Legal luminary, Dr Kemi Pinheiro, has urged the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) to grow its strategic presence in the emerging travel sector in Nigeria.
The senior lawyer urged NANTA to reappraise the association’s relationships with her members, the travelling public, and the government, noting that an unblemished reputation should be the driving force for the biggest travel trade body to birth new changes at the edge of a new dawn for the travel sector in Nigeria and Africa.
Pinheiro outlined other focal interventions to the new NANTA leadership such as the establishment and bringing forth an African version of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and a NANTA-inspired advocacy to engage fair play in the market. He applauded NANTA’s direction for a ‘Nigeria-centred Agenda’ and fair play.
According to him, NANTA has done well and is transformational in making significant impacts to ease the pains and anxieties of the travelling public, providing expertise and knowledge that serve as a reliable guide to cost-effective service in the industry.
The legal icon in a brief welcome address to the NANTA new executive council led by the President, Mr Yinka Folami, on a courtesy visit to appreciate the support and guidance of the Pinheiro LP legal firm, noted that the role of NANTA in the aviation industry, particularly the impact made so far to ease the burden of Nigerian travellers could not be ignored and overemphasised.
“Remarkably, I do align myself with NANTA’s vision and mission statements, which are to be ‘Africa’s most trusted association of travel practitioners’ and ‘Promoting integrity and professionalism in the travel sector for quality service delivery’, respectively, and I believe these are very much achievable, “ Pinheiro said.
Speaking earlier, NANTA President, Mr Yinka Folami, traced the relationship between NANTA and Dr Pinheiro to a difficult period in the life of the association when the industry seemed lost in the heated controversy of foreign airlines’ restrictions on the trade ecosystem, and to which Dr Pinheiro provided legal assistance pro bono to the association.
“We came to thank you for all you did to guide us, advanced and opened gates that linked us with helpful contacts and interventions that led to finding solutions to those tough times,” Folami said. He added that his leadership would stay strong on sustaining the legacy of the immediate past administration, in which he played a critical part in the success.
