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NANTA: Defining moments and quest for mentorship


National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) is about 47 years old, going to 48. The association has contributed immensely to the history and growth of Nigerian travel and tourism industry and does not gloat about it.

And until the brick-breakers came to the Nigerian tourism space, NANTA rightly held a board position in the making of Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (now Nigerian Tourism Development Authority).

•Susan Akporiaye and Mrs. Chinyere Umeasiegbu

 

 

Its two-legged operational importance in the tourism and aviation sector justifiably confered it the wisdom to share and contribute its knowledge, expertise and support to the growing need to reposition Nigerian tourism and the travel (transport) content in the aviation industry.

The founding fathers of Nigerian tourism, from its birth as Nigeria Tourism Authority to Nigeria Tourism Board to Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), were supportive of the growth of NANTA and, during its trying moments, decreed and, like Supreme Court judges, pulled away the rug from under self-seeking spoilers who wanted to cause a split of the association.

These were during its dramatic and formative years in the early 1970s, a development that foreclosed such divisive tendencies and, through progressive constitutional righteousness, the association blossomed into greatness, stronger and open to new ideas and character.

Talking about character, whoever emerged as president of this iconic association tends to define its character, delivery, interventions, and growth or failings. 

I will dwell on a few of the presidents of this association that I knew closely and covered their times as a journalist. Their character of selflessness, boldness and courage in the face of threats to their private businesses is beyond pedestrian definition and understanding.

And of this lot, I will mention and share the character models of Olufemi Adefope, Teresa Ezeobi (now Ojo), Soji  Amusan,  Dayo Adeola, Aminu Agoha,  Ahmed Zabadne, Munzali Dantata, Bankole Bernard and Mrs. Susan Akporiaye.

It’s important to highlight that the association’s leadership is usually dominated by men and often takes to supersonic flight when women take over, and theirs is a challenge not only to engendering new business offerings but also a zealous search for the best of NANTA’s tomorrow. 

I will come to the two women glass ceiling-breakers in NANTA later, namely, ageless Mrs. Tereza Ojo (Ezeobi) and Akporiaye.  Femi Adefope, in his days, was a daytime terror to foreign airlines. A son a military General, for each of the obnoxious policies that these foreign airlines subjected NANTA members to, Adefope would scream blue murder, shoot from the hip and, as a trained forensic expert, his clinical deployment of confrontational legalism put the unrelenting and domineering foreign carriers in disarray.

He was courted and hated at the same time, and he maintained an open door to the tourism media. He was always available to share his dream for NANTA. Adefope avoided the temptation to remain in power beyond his term and worked hard to unite NANTA and, today, he is the octopus of the aviation downstream sector, where he runs his business with grit and wisdom. He indeed shaped the position and deliveries of NANTA in his very unapologetic combative image. His mentees? A story for another day!

Dantata brought fortunes to NANTA’s leadership. He was then young, rich and ambitious. A scion of the famous Dantata family of Kano, Munzali Dantata was a very patient and caring leader. He was, during his time out in NANTA, a general sales agent for Saudi, the national carrier of oil-rich Saudi Arabia. 


Dantata spent his fortunes on NANTA in a single-minded effort to change its image and also bring it into national tourism economic space. Though tolerated by the usual noisy and egocentric Lagos-cum-South-West NANTA members due to his peace-seeking outreach to foreign airlines, Dantata toned down NANTA’s combative facade to suit his worldview.

Then came the fire-spitting, fearless and courageous Tereza Ojo (Ezeobi). Her special advisers were Femi Adefope, Olu Ogunsulire, and Babatunde Akala. I had the feeling that these three musketeers dragged her into NANTA’s leadership politics. 

Tereza was graceful and richly connected.  Her Tess Travel is the official travel implant in most foreign embassies, and she was big, I mean very big, in cultural tourism promotion.  She filled the grounds of the Kano Durbar festival with a chartered planeload of foreigners and brought Ogun State into the limelight as a domestic tourism destination.  As the then president of Nigeria Cycling Federation, Tereza pushed forward the tourism content in that sport genre into national reckoning. The spoilers of Nigerian Airways hated her guts as she boldly confronted their thieving hands in the honey pot of the airline and, at one of such heated meetings at the office of then Minister of Aviation located around Tafawa Balewa Square, she had to be smuggled out through the minister’s back door to avoid the raging Nigerian Airways leadership who could no longer tolerate her righteous indignation.

Tereza was a thunderstorm. If Adefope was known to shoot from the hip, Tereza was the master sniper, all for the sake of NANTA’s better tomorrow.

