By Frank Meke.
A purported letter to the management, academic staff, and workers of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), sheepishly confirmed that the former Director General is not coming back to the government funded training school.
Dated September 2nd by a claimant who was dropped by the former Director General due to his unprofessional conduct in that position and transferred to head a colourless research department, the circular that the office of the purportedly endorsed by office of Secretary to the federal government allegedly approved that the “most senior officer” in NIHOTOUR, one Philip Egga Maga takes over the affairs of the Institute as Deputy Director General pending the appointment of a substantive replacement for the existed Director General.
The letter which smells of a well executed conspiracy against the most senior staff in NIHOTOUR nominal roll, sighted by me and generiously explained in our earlier reports on the rot in the national training school, and particular the four years misadventure and reign of the former headmaster who turned the place to a construction company, with focal attention to bid and avail its operational accounts for zonal intervention projects which have nothing to do with NIHOTOUR tourism education and training mandate.
If the alleged letter from the officer whose office was earlier caught in controversy is found to reflect the position of the respected office of the Secretary to the Federal Government ( SGF) and not head of service since who takes from over from the existed boss of NIHOTOUR is a civil service administrative issue, it further adds to the depraved and desperate shenanigans going on in NIHOTOUR and to which a thorough probe panel must be constituted immediately to clean up and reform the school in order to steer
it back to its original foundational objectives.
We worry that such a letter may not officially emanate from the hallowed office of the SGF and in particular, only came to the public domain after 12 days when it was assumably and allegedly written by the office of SGF
Until the office of SGF, publicly announce the new leadership ecosystem in NIHOTOUR and until a substantive chief executive is appointed, it will be difficult to accept and believe that same government that preach hope and equity would frog jump a process of leadership and appoint a number 5th officer on the nominal roll, and ignore the officer , who is number three on the nominal roll, and who is the most senior. The narratives to this ecosystem are steeped in a well-oiled conspiracy allegedly packaged by the same Maga in active collaboration with the former boss of NIHOTOUR.
Unfortunately, the minister of tourism, Lola Ade John, who should have taken a frontal position on correcting this anomaly through the office of the permanent secretary in the ministry of tourism is too busy with mundane issues, not concerned with an issue to which she was directly or indirectly connected when the former Director General was on seat. The minister allegedly overlooked Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDA), which is a lead agency in her ministry for the then NIHOTOUR headed by her ” boy” who allegedly grew wings as a placement head master of the ministry’s agencies organogram.
Where NIHOTOUR tourism education goes from here depends on our collective intervention to dislodge prating supplanters out of NIHOTOUR and ask government to reform the management of the school for it to discharge its tourism education mandate.