By Taiye Olayemi
The National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) has empowered no fewer than 400 widows and internally displaced youths across the six geo-political zones in the country.
The NIHOTOUR Director-General, Alhaji Nura Kangiwa, who disclosed this in a statement on Monday said that the programme is known as NIHOTOUR’s Sustainable Tourism Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP).
Kangiwa said that NIHOTOUR’s objective was to empower young and displaced Nigerians with socio-economic, life-transforming knowledge and entrepreneurship skills in various value-chains of tourism and hospitality tradecrafts.
He said this was also to improve service delivery and reduce poverty in Nigeria’s tourist host communities.
According to him, the empowerment programme was in two phases in December when the beneficiaries were trained on making and packaging of liquid and bar soaps, detergents, disinfectants, duvet
and throw-pillow crafts.
He said all these were of daily use in tourism and hospitality service outlets.
He explained that the beneficiaries were selected from tourist host communities within the country where there were internally displaced persons.
Kangiwa noted that the empowerment programme was held in Benin, Enugu, Lagos, Oshogbo, Makurdi, Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Argungu and Bauchi.
“The training of 150 youths and women in making of duvets and throw-pillow; and that of 250 youths and women in soap making means that the STEP project has trained 400 displaced Nigerians in less than one month.
“By the end of this year, all things being equal, the STEP project would train about 5000 youths and women in various economically empowering tourism and hospitality tradecrafts.
“Beneficiaries of the STEP soap making training have been given NIHOTOUR’s internationally recognised certificates and starter-packs to enable each one of them commence the making and selling of their products.
“Also, in line with the STEP project masterplan, trainees would be given a 3-month mentoring and support system to enable them to establish and start operating their enterprises,” he said. (NAN)
