By Sumaila Ogbaje
Mrs Oghogho Musa, President, Defence and Police Officers’ Wives Association (DEPOWA) on Friday, unveiled a state-of-the-art Culinary Arts Studio in the association’s school meant to encourage young students to pursue the career.
The studio is located in the DEPOWA Daycare, Nursery, Primary and Secondary Schools, Mogadishu Cantonment Asokoro, Abuja.
In her remarks, Mrs Musa said the culinary studio would serve a dual purpose for both the Home Economics students of the DEPOWA group of schools and the Culinary arts students of the DEPOWA Skills Acquisition Centre.
According to her, the studio is designed to offer the students the best of training to become world-class chefs and hospitality professionals in the future.
“Let me also inform you that we are going to be having different classes, short courses for anybody that wants to improve on their kitchen and cooking skills, as well as empower them economically.
“So, we have our seasoned chefs here to let us in on what they have been doing, how they got there and how they have been conquering the ground.
“The hospitality career is a very lucrative career and it is a career that is very good in terms of whatever you want to become.
“So we are trying to get the younger generation to understand that the hospitality career is a career you can focus on, grow and develop in.
“This is what we have done here and it is going to go a long way in developing seasoned chefs in different departments,” she said.
The DEPOWA president, who is also a seasoned chef, said the students of home economics in the schools would also have the opportunity to become top class chefs in future.
Wife of Taraba Governor, Mrs Agyin Kefas, who inaugurated the studio, commended the DEPOWA President for her passion and farsightedness towards empowering the younger generation and the barracks community.
Mrs Kefas described the studio as a model that should be emulated by all schools to develop a future generation of culinary professionals.
She thanked Mrs Musa for deploying her professional prowess in Food and Beverages (F&B) industry to empower women, adding that she was also trained by the DEPOWA President in the past.
“Seeing everything that she has done, I feel happy and proud of her and I know a lot of students and people from outside are going to benefit from this place,” she said.
The President, Nigerian Air Force Officers’ Wives Association (NAFOWA), Dr Rakiya Abubakar, commended DEPOWA for the initiative and promised to take a cue from it.
Also, the President of Customs Officers’ Wives Association (COWA), Mrs Kikelomo Adeniyi, commended the DEPOWA President for leading the way for them to follow.
According to her, initiatives like this, will better the lives of young people and actually help in catching-them-young.
A Hospitality Management Consultant, Mr Greg Ihimekpen, said there was the growing need for professional chefs owing to the growth and expansion in the hospitality industry in the country.
He said that the DEPOWA culinary arts studio was designed to encourage individual training, unlike the usual group training being offered in most catering and hospitality schools.
“You can see that everybody has a workstation and they can cook in their own space.
“The F&B industry is suffering from professionals. So, we hope that with these that we have developed, we will have professionals in the industry among the younger generation.
“We are also having short courses for anybody who wants to improve their culinary skills,” he said. (NAN)