Soji Amusan was a disciplinarian to the core. Trained by the German Lufthansa Airlines, he brought a new training and retraining culture to NANTA’s membership.  He took on NANTA’s survival expectations with clinical precision, preferring to reason with NANTA publics, particularly the foreign airlines rather than being combative. He led from the position of knowledge and education to the dynamic processes in the emerging world of travel as a trade. Today, some nanta members own aviation schools as a result of the campaign by Soji Amusan.

Ahmed Zabadne is a Nigerian of Lebanese parentage.  He spent fortunes trying to rubber stamp his business orientation background in nanta.  He was collaborative and sought to have nanta members expand their reach beyond trade on airlines’ inventories.  Ahmed zabadne is a born hospitality caregiver and operator despite being a travel trade professional. He was a jolly good fellow who loved Nigeria.

Dayo Adeola is subtle and has a huge appetite for deliveries.  He mobilized resources for the construction of the three storey nanta secretariat building on Ikorodu Road, Lagos.  He will out spend others in the quest to transform nanta and also mentor young persons in collaborative ecosystem that clearly marked him out as a godfather to many trading their way to success.  His trademark of competence and visionary commitment still speaks volume in nanta circles.  Is he bound by his promises?  One must learn to wrestle like Jacob to catch Adeola off guard. 

Alhaji Aminu Agoha is meekness and humility personified. He stayed focused and built the nanta secretariat from scratch to finish.  He was a peace maker, a travel trade influencer with a heart of gold and panache.  Even though I didn’t cover his time out in nanta, Alhaji Aminu Agoha left a good name as a legacy, and when we met in kano, years after he left office as nanta president,  Agoha still resonates in awesome greatness and a proud representative of the powerful northern bloc of Nigerian travel trade brokers. Initially left out of this piece, when published recently across various online publications, strident calls, unbelievably up voting Aminu Agoha as a worthy pillar in the nanta Hall of fame was touching. Truly, it takes meekness to be a great leader and influencer, and Agoha is like no other.

Bankole Bernard is a pursuer of history and legacy. Young, stubborn, and fearless, Bankole Bernard tried to change the narratives of nanta and brokered efforts to gain back nanta’s board membership of ntdc (now ntda).which the new pharaoh at ntda insisted to ambush out of fear of the powerful reach of nanta in both aviation and tourism space. 

He also worked hard at getting nanta a focal constitutional authority and brought the association some political inroads, partnering to honour game changers in the industry.  Energetic and confident, he fought internal schism and selflessly flew the nanta flag. He nearly lost his life in the untiring effort to leave his name in the nanta records of achievers.  Some say he is arrogant and irritant, yes to many people who do not bother to study his character. He can trump a suprise change, and that makes him a highly misunderstood enigma.

Mrs Akporiaye went through the tough lines of the nanta leadership structure to emerge as president.  She confronted the covid pandemic and gave some lifeline to most struggling nanta members during the early days of global travel uncertainty. That pandemic period truly defined her willpower. Nanta nearly collapsed, but she held strong, very strong, putting her critics on wrong footing.  I will repeat that Akporiaye is strong, bold, and beautiful inside more than mere physical eyes can see.

Her commitment and self drive had opened the flood gate for old and new members of nanta, who took their future into their own hands. She spoke courage and sold inspiration. An unbelievable record membership of this iconic association, trends across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria in recent times, due to her robust travel trade and tourism engagement and evangelism

Susan Akporiaye is a Nigeria’s new tourism diva, steering nanta to other streams of income in the very dynamic and collaborative travel and tourism industry.

She has successfully shaped the nanta dream of tomorrow, frontal with foreign airlines, shadow boxed them into a corner,   with same Adefope and Tereza Ojo punchy style.

She consults with wisdom but takes responsibility where others shiver in fear. Susan Akporiaye revealed and sustained the Tereza Ojo tourism goal agenda for nanta members and, above all, a   dedicated and sacrificial mentor to the young and upcoming nanta members, many who rejoice at her leadership which has engaged and inspired them to rediscover their talents and strength. From South Africa, Kenya, Namibia, and London, nanta leads in promoting Nigeria tourism, even in tech start-ups. 

By mid next year, a chapter in nanta history will be closed, and another opened. Susan Akporiaye has opened the gates for the nanta young persons to rise their heads and raise voice to give nanta sustainable leadership growth narratives, and so we say Amen and rejoice that nanta is on the match, greater and stronger because a true leader emerged.  Will this trend gain sustained traction? We watch and pray!.



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