Hotel registration crisis: FTAN petitions minister, calls for overhaul of 2022 NIHOTOUR Act

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Following the ugly developments arising from the evasion of some hotels in Lagos and disruption of their business by the agents of the the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) recently over the noncompliance with the registration of their staff members, the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) is seeking peaceful resolution to save the industry.

In line with the above, FTAN, the umbrella body of Nigeria’s tourism private sector, has written Hannatu Musawa, Minister of Culture, Arts, Tourism and Creative Economy, demanding the immediate review and overhaul of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) Establishment Act 2022, decrying that the act is currently creating crisis in the Nigerian tourism industry.

In the letter written by the federation and signed by Nkereuwem Onung, its president, FTAN called on the minister to intervene and bring clarity to the Nigerian tourism and hospitality industry, saying that the NIHOTOUR Establishment Act 2022 is currently creating confusion in the industry.

In the letter dated June 16, 2025, FTAN said: “We are aware that Abisoye Fagade, director general of NIHOTOUR, is attempting to implement the NIHOTOUR (Establishment) Act 2022. It has already generated conflicts and confusion in the industry and the federation does not subscribe to such.

“We therefore call on the Honorable Minister, to act immediately to save the Hospitality and Tourism industry from chaos and imminent collapse due to the confusion of objectives, powers and roles of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) under its establishment Act 2022 (“NIHOTOUR Act” or “the Act”), as well as their conflicting interests and unconstitutionality.”

FTAN noted that there is currently confusion in the Nigerian tourism industry on the role, powers and objectives of the institute. It said: “When on February 14, 2022, Mohammadu Buhari, the then president of Nigeria, signed the Nigeria Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) and the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) Acts into law, there was no reason, despite the unsatisfactorily inadequate consultation with stakeholders before their enactments, to believe that the NIHOTOUR Act would generate such confusion and disorder in the industry.

“However, the reality of the inelegance of the Act is now unfolding and foreboding. Under the Act, it is not clear whether NIHOTOUR functions as a professional body, or a training/academic body, or a regulatory body, or a body covering all of the three functional areas!”
FTAN, in the letter, drew the attention of the minister to some of the inconsistencies in the act that is currently creating confusion in the industry, among which are: “Sections 4 and 5 of the Act specified functions and powers of NIHOTOUR respectively. Section 6 established the Board whose powers are also spelt out under section 9. Part VI (Sections 28 to 31) of the Act made elaborate provisions on to how to become a “member of the profession.” The provisions of these sections raise a lot of questions as to whether NIHOTOUR is a professional body in the hospitality and tourism industry. For example, paragraphs (e) and (f) of section 4 saddled the institute with the functions of a professional body in terms of the following provisions: “(e) determine the standard of knowledge, content, and skills to be attained by seeking to become members of the hospitality, travel, and tourism profession and review the standard; “(f) maintain a register of fellows, associates, and registered members entitled to practice (sic) as hospitality, travel and tourism professionals in Nigeria and publish a list of those persons.”

“Section 4(d) also requires the Institute, as part of its functions, to “(d) cooperate with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and relevant bodies in updating internationally certified personnel of the hospitality, travel and tourism industry in Nigeria. (Underline for emphasis). The full intendment and detail of the functions of the Institute under these foregoing paragraphs of Section 4 were spelt out in Part VI (Sections 28 to 31) of the Act with the head: Registration of Hospitality, Travel, and Tourism.”

“A community/combined reading of other provisions of the Act, especially Parts VI, VII and Sections 4(e)-(f) with 5(3)(c) will leave the reader with no other sense than that the Act intends NIHOTOUR to function as a professional body. The expression, “members of the Institute” is a usage for professional and similar bodies with closed membership, not for a government agency. Yet under Section 5(3)(c), NIHOTOUR is empowered to: “(c) be responsible for the discipline and welfare of members of the Institute in accordance with the Public Service Rules, 2008.” (underline for emphasis). If NIHOTOUR is intended by the Act to function as a professional body, how could the Act have provided that its members are subject to discipline under the Public Service Rules. That is a serious aberration and just one of the confusions in the Act. One of the sacred pillars of professionalism is independence of professional opinion, which being defective or substandard in any material form, will expose a member to professional discipline according to the codes and standards of the particular professional body, and to liability according to law. Permit us to emphasize here that civil servants are generally employed under the principle of contract of service, and are subject to public service rules; while a professional person is generally engaged under the principle of contract for service, which is governed by a different regime of legal rules, not by the public service rule; except where the professional is directly employed as a public servant. This provision in Section 5(3)(c) is just one glowing indication of lots of misconceptions, inconsistencies and incompleteness of sense in the words and expressions used in the NIHOTOUR Act. But it is admitted that those words and expressions do generally, notwithstanding the aforesaid shortcomings, convey an intention in the Act to confer on the Institute the status of a professional body!

