“Now the Lord had said to Abraham: Get out of your country, from your family And your father’s house, to a land that I will show you, I will make you a great nation, I will bless you And make you a great name And you shall be a blessing And I will bless those who bless you” Genesis 12v1/3. Getting hold on what spurs nations and peoples to strides into admissible prosperity can’t be to far away from the Bible verses above which flowers and defines the purpose of God for Abraham.
Indeed, to be destined for greatness and getting to deliver on same mission, could be likened to separating light from darkness. True, many great souls, destinies lay in cemeteries of the world, their fathers houses, unfulfilled and for failing to dare.
Such were never a blessing to others, even though by the world standard, they were rich but unfortunately, filled with skeletons of pride, self-worth and not God worth. Such again, can be likened to “men being seen as trees” vague, simplistic and rudderless as the wind.
Notable achievers break ceilings and wear the Abrahamic toga. Ground-breakers, men and women whose call is defined by divine mission, a stride to change humanity, to be a blessing and not a curse to nations and peoples.
They come with gifts of talents, not purse filled money and emptiness. These special hues of God image, tills the land and bring forth fruits, change narratives, notably leaves their fathers houses, their comfort zone, in a most significant creative expression, turns dustbins to skyscrapers.
I can go on and on to validate the call of Abraham, and his most detailed achievements inspired by blind passion and commitment to his determined realization of his destiny call and subsequent reward badge as a “friend” of God.
Take it or leave it, God has always been in the businesses of rewarding men and women who dare to stand strong, not for self but for humanity, without which the affairs of men take a plunge into the valleys of uncertainty and corruption.
It is indeed, the desire of men to be called out to account for the “talents”, and the opportunities to serve others and nations. Segemented, the making of Nigeria, in travel trade and tourism sector, comes at a great price.
And until four years ago, this process, the vision and purposeful strides came to bear with the emergence of National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) Eminent Persons Award.
It was an idea baked in creativity, it was not pedestrian, but a surrealistic gift and deep prophetic expression. No man can share the glory of God, so to Him, all credits goes for the second edition of NANTA Eminent Persons Award, which in two weeks will unveil the ‘champions’ of the industry, men and women, who had overcome challenges of the times without shouting to roof stops.
Men and institutions of grit and vision, who gave angles a measure of competitive positive delivery, not given to fear and tapestry of” phantom excuses and” digital lies’”.
The 2021 NANTA Eminent Persons Awardees, are great personalities and institutions who simply stood up against the famine of COVID-19 pandemic, broke out new grounds, and held up the Nigerian flag for the world to see.
Am not permitted to mention their names here, neither tell their stories and individual exploits in the making of a stronger and most beneficial travel and tourism trade sector, which call, remains the duty of Mrs. Susan Akporiaye, president of National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies.
This delectable and inspiring young lady, is in all seriousness, a toughie, not given a breather of a chance to hold together this mega association through the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic which clawed and clobbered the travel and tourism business to its knees but she overcame with the Abrahamic grit and today, a wonder to the pessimistic community.
Let me, possibly try an insight to the positives of the COVID-19 pandemic on the new thinking for our industry and to which NANTA members and related sectorial players must take as the new catholic trade rules.
What you do after ticket sales, certainly and gradually is getting out of operational facilitation by “harassed” airline operators, needs deeper introspection. Yes, logistics and air travel must remain with a prosperous holiday and business world, but the break out, is to finger a hold in cultural tourism offerings, Which Nigeria is abundantly blessed with.
Don’t let the “big” boys in the business turn you into a street slave trade hunter, some if not all of them, are owners of short and long term lease of luxury holiday apartments business, ferry service, Tour and Holidays Corporate giants and lately investors in Arts Galleries and Aviation Training mechanics.
That is the way to go and no doubt, the 2021, NANTA Eminent Persons Award, will shift focus to these related enterprises and persons opening doors of knowledge and opportunities.
Nigerian culture and hospitality sub sectors with its virgin unique diversity, presents opportunities for NANTA members to remain in business. And with eyes to the future like Abraham, those persons and institutions that would be unvieled at the International Conference Center, Abuja, come November 12, are new trade prosperity partners, and not your owamba shenanigans.
I will advise that the travel trade operators wise up, your commissions on tickets are threatened and almost gone, shape up and research new grounds and get to bless others. That is refreshing narratives and award mantra behind NANTA Eminent Persons Awards.
The media? Their relationship and support to the growth of NANTA is unimaginable and cannot be overemphasized. From the birth of the association, Rox Udo, Femi Adefope, Munzali Dantata, Teresa Ezeobi, Ahmed Zabane and to the new generation czars, NANTA has always been friends of the media. A Media Hall of Fame tells of the future chronicles of this avant garde relationship.
I won’t end this piece wit out revealing that the Executive Council of NANTA, led by Mrs. Susan Akporiaye, will “ shock’ the industry with a new diadem for exemplary members of the association, who not played key roles holding together the association at cross roads, but have become ‘champions”, of up fields entities, and holders of new grounds of opportunities away from mere selling if air travel documents. There is going to be a new but select club of nanta fellowship, a badge of honour for Frontliners.