The chief executive officer (CEO) of Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Tunji Bello, has expressed happiness with the protection pact signed with the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA).
The agreement, which aimed to protect air travellers and travel trade operators from unfair operational trade practices, was signed in Abuja.
According to a statement from NANTA, the umbrella body of recognised travel agencies in the country, the agreement, which was executed by the two partners, the first ever by FCCPC and any trade group in Nigeria, would last for two years, with an open window for renewal subject to certain satisfaction metrics.
Bello said that NANTA had always been proactive in the affairs of the Nigerian travel industry, describing the initiative as bold and innovative.
Bello signed the partnership agreement with NANTA in the full glare of all operative management staff of FCCPC, and revealed that he had always followed with keen interest the activities of the association, particularly its consistent advocacy to protect the Nigerian travelling public and the discomfort with unfair play and lack of equity in travel trade practices in Nigeria.
He emphasised that FCCPC was glad to work with NANTA to make Nigeria better and respected in the comity of nations.
He said, “I am excited to meet with NANTA members today. You have always set the pace, and when I came in, I was briefed about your relationship with FCCPC. Today, we are happy to sign into agreement this noble effort that captures all our passion and expectations to protect our people (consumers) from unfair trade practices, including the operators.”
Bello decried the unbridled spate of high prices of goods and services in the country, wondering if Nigerians truly loved each other, noting that price hikes of consumer goods in various markets did not tally with empirical findings by FCCPC of cost of goods and as such negated the laws on fair and equitable trade practices.
Also speaking, president, NANTA, Yinka Folamis, said NANTA as a trade body could not stand-by and watch the entire Nigerian travel trade sector erode by obnoxious trade practices.
He further lamented the gradual extinction of Nigerian currency, the naira, as a legitimate trade instrument in view of the demands for dollars by trade providers in Nigeria without rigid enforcement by concerned authorities.
“I honestly wonder if we love our country, our Naira, and our people as everything we do has to be influenced by foreign denominations and it is like our currency, the Naira, is no longer sovereign,” he said.
He further commended FCCPC for being consistent in the pursuance of the protection of the rights of consumers and in diffusing the negative climate of trade exploitation that hurt the Nigerian economy and the people.
