By Dickson Omobola
National Association of Nigerian Travel Agents, NANTA, has expressed sadness over the dollarisation of air tickets by some foreign airlines, saying it is a direct affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and can result in job losses.
President of NANTA, Mr Yinka Folami, said the practice undermined the Naira, noting that with improvements in market liquidity, the resolution of remittances and forex stabilisation, ticket sales in dollars should no longer be valid.
Folami, who spoke on Mainland FM 98.3, also lamented cross-border trading and described it as a sin against the Nigerian market.
His words: “Nigeria is the best travel market in Africa. Over 30 airlines are flying the Nigerian route, and more still want to come. We have some foreign airlines that do more than two flights from Lagos daily.
“It is important to us to protect that market. Cross-border trading is the biggest sin in this market. I do not believe that those who do it trade in tickets. We have a situation where a travel agent like me sits in Asia or Europe, and he has better fares for Nigerian traffic, even though I am a practitioner in this market.
“Selling tickets in dollars is the most disrespectful thing that can happen to any sovereign country that has a good market. We also forget that we only trade in Naira as a means of exchange. The Naira is also a store of the value of images of our heroes.
“There is no need for dollar sales only in this market. The Naira is stabilising, and we must respect the Naira. The rates are closing up. There is liquidity and transparency. We are at the point where we should be congratulating the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and assisting the government to support the Naira.
“What we are asking for in the trade is that even when you want to sell in dollars, accommodate the Naira because dollar-only sales exclude 70 per cent of our practitioners. It is anti-competitive against the Naira and the trade. We do not want situations where there are job losses.”
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