Due to the twin evil of corruption and neglect, airports, built with taxpayers’ fund, fell into great decay. Now, some of these airports are wearing new looks courtesy of ongoing remodeling and restructuring initiative of the Federal Government. Assistant Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF, who visited some of these airports, however, reports that it will not be uhuru for air travelers until infrastructural facelift is accompanied with better service delivery.
In the beginning, things were rosy for Minna Airport. At the time, Nigeria’s men of power and means made it. At the height of its glory, besides having military brass hats during the regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida among its regular human passage, no fewer than six commercial airlines scrambled to have slots on the airport’s route. But unfortunately, the honeymoon did not last, as the small airport soon lost its preeminence few years after it began operations on June 20, 1990. Its undoing, among other factors, was the relocation of the seat of the Federal Government from Lagos to Abuja, which ate into its viability and paved the way for the airport’s decay.
Today, the miniature facility is now an eyesore; an embarrassment to the aviation industry. The airport, which used to enjoy an average of five commercials flights per day, now looks like a graveyard.
“That time, Nigeria Airways was coming, Okada Airline was coming, Express Airways and others were coming here and were getting passengers. But as time went on, when the seat of government was moved from Lagos to Abuja, maybe due to the proximity of Minna to Abuja, and most of the air passenger movement at the time was to Abuja. It used to be from Minna to Lagos and that was why this place was very viable then. But things began dwindling after the seat of government was relocated to Abuja and the airlines started moving away,” Ahmed Abubakar, airport manager, told The Nation.
As decrepit as it is, the airport is only used by the state governor and his guests, former military bigwigs resident in Niger State and its environs, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for currency movements – all on infrequent chartered flights. Without doubt, this has left the airport underutilised, rendering it commercially unviable as airlines and passengers now avoid it like a plague. Some of the commercial airlines that formerly operated at the airport – Okada, Express Airways, Capital Airlines, Kabo, Skypower Express, Nigeria Airways, Harka Airlines and Overland – have since suffered the affliction of liquidation that killed them. However, with the look of things, Abubakar says there appears a silver lining behind the airport’s dark cloud of inactivity and abandonment. If things work out as planned, this unpalatable story is about to change – thanks to the gale of remodeling that is sweeping away the old and rickety terminals in some of the country’s airports, and replacing them with more modern ones.
By the time this reporter visited the airport recently, renovation work is ongoing. In spite of long years of setback, the airport management is optimistic that the ailing facility will soon bounce back into viability, banking on the ongoing remodeling of the small terminal to breathe life into the airport. Citing the readiness of Overland, which has indicated interest in resuming operations in the airport, Abubakar exuded great confidence that current signs portend that the airport is on the verge of a rebound, enthusing that “this place will certainly bounce back into viability when the remodeling is completed.”
Across the 22 airports under the management of the Federal Airports Authority (FAAN), similar stories of abandonment and neglect, which led to the decay in airports infrastructure, abound. Over the years, this has taken a toll on facilities in both the busy airports and the less busy ones. Before the remodeling initiative began, Nigerian airports were largely characterized by dilapidated infrastructure and abandoned projects. Expectedly, air travelers were the ones that bore the brunt of terminals without functional air-conditioners, rickety conveyor belts, and toilets without decent facilities, among other necessaries. At the time, passenger frustration and indignation was palpable, for it was not uncommon to see travelers fanning themselves with newspapers or hand fans due to power outages that combined with rickety air conditioners to make air travel in this country a nightmare, instead of pleasure it is designed to be. It was also not strange to see travelers standing or perching on any available object in the departure lounge while waiting for their flights due to inadequate seats in the lounges, just as the check-in counters were obsolete. Facilitation was then hampered by limited space available for security checks, while passenger luggage processing was constrained by old and non-functional conveyor belts, resulting in avoidable delays and frustration, besides the fact that the small car parks bred chaos and traffic jams that made passage in the airports a hellish experience.
