Delta Stete governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, has commended the chairman of Delta State Tourism Board, Hon. (Mrs.) Fidelia M. Salami, for her brilliant exercise at expanding the reservoir of knowledge at the frontiers of tourism education in Nigeria.
Governor Okowa gave the commendation, while speaking at the launching and public presentation of tourism textbooks for Senior Secondary School, SSS 1 – 3, authored and published by Mrs. Salami, 2ho had previously authored another book on tourism, ‘Tourism in Nigeria: The Incredible Journey Into the Heart of Nature,’ held at the Orchid Hotels, Asaba on Tuesday 27 July 2021.
Present at the launching and public presentation of the tourism books were eminent dignitaries, including: the immediate past governor of Delta State, His Excellency Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, who chaired the occasion; the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammed; the Drink if Agbor Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Dr Benjamin Keagborekuzi Ikenchuku, who was the royal father of the day; son of a former Minister Information, who wrote the foreward to the books, late Prince Tony Momoh, Mr Abdulraheed Momoh, among other eminent personalities from all walks of life.
In her welcome address, Hon Salami disclosed that her passion for ensuring the availability of quality content tourism books for the secondary education strata lured her into writing the books.
She said, “I have this potent desire to see students successfully pass through the Senior Secondary School education and acquire the trade skills in tourism and also open the market of our tourist attraction to the rest of the world. I also seek to establish the dynamism of how Nigeria can grow in tourism.”
Governor Okowa, represented by his Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr (Mrs) Rose Ezewu, pointed out that the books were a perfect answer to the prayers of the tourism sector, which has been in the dearth of textbooks and research materials, particularly in the secondary level of educational strata.
The governor said that he was particularly happy that the publisher and author of the books, Hon Salami is from Delta State, and more also, the Chairman of Delta State Tourism Board, who knows where the shoe pinches the tourism sector.
He disclosed that Delta State, being the state where the books originated from, and where the author is serving her fatherland, would not only ensure the accessibility of the books to students in the SSS 1 – 3, but also its availability in all the libraries in the state
Okowa applauded Salami for adding value to knowledge and for sowing inter-generational documents, which teach students what they should know in tourism, what they should do in tourism and how they can explore tourism as a means of survival.
In his keynote address, the chairman of the event, former governor of Delta State, Dr. Uduaghan described Salami’s efforts at writing the three books that addressed the foundation and fundamental pillars of tourism education in Nigeria, as not only commendable but an effort that should be appreciated by all Nigerians, who understand the import of tourism and its capacity as potent revenue generation.
The immediate past governor of Delta State revealed that his passion for tourism and regard for the books being launched that day was responsible for his presence in Asaba, adding that it was the first public function he was attending in Asaba since he left government.
Uduaghan said that he knew the import of tourism, and that was why he organised a programme, ‘Delta State After Oil,’ which he said many people then could not comprehend and thus attracted to him many uninformed criticisms
He said the books which Samali birthed will go a long way at raising the consciousness of tourism in the minds of the Senior Secondary School students, who are the youths of the day and leaders of tomorrow.
He therefore, appealed to the governor and government of Delta State to make the books a must-read for the students in the state.
Congratulating the author of the books on tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, speaking through a representative, said that the books are not published for the benefit of the students, only but also aimed at providing skills and sensitization for education officers and teachers, of what tourism is all about, as well as how and what it contributes to lives, livelihoods, individuals, and the country as a whole
Givung royal perspective, the Dein of Agbor, Dr Ikenchuku, who was present throughout the event, blessed Hon Salami for enriching the intellectual fortress of tourism education with quality materials.
The foremost traditional ruler said that Salami, by her wring and publishing the three books for SSS 1 – 3, is stoking the embers of national rebirth in cultural tourism.
He called on education planners and administrators in Nigeria to adopt the books and recommend it to the nation.
The reviewer of the book, Senior Special Assistant to the governor of Ekiti State on Tourism Development, who is also the Country’s Team Leader and Chief Coordinator of Federation of World Culture and Arts Society, Singapore, FOWCAASS, Ambassador Wale Ojo-Lanre, said that the three books were the perfect answers to the dearth of textbooks in the tourism education sector in Nigeria, which every tourism buff must not only read, but acquire and possess for this generation and generations yet unborn.
