Susan Akporiaye takes over as new NANTA President

Susan Akporiaye, until recently, the first Deputy National President, of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies, NANTA, has emerged as the new president of the association. This followed the stepping down of Mr. Bankole Bernard, the erstwhile president at the completion of his tenure in Lagos. Bankole who held the position for four years, brought sparks to the association and led the group to greater heights in the travel industry and would be remembered as a visionary leader who brought a lot of synergy and innovation to travel business in Nigeria.

At a solemn hand over ceremony in Lagos, before the lockdown, Bankole handed over the mantle of leadership to Mrs. Akporiaye who would steer the association for the next two years. Speaking at the event, Mrs. Akporiaye said “we have digitally taken over and all the legal protocols for handover have taken place overseen by our  Board of Trustees. On one hand you are assured of continuity because I was one of the outgoing executives of the last administration. On the other hand this is the birth of a new beginning as the incoming executive takes over under my leadership as 44th President of NANTA. We must admit that while we have global challenges brought on by Covid-19, we also do have some pertinent local challenges facing our members and their businesses which we must confront and come up with effective strategies to address. In due course, the incoming executives shall engage and consult with all of you as stakeholders in order to establish and validate our priorities.

I will then be articulating these priorities on how to move the association forward. I know there is a huge challenge to re-assess our reach and physical engagement process in view of Covid-19 and the impact on global travel, we are conscious of the pressure to rebound and gain immediate foothold yet determined to guide our members to follow established federal and states government protocols on Covid-19 and practice safety and social distancing as recommended by health officials globally.