Benue hands over facilities to takeoff NIHOTOUR campus

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

The Benue state government has handed over facilities to takeoff the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) North Central Zonal Campus in Makurdi the Benue state capital.
The Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed has described the successful handing over of structures and facilities to the Federal Government for the take-off of of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) campus as a promise made and promise kept by the Benue State Government.
Mohammed who made the statement at the official handing over of the facilities in Makurdi said tourism has assumed an extra ordinary growth globally because it is a major catalyst for economic growth and social development of most countries with its attendant spiral effects along the long line of its value chain
He further said that one of the pre requisites for the tourism industry to flourish and play the desired role in the socio-economic development of the country is the availability of trained personnel to run the sector, noting that this is what informed the setting up of NIHOTOUR by the federal government with the mandate of providing skill proficiency, technical upgrading and professional based education for the hospitality, travel and tourism industries for both Nigeria and the West Africa Sub region.
This was contained in a statement signed by Ahmed Mohammad Sule, Deputy Director,Media &Public Relation .The Minister who was visibly impressed, expressed the appreciation of the federal government to the government and people of Benue state for making the desire to establish the North Central Zonal Campus of the Institute a reality and called for renewed understanding between states, organized private sector and the federal government in the efforts to transform the socio-economic growth of Nigeria through tourism.
He reiterated the determination of his Ministry to develop, project and showcase the country’s tourism potentials and endowments because the benefits derivable therein are enormous in revenue generation, job creation, wealth redistribution, infrastructural development and inter-sectorial linkage incentives.