“A perusal of Section 5(1)(a) -(i) will unavoidably lead one to conclude that the Act also clothes the Institute with the powers of a regulatory body in the hospitality and tourism industry, section 5(1)(a)-(i) provide as follows:

“5(1) The Institute may, in addition to any other power provided under this Act — (a) set conditions and standards for institutions or organizations offering courses in hospitality, travel, and tourism management or skills in Nigeria;

(b) approve programs or courses of training for institutions or organizations offering courses in hospitality, travel, and tourism management or skills in Nigeria…”

(c) assess and grade personnel and quality of services rendered by a practitioner or organization in the hospitality, travel and tourism industry in Nigeria;

(d) impose subscriptions, fees, levies, penalties and other charges for services rendered to private individuals, corporate bodies, institutions, organizations and groups…”

The federation concluded that with so many inconsistencies in the act it was impossible for NIHOTOUR to carry on with the functions and powers as presently provided in the NIHOTOUR Act 2022 not only because they are unwieldy, invalid, irrational and counterproductive, but also because it is inherently impossible to do so.

It maintained that the way forward, is a complete overhaul of the NIHOTOUR Act 2022, so that the institute can play the role only of a regulator, a professional body, or an operator in the industry; but not that of a behemoth combining the three clearly distinct roles. Such will strangle and spell doom for, as it is already doing to the industry.

Toeing the same line with the FTAN, the Nigerian Hotel and Catering Institute (NHCI), has also called on President Bola Tinubu to prevail on Abisoye Fagade, director general of the training institute, to put an immediate end to the farcical exercise, which it said is illegal and contravenes the professions of the Nigeria Constitution, Supreme Court judegemnt of 2013.

Another reason to call the director general to order, according to the NHCI, is because a case instituted by the Hotels Owners and Managers Association of Lagos (HOMAL) is before a Magistrate Court in Lagos, challenging the NIHOTOUR Act of 2022.

Speaking on the issue, Victor Ola Kayode, president and chairman of council, NHCI, noted, ‘‘We as a professional body viewed these actions as an act that is highly unprofessional for an organisation that purportedly want to regulate professional practice in hospitality and tourism practice in Nigeria.

‘‘It is more inappropriate to have seen such a body utilising the instrumentality of government to coerce legitimate private operators in the industry to dance to its dictates notwithstanding the fact that there is a subsisting judgement on such matter from the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2013.”

Kayode noted that the purpose for the huge sums of money demanded by NIHOTOUR is unclear when it is not the one responsible for neither the training nor recruitment of these personnel for the hotels. It also noted that it is pure exploitation just as it condemned its use of force through the Nigerian Police Force to harass, intimidate, brutalise and illegally arrest some of the operators.

‘These, to the best of Professional practice, is absurd, crude and any other thing but unprofessional. This definitely cannot be the intent of the disputed NIHOTOURS Act of 2022 in the spirit of the Nigerian Constitution.

‘‘The Nigerian Hotel and Catering Institute (NHCI), as the foremost professional body in the industry in Nigeria therefore, decry this style, tendencies and actions and wish to state that it negates everything tourism and hospitality known to the professionals, practitioners, the people and government of Nigeria and must be stopped immediately.

‘‘We also use this medium to call on the Inspector General of Police to stop the use of the Police for such duties just as we appeal to His Excellency, the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, through the Attorney General of the Federation, to call the director general of NIHOTOUR to order; without further delay.

‘‘It is also a civilised expectation, that the management of NIHOTOUR will immediately tender unreserved apologies for the embarrassment caused the relevant operators whose staff were clandestinely arrested and detained not even in the Police station but in a campus of their training school.

‘‘We hope that immediate actions shall be taken on this matter before it causes a breakdown of law and order in the industry and scare away the foreign investors who are willing to invest in Nigeria and create more jobs in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government,”NHCI’s press statement reads in part.

On his part, Olusegun Runsewe, a former chief executive in both tourism and culture agencies, has called for an end to the ongoing conflict within the cultural tourism sector regarding the regulatory policy by NIHOTOUR.

Runsewe, who previously served as director general, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (now Nigeria Tourism Development Authority) and more recently as director general, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), said that his wealth of experience and strong ties across the sector position him to help resolve the current crisis—particularly the discontent voiced by private sector stakeholders.

“I have received calls from several industry players urging me to step in. At first, I hesitated. But upon deeper reflection on the delicate balance between government policy and private sector interests, I realized it was necessary to act. During my years in public service, I cultivated meaningful relationships with industry leaders, and I believe now is the time to harness those connections for the good of our tourism industry,” the former director general said.

Runsewe emphasized the importance of constructive engagement and encouraged stakeholders to embrace dialogue rather than division.

“We are all Nigerians. We must view this situation from a collective standpoint. The government exists to serve the people, and the private sector must also be deliberate and strategic in expressing concerns. It is vital to avoid actions that may inadvertently undermine the industry. I am already engaging with key actors to find a peaceful and lasting solution.”

On the issue of regulatory oversight, Runsewe acknowledged the importance of standards and governance in aligning with international best practices. However, he stressed that any regulatory initiative must be rooted in consultation, mutual respect, and collaboration.
Runsewe affirmed his readiness to help broker peace and urged all parties to cease the public confrontation surrounding NIHOTOUR’s proposed regulatory issues.

It would be recalled that the action of NIHOTOUR caused an uproar in some hotels in Lagos last week when its compliance team accompanied by a truckload of police operatives, both in uniform and plain clothes, stormed a number of hotels and arrested some of the personnel over their failure to register. They were taken to the Zonal Campus of the institute in Mushin, Lagos, and were released later.