Students from the Nigerian Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Thursday met the vice president and minister of Women’s Affairs, Her Excellency Aja Dr. Isatou Njie-Saidy, at her office in State House.

The students that comprised of military officers of various ranks like colonel, major lieutenant colonel, commander, lieutenant commander, air commodore and wing commander, among others, were led to State House by the deputy chief of Defence Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF), Ousman Bargie. The team, which arrived in The Gambia in the early hours of Monday morning, is in the country to conduct study and research on the specific areas of tourism as part of the study tour.

Speaking to reporters shortly after an audience with the vice president, the head of the team, Air Commodore Gambo Muhammad Ilyasu explained that every year, they conduct a study tour aimed at conducting research in many areas in some African countries. He used the opportunity to dilate on the fundamental differences between the military of nowadays and yesterday.

His words: “In the past, we put all our energies on the management of violence, but now we try to see how we can make impact on national development.” He described tourism as a major sector that contributes to any country’s development, citing the creation of employment and foreign exchange among others. He said that the army could contribute to the growth of tourism and this is why they are in the country.

Air Commodore Ilyasu explained that they chose to conduct research on The Gambia’s tourism sector because the country is a famous tourism destination. He added that they learnt that tourism is the second highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) earner in the country and believes they could learn a lot from the country in terms of its tourism strategy. He further intimated that they are very impressed with what they have seen so far since they arrived, adding that they received several lectures, visited lots of places and also gathered lots of information, which could be very instrumental in their report.