By Olusegun Obisanya
The Regional Head for Africa, Aptech, Neha Koli has said that the organisation plans to establish an aviation and hospitality academy in Nigeria where students will receive standard training in aviation and hospitality basics.
She disclosed this while speaking at the 16th edition of the Career Quest of Aptech in Lagos recently.
The CQ, which is done in conjunction with the Middlesex University, London, is an annual exhibition of the technology company where students are exposed to opportunities of obtaining a degree after obtaining Aptech diploma in the country.
Koli posited that Aptech is venturing to the aviation and hospitality sector of the economy because of its relevance to Nigeria’s economy and the abounding opportunities. She’s convinced that the economy will benefit maximally from it.
Koli said, “Because we are launching Aptech Aviation and Hospitality Academy, which will include courses which are with regards to aviation, hospitality, retail and tourism. So, we see there is a lot of opportunity for the service industry, mainly in the field of hospitality and aviation in Nigeria. And it is one of the biggest economies in Africa and it is the fastest growing economy in Africa.
“So we believe that there is a lot of scope because there is going to be a lot of new airlines, new aircrafts coming in and new hotels, hotel industry and tourism industry coming up. We believe they will of course have a lot of scope for employability and everyone expects their student or their child to be employed in a good industry. So we train our students in such a way that they will be employable in the four-star, five-star hotels or in the aviation industry.
According to her, the extensive training will cover ground staff, ticketing among others.
“We believe that our courses are in such a level that they can get themselves employed in such big industries and good companies. It depends on the course that they select. So the biggest course is the Aptech Certified Professional in Airport Management and Customer Care. That is about a seven-month course, that will teach them about aviation as well as hospitality.”
Speaking, Partnership and Outreach Manager, Middlesex University, Dubai, Rakesh Ram said the annual event will educate Nigerian students opportunity that abound obtaining a foreign university degree at Middlesex University.
On why Middlesex University is interested in Nigerian Students, Ram said, “I think it’s more kind of a support we are providing to students here in Nigeria. So, we have a partnership with Aptech, who are doing an amazing job here by providing the higher diploma to the students. So Aptech has been working closely with Middlesex, London and Dubai to ensure the students have a top-up option.
