Mrs Nanna Yakubu, a Tourism professional has called on the Federal Government to make the study of tourism as a subject compulsory in schools to harness its benefit.

Yakubu made this call at her official book launch titled “Introduction to Tourism Studies for Schools and Colleges” in Abuja on Tuesday.

She said that what inspired her to write the book was to help the Nigerian children understand the country’s tourism so as to benefit from the industry.

According to her, getting the vision early will no doubt enable them understand the requirements and sway them into better decision making in the tourism sector.

“This will further sway them toward making good decisions for the industry in future. It’s believed that when we cash them young, they will be more informed.

“And the younger generation needs to be properly trained and adequately informed to be knowledgeable about tourism assets and opportunities in Nigeria and with that
they can build careers in the sector.”

Yakubu further explained that the narratives of how the book began and was gradually nurtured to the end was as a result of her ardent belief and passion for tourism especially here in Nigeria.

“The journey of my book started ten years ago when I was engaged in an adhoc assignment as one of the resource persons to plan, develop and critic tourism as a curriculum to be inculcated in schools as an
entrepreneurial subject.

“During the assignment, we had very little local resource materials to work with and we had to refer mostly to foreign educational writers on tourism.

“During this period, we discovered there was a widening gap.

“The idea came to me that if we want our schools to understand the Nigerian tourism sector, we must use our local materials, illustrations and examples for them to comprehend,”she further explained.

The tourism expert also noted that Nigeria was blessed with tourist attractions ranging from cultural, natural and manmade attractions, hence “this catch them young project could be achieved with all of us putting our hands together.”

Earlier, in his remarks, Dr Taiwo Famogbiyele, the book reviewer noted that the study of tourism in schools and colleges would certainly add value to knowledge.

Famogbiyele, who is also the Director of Studies, National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism said that its study would enhance the understanding of Nigerian tourism space.

Also in her speech, the Commissioner for Tourism, Plateau state, Mrs Tamwakat Weli, said tourism had been identified as the next economic grower of nations and in Nigeria as the next option to oil.

Weli, who was represented by the General Manager, Plataeu state Tourism Corporation, Jos, Mrs Salome Bidda, commended the efforts of the author in contributing to the growth and development of the sector.

“As Tourism grows through her enormous contributions, it has become necessary that the general populace should understand what tourism is all about,to be able to cue in for maximum benefits.

“This book therefore provides insights to the correct processes of Tourism Development and study of Tourism in the Nation’s Secondary schools and Colleges.

“This book will no doubt bring an improvement on Tourism Studies. The benefits no doubt, will be felt at every level of the diverse sectors of our economy.,” she said.

The book titled “Introduction to Tourism Studies for Schools and Colleges”, a research work of many years was published in August 2020.

It was subsequently submitted to the Federal Ministry of Education for assessment through the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council

The book having met the requirements and approval was recommended as a textbook for schools and colleges in Nigeria.

The author, Nanna Yakubu is a Tourism professional, who works with Nigerian Tourism Department Corporation.