But, thanks to the remodeling project, terminals in many of the country’s airports are wearing a new look, equipped with modern facilities. For instance, the re-modeled international terminal building of Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) spreads majestically across the apron in bright red colours, now enjoying an expansion in passenger capacity that is double its former capacity. The airport, which is reputed to be the oldest in the country, had its remodeled terminals commissioned on March 15, by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Malam Sanusi Lamido. Now, the facility looks sparkling clean, away from its rickety state some years ago. This has seen the departure lounge expanded twice its former capacity, while its cooling system, check-in counters, conveyor back system, and airline offices have all been upgraded to cope with anticipated growth in human passage and cargo traffic. Its lounges parade metallic seats, good toilet and other modern facilities, while VIP lounges offer an inviting ambience. The remodeling also involved the extension of the departures lounge, which has increased its seating capacity, and refurbishment of its upper floor that has enhanced its ambience, besides having a full complement of modern facilities, including a walkway on the airside. On the whole, there is a stand-by courteous passenger support officials at every turn in the airport.
According to Ibrahim
Sulaiman, regional general
manager (North), MAKIA, before the remodeling, is an old airport with obsolete facilities that could not cope with modern aviation.
“The experience that people were getting at that time was painful and uncomfortable. Passengers and other airports users really went through harrowing experience and because of that the fortune of the airport consequently declined. The airlines, which were the major operators in the airport, found it inconvenient to continue operating in the airport. It was an airport that could not cope with modern aviation. Because of this kind of situation, most airlines withdrew their services from the airport and therefore the profile of the airport in terms of revenue and operational capability declined,” Sulaiman said. However, despite the infrastructural renewal, MAKIA is a facility that is grossly underutilized, though full-fledged international operations have begun in there. The boost in facilities seems to be having a gradual positive impact on the fortune of the airport, as some of the airlines that have closed shop have indicated willingness to resume operations. Sudan Air, one of the airlines that have commenced operations in the airport, just came in when this reporter visited MAKIA recently, while other airlines are said to be warming up to join the fray soon.
Perhaps this explains why Sulaiman was upbeat about the prospects awaiting MAKIA, saying: “We are anticipating increase in the frequency and volume of operations because of these new facilities that we have.”
If the optimism Sulaiman is not misplaced, it will find a further boost in remodeled Kaduna airport. With a new terminal building, Kaduna airport is primed to form a major hub with MAKIA, which, experts say, will help in boosting the economy of both states.
Also, there is a new dawn at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Nigeria’s flagship airport. Prior to remodeling, it was bursting at its seams, since the arrival and departure lounges at both the E and D wings had become too small to cope with the volume of passenger traffic it was handling per day. The airport used to be dirty with malfunctioning conveyor belts, air conditioners and toilets that have broken down, while its terminals were shabby and overcrowded. At the time, travelers who had the misfortune of using the country’s busiest airport, which was allowed to deteriorate to the shameful status of an unkempt provincial bus terminal, could not forget in a hurry the harrowing time in humid arrival hall after an endless wait for their luggage. But, thanks to the renovation, MMIA now has its arrival and departure halls expanded and spruced up in terms of look and feel, making it far more befitting. This ugly tale changed on October 22, 2012, as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Anyim Pius Anyim commissioned the reconstructed General Aviation Terminal (GAT), now referred to as Domestic Terminal I of the MMA.
The remodeled facility, regarded as the first terminal built by the federal government in over 30 years, now enjoys a passenger capacity of 1, 500 per hour. Formerly, it could handle only 400 passengers per hour. Annually, the new Lagos GAT can process 2.8 million passengers. Despite the facelift, many people say the ambience at the MMIA is still not befitting of an airport of its status, for the chaos outside the airport, which foretells the one inside, is still palpable. Although the airport wears a new look, the car park is often choked and poorly maintained, while lawlessness still rules as cars, most of them belonging to highly influential Nigerians, are still parked on the roads leading to the arrival and departure halls, seriously obstructing the flow of traffic. But, General Manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, Yakubu Dati, assured that an ultramodern car park is being built in the airport to redress the situation.
