Onung Emerges New FTAN President, Takes Charge

By Justina Uzo

The new President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN), Mr. Nkereuwem Onung has restated his commitment to raise the stake in the tourism industry in the country, saying that part of the new era was to move domestic tourism to a new level.

FTAN, which is the umbrella association of the organised private sector tourism i.e. association for hotels, tour operators, boat operators, travel agents and other tourism businesses, held its elections during 2021 FTAN AGM in Abuja last week.

Onung, who is Chairman, Remlords Tours and Car Hire Services, had a landslide victory with 71 votes over his challenger, Otunba Ayodele Olumoko, who got 22 votes, at the elections held at Rockview Hotel (Royale) Abuja. Onung, who will be at the helm of affairs of FTAN in the next two years, had unveiled a 7-point growth agenda for the private sector tourism.

He was the acting president of FTAN before the election, having taken over the mantle of leadership after the sudden death of FTAN President, Alhaji Rabo Saleh earlier this year. He is coming with a wealth of experience as he is the former president of Nigerian Association of Tour Operators (NATOP) and a member of its Board of Trustees.

Moreover, he is a core private sector person, being a banker before coming into tour and car hire business.

FTAN, meanwhile, also elected other officers at the successful AGM. These officials are: First and Second Vice President FTAN, North Central and South-South geo-political zones of Nigeria, Alhaji Aliyu Madaki and Mrs. Susan Akporiaye, respectively. Others include Ime Udo (tour operator), and Wale Olapade as PRO.

Onung, on behalf of the executive council, thanked the various tourism associations of the federation for giving him and his team the mandate to serve in the next two years in various capacities.

He maintained that the future of FTAN is greater than its history, as it was established 12 years ago. “I also appreciate our members who are also elected with me. We will give our best,” he said. Many are looking to see the implement of his campaign promises.

Onung said among other things that he is seeking for prosperity for the industry and for the players that have given their lives to it, “because there wasn’t enough data to measure the contribution of tourism to the country’s GDP.”

He promised that when elected, he would work on improving data capturing so that the statistics would reflect the relevance of tourism in Nigeria.

He said: “I believe that we can robustly work towards that so that at the end everybody will understand what tourism contributes to our GDP, so that at the end, we begin to see how we can change the narratives and begin to work on our governments to begin to see us in that light that we are in the industry.”

He lamented that some officials have turned FTAN administrative structures, like that of the vice presidents, to individuals who go around doing things that are not constitutional by creating state excos of secretary and chairman/which are illegal structures that ought not to be.

He promised to strengthen and unify member associations of FTAN and raise the visibility of the body to begin to engage appropriate institutions.