By Matthew Denis
The Kwara State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board has urged the National
Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) to fight quackery to a
standstill in the sector.
The Executive Secretary of the board, Alhaji Tunde Jimoh gave the
charge while receiving the newly inaugurated executives of the state
branch of the association in his office in Ilorin, recently.
He said “I want to assure the association that the welfare board will
collaborate with you for smooth operations in the state.
“As part of the five pillars of Islam, our people travel for hajj and
umrah yearly to fulfill their religious obligation and considering
their love for Islam, therefore, paramount attention must be accorded
to this exercise.
“We’ll always partner with you where necessary, but you need to do
your work to eliminate the issue of fake agents as it’s common all
over the country.”
The Executive Secretary tasked the association to have a list of the
entire registered and identified members and make a copy available to
all stakeholders in the state.
Responding, the state Coordinator of NANTA, Mr. Abiodun James Olawale
congratulated the board on the success of the 2019 hajj operation.
He, however, said, ” We as members of the association will adhere to
the guidelines of operations given by the board in line with the
International Air Travel Agents (IATA) codes of conduct.”
The coordinator called on air travellers and intending pilgrims not to
lose faith in the association as they are well grounded and
collaborating with security agencies to eliminate quackery and
fraudulent agents among them.
He said, ” We have a new branded identification card with Nigeria
Civil Authority (NCAA) authentication and NANTA certification as basic
ingredient of recognition by customers and stakeholders.”
