The Oyo State Government is ready to partner with the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) Western Zone to flush out quacks in the travel business in the state.
The Commissioner for Tourism and Culture in Oyo State, Hon. Wasiu Olatunbosun, was in his office when the zonal executive council of NANTA visited him.
The Zonal Vice President of the association, Otunba Babatunde Adesokan, led his team. The second National Deputy President of the Association, Dr Tokunbo Dagunduro, was also on the team.
Otunba Adesokan expressed the plight of his association in curbing the menace of quackery in the travel business, especially in the state, without the backing and support of the state government.
He mentioned that the public in the state has suffered enough from the hand of these touts parading themselves as travel agents and swindling the public of their hard-earned money in the name of assisting them to secure travel arrangements.
He further stated that Nanta, as an association, has the backing of the NCAA (an agency established under the federal government act), who is regulating the association, and this was why Nanta has the power to seal any agency that failed to register under the association to operate.
With this act, we can operate and seal off offices, but we still need the backing of the state government in carrying out this task as a responsible body.
He sought the support of the state through the Ministry of Tourism and Culture to raise a task force on this. He assured the state that this will give the state the needed data of operators in the state, curb the incessant cases of fraud in the sector and also serve as a revenue-generating sector for the government through the issuance of tourism operation certificates to its members.
Dr. Tokunbo Dagunduro alluded to the vice president’s call and also included the need to act fast on this to stop the government from losing more revenues in this direction.
Dr. Wasiu Olatunbosun, while responding to the pleas by the NANTA team, assures the readiness of the State Ministry to support the association in carrying out this task.
He immediately calls for the creation of a task force to this effect and requests that Nanta come up with the modalities to go by, while his ministry will look into it and work along with the association.
He reaffirmed that Oyo State cannot be a ground for fraudsters in the name of travel agents.
Other zonal councils in the team are Mr Temitope Ogunosebikan- the zonal secretary; Mr. Oye Obasa – Zonal PRO, Mr Olumide Olatundun – Zonal welfare officer, Dr. Olufemi Adegbola and the Zonal Ex officio Comrade Afolabi Hezikiah.
