D-G NIHOTOUR becomes ATB global ambassador

The African Tourism Board (ATB) has named Alhaji Nura Kangiwa, DirectorGeneral, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), as its global ambassador, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The ATB is a leading PanAfrican tourism development conglomerate comprised of influential stakeholders around Africa, Europe and the Americas.

It is a non-profit body acting as a strategic partner among African countries to develop market and implement tourism programmes that meet the emerging needs of local industries and the international tourism market.

Kangiwa, in a statement on Sunday, said that the announcement was made during the annual Tourism and Transport summit in Abuja recently by Mr Cuthbert Ncube, President of the

ATB.

“My appointment is expected to lead to rapid growth in intra- and inter-Africa business partnerships and sustainable platforms for ATB members, stakeholders, tourism destinations and African host communities.

“This will add momentum to the drive for achievements of ATB’s vision and founding objectives,” he said.

Kangiwa is a popular cultural and sports tourism investor, professional and government administrator.

He is currently the substantive President of Nigeria Polo Federation (NPF) – the official Polo regulator in Nigeria –established during the colonial period.

The NPF is the national body recognised to regulate all polo activities within and outside the country. (NAN)

10th Speakership: Heed to Akeredolu, Stakeholders’ advice - Group Urges APC, Tinubu

By Christiana Ekpa

Ayouth group in the All Progressives Congress (APC), APC Youth Alliance For Progress (APC-YAP) has called on the party and the president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to heed the progressive and patriotic advice of some leaders of the party to jettison the present zoning arrangement.

The APC-YAP, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja stressed that ignoring the well-meaning advice of prominent stakeholders like the governor of Ondo state, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, was a recipe for a fractured National Assembly, especially the House of Reps.

Governor Akeredolu had in a statement titled, “Proposed APC Zoning Formula for NASS Leadership Positions is a Skewed Arrangement that Reinforces Injustice And Enhances Inequity,” noted with great concern that the purported zoning arrangement released by the party “represents early signs of steps aimed at attempts to cabin the hardearned presidency for our leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, by a few individuals with eyes on ASO ROCK POWER BUTTONS.”

The youth group statement signed by Isa Pai and Wahab Adeyemi noted that it “stands logic on the head for the party to reward indolence and perpetrate injustice at a time for inclusion and national healing.

“It is urgent for the party to discard the notion of handpicking officers for the 10th House of Reps. Nigerians are already wary of the party and not attempt should be made to reinforce the idea that the party does not care about party development and democracy.”

Referencing the Ondo governor, the APC-YAP wondered why the party that allowed an open field in the presidential primaries will now micro zone offices for the National Assembly as if it was a department of the party.

Akeredolu had stated, “It is an insidious permutation that North-east will be deprived in the face of the unsavoury generosity dispensed through two slots to a particular geo-political zone. It is self-repudiating for one to argue, therefore, that the Speaker of the House of Representatives cannot also emerge from the Northeast.”