ID card scheme, legislative backing tops Bankole’s second term agenda at NANTA
Bernard Bankole, the re-elected president of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies, (NANTA), has rolled out a two-year plan for the association which has as priorities implementing an Identity card scheme as well getting legislative backing for the association.
Speaking during the 42nd Annual General Meeting of NANTA in Port Harcourt, after he emerged national president of the association, Bankole said during his tenure, implementation of the identity card scheme will be one of his priorities in a bid to sanitise the industry and ensure every single soul working within the aviation and tourism sector is captured.
“We will ensure this scheme becomes effective this year and full compliance is achieved before the year runs out. There will be a lot of publicity and advocacy in that regard. The general public needs to fill the impact of what the downstream sector is doing so that government will not have a choice than to reckon with us and give us policies that will support and promote our industry,” he said.
He regretted that the association is yet to have a legislative backing that it can call its own and vowed to address this issue. “We have hidden under the Nigeria Civil Aviation (NCAA) Act. NANTA has been recognised as the umbrella body for all travel agents in Nigeria but as it is, we are not getting enough support from NCAA. So, this led us into getting NANTA act so that we have the legislative backing that will support us and help us become a better institution in our industry.
“So, we drafted our NANTA act. We have sent it to the house; it has gone through the first reading. The second reading will be coming up in May and when this happens, it will be pushed to the House Committee that will deliberate on it and further call for public hearing. We envisage that at the last quarter of this year or first quarter of next year, we will have our NANTA act,” the president disclosed.
He stressed that the NANTA act will give the association the opportunity to regulate the industry.
Bernard also noted that the association has built a very good relationship with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to a point that IATA is now using NANTA as an example to other associations around the world and continent.
He added that the association hopes to consolidate on this relationship with IATA to build more human capacity.
“NANTA has aligned with World Travel Agents Alliance Association (WTAAA). In this association, we discovered that each of the continents have been able to have their presence in this association. As it were, only South African Travel Associations and Kenya Travel Associations are currently member of WTAAA.
“We have applied to them and they have agreed that NANTA should come and represent West Africa in this association. By the time NANTA starts, other associations within West Coast will see the benefits and join and things can improve,” Bernard revealed.
He further disclosed that IATA has provided NANTA with a global Default Insurance Programme (DIP). “The global DIP was scheduled to start in Nigeria in 2019 but because NANTA wrote to IATA that it needs the scheme to start in Nigeria as fast as possible, IATA has approved our requests and agreed that by May this year, the global DIP will start.”
The president assured that very soon each zone will have their own permanent secretariat. “At the award ceremony, northern zone bagged the best zone in NANTA and one of the things that gave them that edge is because they have purchased their land where they will erect their permanent secretariat in Kano. Other zones have heard this and they are willing to take the bull by the horn. These are the things we will see in the next two years.
He promised that this administration will work closely with the zonal vice presidents to introduce membership update forms which will be distributed to all members through vice presidents, bearing the addresses and name verifications.
This he said will keep the association aware of those who are members and non-members.
“I am also going to ensure that on a quarterly basis, I visit one or two of the zones outside my constituency to ensure that we bridge the communication gap and we show everyone are equal. Election should not divide the house; rather it should give us the opportunity to unite the entire members of the association together,” the president added.
IFEOMA OKEKE