Pilgrimage: NIHOTOUR, NAHCON parley on ‘hajj’ workers capacity building

The National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) and the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on capacity building and training for staff of NAHCON to enhance their performance staff during hajj operations.

The Director General of NIHOTOUR, Alhaji Nura Sani Kangiwa, said the Institute is poised to bring the wealth of experience of its staff to bear in offering high quality training of the commission’s staff for better service delivery during the annual Hajj operations.

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Spokesman of the institute, Ahmed Mohammed Sule, quoted Kangiwa, in a statement on Wednesday as saying that as the nation’s apex travel-tourism and hospitality training institute, NIHOTOUR will ensure that NAHCON staff get the best training necessary that will impact positively on their job performance and output and ensure greater successes for a hitch-free hajj operation.

On his part, the Chairman/CEO of NAHCON, Alhaji Zikirullah Kunle Hassan, said it is the desire of NAHCON under his stewardship to deliver the best of services in hajj operations to the Nigerian pilgrims that endeared him to NIHOTOUR.

He said he has confidence that the partnership will work successfully well for both parties.

He said that hajj operation is a trillion-dollar global business that should not be toyed with and that Nigeria is set to key into the economic gains and spiritual benefits of the hajj operations with maximum comfort and satisfaction guaranteed to all Nigerian pilgrims.

He said the Commission has been against the annual political jamboree associated with hajj operation whereby government at the three tier levels sponsor pilgrims to the Holy land, pointing out that it was a welcome development that since the inception of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration such luxury and flamboyant financial extravaganza has been stopped and individuals are allowed to fend for themselves as a part of their religious obligations.