Books
Writer and Editor: Fidelia M . Salami
Publisher: Adventure Holiday Concept
Venue: Orchid Hotels, main Hall, Asaba Delta State
Date: 27 July 2021
Reviewer: Ambassador Wale Ojo – Lanre, BA Ed. History, MA Peace and Conflicts. LLB.Dip Journalism Associate Editor, Tourism, Nigerian Tribune
Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Ekiti State on Tourism Development
PROTOCOLS
It gives me great pleasure and opportunity to be in Asaba, one of the most commercially prosperous cities in Nigeria with historical testimony of once being the colonial capital of the Southern Nigeria Protectorate founded in 1884. Between 1886 and 1900, it hosted the Royal Niger Company, which the British authorities set up to stimulate trade and the exportation of goods to England. That company has grown today into UAC Nigeria PLC. So Asaba is a business heritage tourism city which makes the launching of this book in this city today a perfect match.
Before going into the book review, I must deliver a goodwill message from my Governor, Dr John Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State and Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum to his brother and friend, Dr Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, the Executive Governor of Delta State, a state that has the biggest heart to accommodates all legal souls – The Big Heart!
I am also privileged to inform the congregation of eminent and distinguished personalities here that on 19 June 2014, at the National Institute of International Affairs, NIIA Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, this lady of tourism asset of a lady, Fidelia Salami, pulled me from Ibadan, Oyo State, to do a review of her masterpiece book, Tourism in Nigeria The Incredible Journey into the Heart of Nature
Today I am saddled to review three books in One which I termed National Tourism Curriculum Made Easy or in the more academic term as an Intergenerational Trilogy of Tourism Treatise.
Three products: Senior Secondary Tourism, Nigeria Educational Research Development Council CURRICULUM 1
Senior Secondary NERDC Curriculum 2
Senior Secondary NERDC Curriculum 3.
I will not bore you with analysing each of them separately as I said earlier that it is a trilogy which is written in sequential order of learning but also to note that Fidelia has woven them so well that each can stand alone for academic gymnastics.
However, each of the books is unique as the lessons and topics therein are offered in stages thus making it one in three reservoirs of knowledge.
Common features
The covers of the books come in paperback that wears the national colour of White and green, buffered by pictures which are illustrations of the topics to be encountered inside the book.
The books are published and printed in Lagos by Adventure Holiday Concepts. Each with ISBN digits
All the topics in the books are incongruent and in alignment with the National Educational Research and Development Council, NERDC.
The forewords of the three books are the handiwork of the late Prince Tony Momoh, Legal Practitioner, Legendary journalist and former Minister of Information in Nigeria, May his soul rest in Perfect Peace.
In the forewords, the late grand journalist pointed out the significance of tourism as an instrument of a massive reduction in unemployment, generation of revenue, stimulator of wealth and means of empowerment lamented that there has not been conscious efforts at entrenching tourism studies in the curriculum in Nigeria
The late Prince Momoh however penned that’ The fact that the study of tourism appears to be lacking at the Secondary level in Nigeria and textbooks used by teachers and students of tourism is limited in scope, the Senior Secondary Tourism Books 1-3 zero in critically into the Nigerian educational research and Development Council, NERDC, Curriculum in tourism. The books are designed to prepare students for Secondary School Certificate Examination, WAEC / NECO. ‘
The truism or otherwise of this assertion of the late accomplished legal luminary shall soon be unveiled at the end of this review
Also, the introduction messages in the three books are the same and written by a single soul Mrs Fidelia Salami in which she succinctly revealed two reasons why she published the trilogy thus
“The first is a desire to see students successfully pass through the Senior Secondary Education and acquire the trade skills in tourism
“ The Second is to open the vastness of our tourist attractions to the rest of the world.
It is on these pedestals and others that the three books Senior Secondary Tourism 1- 3 will be reviewed
Thirdly, all the chapters in the books are set out in strict adherence to NERDC Curriculum with particular attention to teaching methodology in accordance to lesson note specifications.
Those of us who have degrees in Education would appreciate the essential role of performance objectives that goes thus ‘at the end of the lesson or topic, the students should be able to,” in implanting knowledge of this kind.
It is on this note that I want all of us in this hall today to gird your loins as I welcome you to Senior Secondary Tourism 1 Lesson note
This is 144 pages of what we can call ABC of tourism
As students pick up subjects that will determine their future endeavours at SS1, and tourism is a new subject in the Nigeria firmament of academic endeavour at the secondary level, Fidelia, in consonance with her motive of publishing books to elicit interest from the student’s stocks each of the five chapters with what ought to be known as ABC of tourism
For instance Chapter one consist of 5 topics, Definitions and scope of Tourism, history of tourism and tourism history in Nigeria, type of tourism, functions of tourism, forms of tourism and components of tourism
Definition and Scope of Tourism, where she diligently states to the barest level the meaning and expose the scope of tourism utilizing the definition of United Nations World Tourism Organisation 9 UNWTO) “ Tourism is a social, cultural, and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business /professional purposes …
She also listed over 15 definitions of tourism all of which found equilibrium in the fact that tourism involves moving from a place of domicile to another place, not for a permanent job or settlement.