At Enugu and its environs, the celebratory mood is infectious. On August 24, with the commencement of flight operations by the Ethiopian Airlines at the recently upgraded Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, businessmen and other travelers from the Southeast as well as Edo and Delta now have the option of making their international travels through the airport. This is a piece of news that has put smiles on the faces of many people, attracting cheers for President Goodluck Jonathan administration. Rather than go to faraway Lagos and Abuja airports, as has previously been the case, people in that zone can conveniently embark on their international travel from the newly upgraded airport. It means top businessmen and other air travelers from Enugu, Aba, Abakaliki, Onitsha, Owerri, Umuahia and as far as Asaba and Benin have now been saved the distress of travelling for hours to Lagos or Abuja – trips that are sometimes fraught with problems, including dangers of accidents and armed robbery encounters on the road – to board international flights. This, in a way, is like a welcoming response to the call by people from that part of the country for an international airport for the zone, for residents see it as a tool that can enhance business and trade opportunities that are readily abound but largely untapped in that section of the country.
However, as the people of
Enugu and its environs
revel the international status of the upgraded airport in Enugu, the facility still battles fresh challenges. The airport is still lacking some facilities, despite promises that “all that needs to be done will be done to make this place an international airport in words and in deeds.” Up till now, travelers say they are still being frisked physically due to the absence of electronic security gadgets. The international wing of the airport is yet to take off fully, forcing international travelers to share same facilities with travelers on local routes. Though the runway is fully lit to ensure night flights, other facilities like the conveyor belts need to be functional to reflect the new status of the airport.
At inception in 1980, the
Nnamdi Azikiwe Interna
tional Airport (NAIA) new GAT, which used to serve as the domestic terminal before domestic flight operations were relocated to the present site at the international wing in 2012, was meant to serve as the airport’s cargo terminal. But it ended up serving as the domestic terminal. Despite several renovation works, services at the airport did not measure up to acceptable international standards throughout the period it was used for domestic flight operations. Until it was remodeled, NAIA was unable to cope with the astronomical growth of domestic passenger traffic at Abuja. Not only was the old domestic terminal at this airport fail to meet acceptable international standard, it was also not befitting of an airport in the country’s capital city, described as the fastest growing capital city in the world. The GAT of Abuja airport, which includes a pilgrim’s terminal, was commissioned by Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President, on January 21. Although FAAN’s Regional General Manager (North Central), Chris Bature, declined comment, it was established that the remodeling entails an expansion and modernisation of the old domestic terminal, including modern facilities such as lounges for pilots, offices, duty rooms, private airline offices, a conference room, dining hall, shops and a games room, for recreation.
In fact, in some airports, remodeling takes the form of outright construction of brand new terminals. In this category is the Benin Airport, commissioned on March 8. All the buildings were pulled to pave way for better structures, using the glass and steel for construction concept. There is now an expansion of the floor of the arrival and departure halls to enable them cope with growing passenger traffic, besides having more offices, shops, and toilets as well as a modern VIP lounge. To make facilitation of passengers in and out of the airport easier, the facility is now equipped with an air conditioning system, which hitherto never existed there; and eight check-in counters. The airport has also had its fortune boosted with installation of modern x-ray screening machines, CCTV, check-in counters, conveyor belts, three generators, including a brand new 1, 000KVA generator. At the close of the remodeling, the Benin airport, which used to have a capacity for 200 passengers, now has capacity 600 passengers, and a 2.4 kilometre runway. At the commissioning, an obviously impressed Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole said any frequent user of Benin airport would notice that there is a new lease of life for travelers, saying the remodeling has brought a big change in the country’s aviation industry.
Apart from airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Enugu, Kaduna, and Benin, the train of similar renovation has reached Port-Harcourt, Owerri, Calabar, Jos, Ibadan, and Yola. The airports in these latter cities have not only undergone structural facelift, they are equipped with modern equipment to cope with current aviation challenges, including expanded terminals and other facilities that make great airports tick. The governor may not the only one that has keyed into the renovation. Impressed by the remodeling of airports, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, House Committee Chairman on Aviation, said the quality of work done on the remodeling surpasses the minimum international standard prescribed by the international civil aviation organization. And for Hope Uzodinmah, Senate Committee Chairman on Aviation, the Ministry of Aviation through its agencies, has convinced the committee that the Transformation Agenda is working, adding that: “I am proud to say that we all can beat our chest to say that we have an airport that can be compared to anyone, anywhere in the world. I want to commend the management of FAAN, the minister of aviation for a work well done. If other sectors in the country are working the way the aviation ministry is working, we would have got to the promise land.”
