2023 NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival held in Abuja Amid Food Glitz and Entertainment

By Abubakar Yunusa

For the hundreds of visitors inside the InternationalHEADLINE: 2023 NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival held in Abuja Amid Food Glitz and Entertainment
For the hundreds of visitors inside the International Conference Centre Abuja, on Saturday, June 17, it was a tour-of-duty swarming from one exhibition stand to the other exploring culinary delights on showcase at this year’s frighteningly massive NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival.
Exhibition platforms erected by top chefs from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria, including; South East, West, South-South, North Central, West and East regions, and also those by foreign participants from Trinidad and Tobago, Senegal and Cote D’Ivoire became empty within minutes of the opening of the food and beverages section as attendees aggressively sampled the sumptuous and tasty delights on display, as this year’s edition of the popular Gastronomy Festival, closed, last Saturday, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
“I’m here now (South South stand) eating this Afang soup. When I’m through, I’m moving to the South West, and then to the South East, because I’m seeing the rush over there. I must see and taste what is going on there (Laughing). And when I’m done at the local level, I’m going international (foreign stands),” said Aliu Usman, an attendee bragged.
The foods exhibition booths of Trinidad and Tobago was a beehive of food and beverages consumption, in the same way as visitors and tourists trooped-in to sample Senegalese and Ivorian culinary offerings.
According to President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Mr. Nkereuwem Onung, in his goodwill message, gastronomy has broken the barriers which politics and business had failed to do in the past, as according to him, the way chefs have united Nigerians and their brothers from the West African sub-regions, even aviation business and politics have lagged in that direction.
This year’s NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival, is the third consecutive Nigerian and international foods and beverages exhibition and sampling event, initiated and annually organized by NIHOTOUR, since 2021. This year the organizer gathered more participants than the previous two editions. The theme for the 2023 NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival is “Culinary Arts: The Gateway to Growing Tourism Destinations”.
NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival is one of the largest of its kind in Africa, with public exhibition and free tasting of hundreds of culinary masterpieces from Nigeria’s 300 ethnic groups and the international communality including cuisines from China, Spain, Senegal, Trinidad & Tobago, and Cote D’Ivoire.
NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival is conceptualized and programmed to upskill Nigerian gastronomes and culinary artists on the technicalities, and emerging global best practices, of processing, preparing, presenting, packaging and promotion of foods, especially Nigerian traditional cuisines.
The Embassy of Spain to Nigeria brought in chef Alex Marugan, a celebrated Spanish chef to train and share best practices and emerging global trends of culinary arts with some select culinary schools in Nigeria. Hilda Bassey, the current Guinness World Records (GWR) holder for longest marathon cooking record by an individual, graced the festival’s gala and awards night, same Saturday, June 17.
Heads of Federal Government of Nigeria Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), including those of the National Theatre, Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), National Orientation Agency, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) graced the occasion, even as others featured prominently at the awards/gala night.
The food festival kicked off with Director General of NIHOTOUR, Nura Sani Kangiwa, disclosing that this year’s Gastronomy Festival, which is the third edition, organised by his institute, had more than doubled the number of its participants, with added participation by Caribbean countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, as well as West African nations, including, Senegal, The Gambia, Cote D’Ivoire, in addition to Asian giants like China, and European culinary giants, Spain, which had brought its own celebrated chef Alex Marugan.
Similarly, China thrilled attendees and gourmets with their presentations, the Senegal stand was filed to the brim, in the same way as the Trinidad and Tobago thrilled with their beverage presentation. This year’s Gastronomy Festival is also the Chinese’ third consecutive showcase in the event. They always have one of the largest stands food exhibition booths since the maiden event in 2021.
At the Awards/Gala night, which held at the same venue, so many staff of the institute went home with deserving prizes and money for their hardwork, as NIHOTOUR again prioritized excellence in labour.
NIHOTOUR honoured recipients of its Most Outstanding Staff Members of the Year 2023 and the Best Campus of the Year 2023 awards with money and certificates and plaques. The annual Best Campus and Outstanding Staff Members award system was introduced by the Director General of NIHOTOUR, Nura Sani Kangiwa in 2021.
The Staff award system is a 12-calendar month performance evaluations matrix that straddles a preceeding and a current year, hence this latest award is for May 2022 to June 2023. Lagos Campus emerged the Over-all Best NIHOTOUR Campus of the Year 2023, as its Coordinator, Mrs. Chinyere Uche-Ibeabuchi claimed the prize, which also includes an all-expense paid trip to Tunisia.
Also, the SERVICOM Unit Head in NIHOTOUR Abuja office, Mrs. Gemma Simon emerged as the Best Staff of the Year, winning in the process a trip to Tunisia; while Mr. Haladu Habu Wakili, a staff at the Registry Unit, NIHOTOUR Abuja, emerged as the Most Dedicated Staff of the Year 2023, winning an all-expense paid trip to Senegal. In addition, the top-three culinary schools which won the NIHOTOUR cooking competition held in May 2023 to herald the 3rd NIHOTOUR Gastronomy Festival went home with their prizes including cooling appliances.
Similarly, NIHOTOUR also used the forum to honour some individuals in recognition of the roles in promoting the travel and tourism industry in the country. Mr. Gab Onah, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, Alhaji Idi Hong, were among the recipients as they were presented with their awards.