By Noah Aderoju
The MD/CEO LibraGold Travels and Tours, Alhaja Zikrah Afolake Akanbi, in a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of her company and the return of her pilgrims to the just concluded 1443 AH operations in Saudi Arabia, has revealed the secrets behind the success of the company. In an interview with the PEACE Magazine, she said that her ability to continuously upscale her operations and builds lasting relationships with people are a part of the secrets to her success. What I do is that I always take time to train myself and train my team, and I always engage my team and even customers alike; clients that travel with us always have a relationship with us and no matter what, they will always come back to LibraGold.We have developed over time a tradition of Trust in our relationship with the customers.In addition, she acknowledges the support of her husband and affirms he is a key to her success and the success story of LibraGold. “I always say that the best decision I have made in my life was to have accepted to be the wife of my husband. That has given me the platform to grow as a woman and to become who I am today.”
The company is a front-line operator in Hajj and Umrah operations in Nigeria and has pioneered cut-edge innovations in the sector. It initiated the monthly Umrah operations that other operators now copy. The company also started the online registration and payments in the industry for her clients, ensures excellent service delivery to her customers and is about to launch LibraGold-App, which will enable customers to process their travelling visas from the comfort of their homes. Alhaja Akanbi, while welcoming guests and the new pilgrims that travelled with her company to the occasion, recalled; that LibraGold, started as a company in 1996 and committed to excellent service and evolved within five years in the industry to be the pacesetter and symbol of excellence. It is of pride to her that LibraGold is now an authority in the sector, even though she was the only female in the business in Southwestern Nigeria when she started.In his remarks, Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan, Chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria and the chairman at the occasion, lauded the company and named her the Amazon of Hajj and Umrah operations in Nigeria. He posits that LibraGold, 25 years of continuous operations is a great effort worthy of celebration. He wishes the company the best of times ahead and called on the Managing Director to impart her knowledge and expertise on Hajj operations to other young ones in the industry, especially now that the Covid-19 pandemic is re-writing Hajj operations.In a lecture to the pilgrims, Sheik Abdullah Adam Al-Ilory, the Kadii of Sharia Court of Appeal in Abuja, admonished the returned pilgrims to be steadfast and continue to obey Allah as they did while in the holy cities. He reminded them of the hadith that says that if a person rightly does the Hajj rites, he will return back as a newly born baby. Justice, Adam Al-Ilory urged them not to lose the rewards Allah promised for a Hajj that He accepts with improper actions and should maintain, increase the tempo of the religiousness imbibed while on pilgrimage.