However, this is not to say everyone is impressed with the quality and standard of ongoing remodeling in the nation’s airports. According to critics, the rehabilitation is nothing but a sham, if not a ponzi scheme. Such people flay the quality of materials – such as interlocking, slabs, tiles, glass, chairs, windows and restrooms – as substandard, saying the renovations are too shoddy to stand the test of time.
Shola Oyedokun, a tax consultant who travels around the country through its airports, said if you have had to go through the stress at the airports, it is fair to conclude that it is a major shift.
“Looking at the whole renovation they have done, I can say it could be better than this. The airport in Edo is very good, but the finishing of the local airport in Lagos could be better. I will encourage people are directly responsible for the renovation in the aviation sector to pay more attention to the quality of work done. By the time they are certifying the contractors whose jobs have been completed, they should have something that is near hundred percent. At this time, we should be talking about things that are comparable to what is available in the first world because the standard is there to copy. If we cannot innovate, we can at least copy,” Oyedokun advised.
Besides, air travelers routinely complain of malfunctioning conveyor belts, escalators, and poorly maintained toilets as well as poor state of the country’s airport runways, which they say made nonsense of the much-publicised revolution in the aviation sector. While defending the quality of work done, Dati, who said such allegations are exaggerated, reminded critics to reflect on total decay these facilities have suffered over the years.
“For the first time, a massive project like that is being undertaken by Nigerians. They are Nigerian architects, and you don’t hear of companies like Julius Berger. We have tried to grow our own local expertise. The project alone is employing more than 20,000 Nigerians as architects, artisans, labourers of different sectors. And to us, that is a major landmark because we cannot continue to rely on the multinationals who will give us a perfect structure and there is no transfer of technology. And if this is the price we have to pay for using our local expertise – architects and builders – fair and good, it is good price to pay,” Dati said.
Travelers’ woes persist
Despite glad tidings that things are looking up in the area of airport facilities, users inundate this reporter with unsavoury experiences any time they travel, saying upgrade in facilities has not rubbed off positively on the services at the airports. At the airports in Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Kano and other major airports in the country, passengers said they the issue of flight cancellations and delayed flights without any cogent justification are recurrent headaches that often make them livid with anger.
Asked about his impression after an Arik trip from Abuja to Kano, Bashir Borodo, former National President of the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria (MAN), it is time-consuming and a drain to people’s pocket if people cannot have a to and fro air travel around the country.
“If you are going for meeting in Abuja, you have to spend the night. But the two airlines are doing a great job, and they are fairly punctual as much as possible (Arik and Aero are doing their best). When you buy a ticket late, the price goes up by 40-50 per cent. For retired people like me, it becomes a drain,” Borodo said.
Industry pundits also said they are miffed that the ongoing airport infrastructural development has not included expansion and modernisation of the runways, which have remained the same in most of the airports, construction of perimeter fencing and other security-related issues, cannot do the aviation industry the much desired good.
To such criticisms, Dati asked Nigerians to be patient with FAAN. According to him, the rot of more than three decades cannot be wiped out within two years, adding that all issues relating to runways development and perimeter fencing are already incorporated into the aviation master plan, which is being currently implemented in phases.
FAAN’s Managing Director George Uresi gives kudos to his team, saying: “We have delivered world-class airports to Nigerians.” While allaying fears that the facilities may go moribund again, the FAAN boss said all the remodeled airports would soon be handed over to those that would manage them, meaning that FAAN would no longer be involved in the management of airports but just content itself with the simple role of a holding company.
How far this takes the industry remains to be seen, but what is clear now is that it is not yet uhuru for air travels in the country.
