Our man, OLUDOTUN AJIBOLA recently had an encounter with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Desam Travels Nigeria Limited, Mr. Adeniji Aderemi Samuel. He spoke on his aspiration for setting up the agency among many salient issues… Excerpt:
When was your Agency established?
The Agency was established in 2016 in Lagos, but the working condition of Lagos made me to relocate to Oyo state in 2017.
Can you tell us the story of how you ventured into this business?
It started about 13 years ago before I gained admission into the University of Ibadan. I had the intention of travelling abroad particularly to the United Kingdom. The first time I applied for UK visa was in 2007 but I was denied the opportunity due to some reasons.
Later, I got admission to the University of Ibadan to study Political science even though I had the intention of leaving this country to seek greener pastures abroad and I thought of how I could do it alone without involving any travelling agent because I lost a lot of my savings during the previous attempt.
After my graduation, I started researching on the internet to know more about travelling procedures without involving a third party. Later I got across to a University in Australia but the tuition fees was very expensive but I could not afford to pay it because of my humble background. Despite all, I was not discouraged and I got a scholarship opportunity that requires me to write GRE before I can be qualified to access the scholarship.
After my tertiary education, I went to Lagos to search for job and I was lucky to be employed as a marketer in a travelling agency and my experience working there spurred me to take actions even though I did not forget my mission of going to Lagos in order to travel abroad.
After I attempted GRE exam four times without success, at the fifth attempt I was offered 75% scholarship of the tuition fee and I had the opportunity of travelling to Australia to study International relations.
After the program, I realized that many people were interested in the opportunity of travelling to further their studies but they are always disappointed at the end of the day and that reason encouraged me to establish a travelling agency in Nigeria specifically to meet the yearnings of Nigerians who are desirous of studying abroad.
What can you say are the achievements you recorded so far?
Desam is mainly about studying abroad. We have so many countries and schools where our students are currently schooling. Our success story is summarized thus far with the admission of our students in schools in Poland, UK, Canada, Russia. Recently, few of our students got a study visa to Poland to further their education.
This means you have affiliation with schools abroad?
In Canada we have affiliation with University of Winnipeg, Manitoba University, University of Essex, South Wales, OPOLE University in Poland, University of Turkey. We are representing 25 Universities in Russia among many others, this affiliation makes it easy for our students to secure admission without stress.
What are the prerequisites and documents to possess in order to study abroad?
According to the United Nations, Nigeria is one of the countries that its citizens are most interested in travelling abroad and most of the embassies have fixed their eyes on Nigerians because of the peculiarity of Nigeria as a nation and my advice for any intending traveler is to have good intention before travelling out of out the country.
In the United Kingdom and Canada, if you are applying for an undergraduate program, you must not be more than 22 years of age at the time of applying for admission and the application must be submitted soon as possible in addition to your O level result which must be equivalent to your preferred course of study. These requirements if met will enable the applicants to have more chances of securing admission.
Furthermore, for master’s applicants, they must possess B.Sc. / HND in any preferable course of study and some countries accept IELTS, TOEFL, GRE for their admission requirement.
Can you enlighten our readers on your frequently held seminars on how to travel abroad?
In Desam Travels, our principle is based on trust because of the prestige and value we attach to our name. I have been in this field for close to a decade and many of our clients can attest to the fact on how we enlighten them even before they travel abroad.
The seminar is free of charge to enlighten our prospective students on the process of admission and the partnering representatives of the schools abroad would be on ground to enlighten our students on the process of securing a hitch free admission. We currently have centers in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan and Osun State.
What advice will you give to people who use travelling agency to defraud people?
We need to appeal to our leaders in the various arms of government to set up a committee to oversee the travels industry because of the professionalism attached to it. While I was in Australia, I went to three different schools to learn more about travels and tours agency because of my interest in the profession. Interestingly, our partnering schools in Australia will not give you license to be affiliated with them if you are not certified and that is the benefit our organization is enjoying presently.
If you check those who defraud people in our industry, they are quacks, who are only aiming at immediate benefits and are not vast in the ethics of the profession. We need a law in Nigeria that will back up the profession just like Law, Medicine and the government must take proactive measure to certify those who are practicing the profession in order to eliminate quackery in the industry.
The current law in Nigeria backing travelling agency organization is not strong enough to deter quacks. Presently, there are various factions of travelling agency association in Nigeria and yet some agencies have refused to join the recognized association which is making it difficult for the association to operate effectively. Even the clause in the constitution which does not encourage compulsory association for registered company is another disadvantage to the industry.
What will you like to tell Nigerian youths generally?
It is not a bad idea to travel abroad- in our organization we have a training segment where we teach prospective applicants on the rules and procedures that guide travelling abroad without the assistance of any travelling agency. My candid advice for intending travelers is to be sincere with the immigration rule of the country because if you are caught with fake immigration papers, it can lead to denial of visa and deportation.
If you are applying for study or visiting visa, let your intention be known during the course of application in order not to be deported afterwards.
