Otunba Babatunde Adesokan is one of the leading light in the travel industry in Nigeria, he is the Chairman and CEO, Caprisok Travels and Tour Services, He is the currently, the Vice President, Western Zone of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies, NANTA, and his tenure will end in few weeks, in this interview, Otunba Adesokan enumerated some of his achievements and promise to consolidate on them and ensure member’s welfare and development as well as continue to wage war against quackery in the industry.
Question: Your tenure as the Vice President, Western Zone is ending in few weeks, how far have you gone in fulfilling your campaign promises.
Thank you, I think this question can be better answered by my Esteem members of NANTA Western zone , I think they have the best assessment of my administration and can say how well we’ve been able to perform. However, if I answer your question, I will prefer to say the administration brought peace among its members. We were able to build trust and unity among our members across the six states, and to me, I think this is a big win for us.
If you are conversant with NANTA western zone affairs in the past you will find out the level of rancor and disharmony amongst her members but thank God in the last two years it has been a one big family affairs and this was part of what I promised during my campaign and am very happy it was achieved in conjunction with my council members and the collaboration of the members as well. You see, you can only work better in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility. This is very vital if you need to achieve as a leader.
Question. Can you enumerate some of your achievements and the impacts on the operations of the members.
Like I said earlier, peace and unity are vital in any environment, and development can only be achieved where the two live. Having been able to bring this to the fore, my administration took it upon itself to empower the members in the area of training. As you know, training and retraining of members is a vital key to the development of their business, especially when you’re operating in our line of business, which requires updating of knowledge at every point. So, I was able to facilitate this training to the members through a synergy with our partners. I think this event has brought the zone back on the map of some of our partners who have relegated us earlier before this administration came on board. Also, one thing this administration has been able to brought to the members is the opportunity to link their business to the international world as being preached and led by Madam President. Susan Akporiaye. We were able to encourage them to attend international events, which will expose them to international networking and knowledge on how tourism business is being done. This singular act made the zone to have the highest number in indaba 2022 in South Africa and the Arabian travel market in Dubai the same year. Also, this year, we had the opportunity to encourage members to the annual WTM in London. So these programme have a positive impact on our members’ businesses, especially those that work more on tour packages. However, the volatility in the economy has not been too helpful. Therefore, much can not be said to be achieved as airfares have skyrocketed to discourage holiday makers from experiencing these luxuries.
Question: What is the synergy between the state chapters and the Western Zone which you lead as the Vice President.
You see, I do tell my council members that I am the luckiest to have them around me. They made the job very seamless to me, though I am very prepared from day one in the office.
The creation of the states chapters was done during the tenure of one of my predecessor’s Dr. Tokunbo Dagunduro and the idea behind it was simple. you can’t stay in Ibadan being the headquarters of the association in our zone and know what is happening in Ondo, Ekiti, Ilorin. Ogun State or Osun State that made up the western zone therefore he thought in his wisdom to create this state chapter’s and appoint a Head as a coordinator to coordinates the affairs in the state and report back to the Vice president who heads the zone. So far, since its creations, it has been working well, though, with some reservations, especially with some coordinators’ appointments, but it’s a learning process then. I have been able to run smooth affairs with my state coordinators, and they have been doing well. Those who have shortcomings, I have encouraged them to do more as they find themselves in a position of leadership. Thank God their position has been rectified, and it has been accommodated in our current amended association constitution. I think this will make their role more pronounced, and much is expected from them as well.
One of the major issues that NANTA is battling as an association is the issue of quackery, what efforts is being made to stop fake operators from tarnishing the image and integrity of the Association
Quackery is a menace, and it is found everywhere at every profession journalism, not excluded, as you know. You find fake lawyers, fake doctors , and even police and military men. But one thing is certain, we must keep the fight on. We should try and make sure they don’t have their own ways. And this fight can’t be done alone it must be in conjunction with the government. Because the government are losing revenue as well by allowing them to flourish. That is why NANTA, as a body, has been crying to the government to form a synergy with the association and have a database of genuine travel agencies so that they can know those that are practicing illegally and clamp on them. Secondly the association is praying to pass the NANTA act in the National Assembly which will empower the association to clamp on whoever is practicing without been a member of this association and I pray whoever is becoming our next national president should make this a priority so that we can have a bite although we have a very strong voice now but need the bite to be able t o handle offenders.
Coming back to my zone here, if I am giving the second chance to be a vice president, I am making the eradication of quacks my priority as well here. NANTA integrity can not be dragged into the mud. We need to work to defend the job. This is the job of some eminent Nigerians in the past we can’t afford to let it be bastardise by unprofessional and quacks.
Are you aspiring for second term, what are your plans and which area do you wish to improve on if you eventually win the second term
Well, by popular demand and the invitation of my members, I will be running for the second term, and I have agreed to offer myself for the service to the benefits of my members, If I am returned as a VP, I will prioritize the issue of facing out the quackery as mentioned earlier, and I will work on membership development through business facilitation and, most importantly, welfarism.
Also, the NANTA western zone permanent secretariat is one key project I would like to start for other incoming administration to complete . Remember, we were able to secure a place currently inside the National Museum of Unity Aleshinloye, which also serves as a recreation center for members and the public yet I believe we have grown to the level of owing a permanent place like the Northern zone did. Meanwhile, I am working with my Bot’s in this regards and I have a very strong belief that we will achieve it before we complete our tenure if elected for the second term. More I will work on securing a Bus to convey our members if elected .this plans are on the ground and in fact I had the opportunity to discuss with one of my Bot in this regard also and am expecting a positive response on this. The fact remains that I can’t do everything within 2 years of my tenure that is why government is continuous, but definitely, I will work and make sure my members feel the impact of our governance. NANTA has transform into a developmental platform to measure your leadership skills and any leader aspiring to mount the leadership role in the association should prepare to perform. Otherwise, his or her shortcoming will be exposed.
Has the federal government policies be of any positive or negative impact on Travel industry
I think I need to know which of the policies you’re talking about here ..if you’re talking about the monetary policy as it affected the airlines with their trapped funds I will say it doesn’t make things easy for our members because it really made business bad for us , we couldn’t book cheap class ticket because the airlines blocked us from accessing those classes which most members rely on to make sales due to their inability to repatriate their funds back. Thank God they’ve been able to do the needful now by paying all the accrued money owed the airlines so we expect the airlines too to reciprocate by letting we the travel agencies access to lower platforms and make our bookings. What other policies are we talking about here ? personally, I haven’t seen any other policy on the ground to either encourage our business. The tourism ministry was just created, and they are still finding their feet as much as I am concerned. Finally I will like to seek for my members support towards winning my second term election, like they did in 2022 I still count on them beyond the re-election for a full support to succeed and deliver the dividend of good leadership to them. NANTA is for us all, and we can only make it stronger if we come together as one in good spirits.