Chapter 2 is all the students should know about Tourism and Travel Business and definition of tourism products, characteristics of tourism products
Chapter 3 introduces Tourist Attractions and their locations definition of tourist attractions, type of tourist attraction, various fascinating attractions in Nigeria,
Chapter 4 is a topic in Tourism statistics m teaches the meaning of tourism statistics, the essence of tourism statistics and so on
Chapter 5 teaches the student benefits of tourism to a nation, evaluate the roles of taxes, levies, the balance of payment, foreign exchange earnings, areas of social benefits of tourism via cultural interactions, world peace, add value to life, job creation, development of infrastructure and areas of environmental benefits in tourism
Closing The Senior Secondary Tourism 1 with Bibliography and Index we then move to Senior Secondary Tourism 2
This 122 pages book of tourism knowledge has six chapters:
Chapter1 teaches in-depth Festivals and heritages in Nigeria, treating definition and ways a community can benefit from festivals, list of festivals, World heritage sites in Nigeria and their significance all over the world, Museum and Historical monuments, the role of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, NCMM, Art Galleries and Type of Art galleries.
Chapter 2 is about Travel agency, definition, who is a travel agent, operation and function of a travel agent.
Chapter 3 is a lesson on Tour Operating Business where Fidelia leverages on her cognate experience as a seasoned tour operator to distinguish and delineate the difference between a travel agent and tour operating business
Chapter 4 is a topic on Why People Travel, where she exposes the physiological, economic and social factors of why people travel
Chapter 5 is a lesson about the Support Groups in the travel and tour business. Without them, the travel and tour business may collapse, who are these groups? This chapter explains it all.
Are there no regulating agencies, ministries and associations in the tourism sector? If there are what their histories, roles and achievements, are Chapter 6 of Senior Secondary Tourism 2 speaks to this and closes the book
Welcome to SS Tourism 3
Having scaled through SS1 and 2 of Senior Secondary Tourism we are now to distil 181 pages of 5 chapters and 40 topics, Chapter 1, here Fidelia is teaching us the benefits of tourism by highlighting developmental benefits via infrastructures, superstructures and rural developments
Chapter 2 is about tourism marketing where we are supposed to know the definition, characteristics, strategies, components and marketing tools.
Chapter 3, the topic on entrepreneurship in tourism, definition, important tips for aspiring entrepreneurship, examples, characteristics and skills that help, cottage industry, items produced from cottage industries, making of arts and crafts and socio-economic roles and functions of crafts.
Chapter 4 teaches about Service Delivery, lists of service delivery professionals and a list of factors affecting service delivery in Nigeria.
And in Chapter 5, Fidelia rolls out, definition, list of skill acquisition centres, WAEC past questions, on Syllabus in tourism and over200 revisions questions and answers!
The trilogy of Senior Secondary tourism 1-3 is not set in the normal run – off the mill books which are hurriedly assembled by hungry authors in anticipation of getting me noticed or pecuniary considerations
These trinity books published by Fidelia are products of agrarian determination and resolution to fill a lacuna in the stride of entrenching tourism as a productive subject at this point when Nigeria is keeping an eye on tourism as another source of revenue
The books and all the materials in them are nationalistic right from the green and white back cover colour to locations of tourism sites, photographs, geographical mapping, illustrations, indexes and bibliography
Each topic is treated by the NERDC curriculum with performance objectives indicated before the topic and each at the end of the topic has the assessment profile which is treated in a classroom atmosphere that will enhance the cognitive power of the students.
The books are a complete touristic troubadour of Nigeria in terms of culture, arts, craft, monuments, heritage, content, history, data, statistics, pictures, verification and documentation of facts.
Apart from putting up materials needed for the acquisition of knowledge according to tourism, the books are tuned at stoking the entrepreneurial instinct in the students who are by the way prepared to work for themselves either as craft makers, tour operators, travel agents or tour guides
First, it is a trilogy rich in research, buffet with quality materials and garnished with superb photographs which illuminate and highlight copious the relevant topics
I congratulate and commend Fidelia M Salami for not coming out to just publish a book but always out to make her landmark at publishing research documentation and materials in the form of books on tourism. This has placed her not only as of the first lady in the tourism sector to publish four books on tourism within a decade but place her as a brilliant author in Nigeria tourism in the genre of the Late Mat Ebaboje daSiva, Mr Nigeria Tourism, Chief Olu Faoseke, former President of ANJET, Pelu Awofeso.
I must also commend whoever edited the manuscript for a very diligent job as there are few typographical errors and most importantly efforts must be laden on the quality of some of the pictures used
Finally, going by the contents, the research materials, the data and the setting of the topics in correlation to the curriculum of the Nigerian Educational Research Council, NERDC, I ambassador Wale Ojo – Lanre today 27th day of July publicly here in Asaba recommend this Senior Secondary Tourism 1-3 for not only Secondary school students but a must asset to be acquired by whoever wants to learn about tourism in particular and tourism in Nigeria in general.
Vile Fidelia
Vile Tourism
Vile Delta State
Vile Nigeria
– July 31, 2021 @ 18:08 GMT |
