-list Nigerian actress, filmmaker, activist with lead appearances in over 100 movies, including an Afro-Hollywood, USA Filmmakers Award for Excellence, Reel Awards for Best Actress, and recently, the AMVCA Award for Best Overall Movie in Africa as well as recipient of the AMAA Award for Best Nigerian Film for her impactful work DRY was named as the Chairperson of the Jury.

Other members are Kenneth Gyang- director of This Is Lagos, Mojisola as well as Oloture Netflix’s Original from Nigeria; Aisha Halilu Abdullahi – a docu-drama and documentary specialist; Ishaq Sidi Ishaq – an actor, writer and producer of “Kamilu”,‘‘Wasila’’; Charles Novia – an avant-garde Nollywood ﬁlmmaker, scriptwriter, producer, director and creative entrepreneur; Hakeem Kae Kazim – a supremely talented actor, producer, director of great cinematic portrayal of George Rutugunda in the Oscar-nominated Hotel Rwanda, as well as playing leading roles in The Librarian.

The Triangle, and knack for creating feisty and deeply thrilling characters; Sihle Hlophe – director with multiple awards and over 15 years of experience; Ronya Man – an acting coach and creative arts specialist with handles on Lahira, SIN.

The Johnsons, as well as Juliet Ibrahim – a bilingual (French and English) speaking multiple award-wining producer, director, entrepreneur with over 100 movie appearances. Zaiyanu Tanko Waziri, a veteran filmmaker and broadcaster with over two decades of professional experience was also named as member of the jury.

In the statement, Dr. Ali Nuhu, NFC’s Managing Director & Chairman, Festival Organising Committee, on behalf of its partner, the FCTA, congratulated Stephanie Okereke – Linus for emerging as Chairperson of the Jury. Dr. Nuhu said that the Jury Chairperson and her team’s roles are critical to the overall success of the Film Festival brand, which no effort has been spared in its organization in terms of content, attendance and participation. NFC; Nuhu averred, remains committed to achieving the objectives of sustaining the positive narratives that Nigeria with a huge creative economy, is indeed the hub of film production in Africa.

Zuma International Film Festival 2024, the 14th in the series and themed: Digital Renaissance: Embracing The Future takes place December 1st – 5th at Chida Event Centre, Abuja Nigeria. Meanwhile, Etuk added that the online registration portal of the film festival has opened, and intending participants can register through the link :- https://zumafilmfest.com/zuff-2024-registration.

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