Plateau State has shown that it is serious about reviving Tourism in the State. This was the view of the immediate past President of the Tour Operators in Nigeria (NATOP) Mr. Nkereuwem Onung when he paid a thank you Visit to Plateau State on Friday. The Visit coincided with the beginning of the Jos Carnival.
Mr. Onung thanked the State Government for pulling out all stops to host the Tour Operators. He said that the Jos AGM is the best attended AGM by NATOP as over 60 Tour Operators came in from Different parts of Nigeria. They were joined by 14 Travel Journalists.
‘I am surprised with the large turnout of the State Cabinet members who joined us in the 2 day event. The Commissioner of Tourism and the Special Adviser were with us until the last day. That is impressive’ Mr. Onung Opined.
Plateau State fully Hosted the Tour Operators and the Media for the 2018 AGM.
It will be recalled that NATOP recently held its AGM in Jos Plateau State against the demand by some members to cancel the event because of Perceived Insecurity.
Before the AGM there was tension as some members who wanted to contest accused the Executives of setting up the FCT chapter in March to recruit members to Vote at the AGM for a preferred candidate who was then the General Secretary. They used the Security Situation in Plateau as a basis for cancelling the AGM.
To resolve the issue the President insisted on continuing with Jos as the Government was willing to host Tour Operators. After the AGM the President followed the Constitution and asked all new members who were less than 2 years old to leave the hall. This included all but 2 of the new members from FCT
The President stepped aside and the Board of Trustees conducted the elections among the verified old members who were present at the Meeting. The election of New Executives was supervised by the President of the Federation of Tourism Associations in Nigeria FTAN Alhaji Rabo Saleh and the newly Inducted BOT members. After a transparent Election conducted by Kabiru Malan Former President of NANTA and Currently the President of The Association of Tourism Practitioners of Nigeria ATPN and Gabe Onah the Chairman of the Carnival Calabar Commission.
Abuja based Hajia Bilkisu Abdul of BBOOG Travels was elected the National President while Lagos Based Ime Udo was elected the Vice President.
In her acceptance speech Hajia Bilkisu extended a hand of fellowship to the 2 candidates she had defeated in the elections.
A new BOT was also inducted at the AGM before the Elections by the General Assembly. The Annual Audited Accounts was rendered by The Treasurer and it was duly adopted before The Abuja members were asked to leave The Hall. The BOT members include Malam Kabiru Malan former NANTA President, Mrs. Fatima Garbati the Former President of NATOP, Mr. Jemi Alade Pioneer Tour Operator, Gabe Onah Chairman Carnival Calabar Commission, Nkereuwem Onung a Past President of NATOP Iyom Josephine Anenih and Mr. Ikechi Uko a travel Expert.
