Institute Of Tourism Budgets N2b For Road Aesthetics; Over N1bn For Supply Of Streetlights

The National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism has got the approval of the federal government to execute a road construction project for the sum of N2.3 billion.

This project is one of many others that are outside its constitutional mandate and scope, but included in its 2024 budget.

“PROVISION OF URBAN AESTHETIC, LANDSCAPING AND ENVIRONMENT ENHANCEMENT OF SELECTED ROADS IN SURULERE LAGOS-Lot 1 – 5. Amount – N2,300,000.000”

The institute also budgeted N100 million for the “provision of Solar Light in Selected Communities in Ilorin East/Ilorin South Federal Constituency, Kwara State”, and N200 million for the “Provision of Hand Pump and Motorised Boreholes in (Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency, Plateau State.”

Similar projects outside the scope and mandate of the institution, worth over a billion naira, can be found in the screenshots below:

The National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism is basically a school for persons interested in diploma courses such as hospitality business management, event management, cultural tourism management, and cookery, among others.

According to its website, it has about 10 campuses in Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Kanu, Bauchi, Osogbo, Benue, Benin, and Kaduna.

The Institution coordinates a Hospitality and Tourism Sector Skills Council of Nigeria (HTSSCN) which “is saddled with the responsibility to reduce demand skills gaps and shortage in the tourism industry by identifying, cataloguing, and providing occupational standard demand skills.”

It has a mandate to provide professional and technical skills, and training programmes to enhance the standard of Nigerian’s hospitality and tourism industries.

It says its mission is “to provide innovative world-class manpower capacity building that enables the entrenchment of quality driven professionals that meets global best practices.”

However, it is surprising that a tertiary institution that should be bothered about imparting knowledge and development curricula is more interested in spending billions on the distribution of boreholes, streetlights, and sewing machines, among others.

Read More:

• Abuja Entrepreneur Laments As Alleged “N150 Million Poultry Farm Investment” Destroyed By FCDA
• DSS Arrests NLC President Joe Ajaero at Abuja Airport

About The Author

Oluwatobi Odeyinka

author

See author's posts