Fire yesterday gutted the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) headquarters at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
The fire affected the Audit, Communications and Engineering Departments, among others.
FAAN fire service officials said the incident, which occurred around 7 a.m., was caused by an electrical fault.
Files and other equipment belonging to the authority were destroyed in the inferno.
Lagos Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni and some of his top officers rushed to the scene to maintain law and order.
The incident led to gridlock on the airport road.
Fire fighters from FAAN and the Lagos State Fire Service battled to put out the fire.
The government is auditing FAAN workers.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives were said to have visited the agency on Monday.
The audit department was at the centre of a scandal last year in which an official was arrested for manipulating furniture allowances between 2013 and 2015.
Owoseni, who got to the scene at 10:55 a.m., said the immediate cause of the fire could not yet be ascertained, adding that investigations into the incident have been begun.
“The fire service responded to the distress call and ensured that the fire was prevented from spreading,” Owoseni said. “Some of the offices were affected and the FAAN management is already making arrangements to relocate some of the departments to other areas not affected by the fire.
“The police are there to prevent casualty and mutiny. The police in conjunction with FAAN’s security have taken control of security. We are still on the cause of the fire, it is still fresh, but the reasons behind the fire will soon be out with reports from several agencies.”
The Commissioner of Police, Airports Command, Besan Gwana, said his men on patrol spotted smoke coming out from the rooftop of the building and immediately called the Lagos State Fire Service.
Also at the scene were Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Director-General Captain Muhtar Usman and the Director of Consumer Protection Directorate, Adamu Abdullahi.
FAAN has set up a panel to ascertain the cause of the fire at its corporate headquarters.
The panel consisting NCAA, Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Department of State Services (DSS), Police, and personnel of FAAN’s legal, safety and aviation security departments is to unravel the immediate and remote cause of the fire and the extent of damage.
FAAN’s Managing Director Saleh Dunoma said the police also carry out an undercover probe into the cause of the inferno to establish theories of conspiracy and possible sabotage.
He said it was premature to give the cause of the fire as it could jeopardise investigations.
Dunoma said the affected sections in the Director of Commercial Services office, audit and corporate communications departments had been cordoned off to avoid tampering with evidence.
He said workers using offices in the affected sections would be relocated to other sections in the building.
The fire Dunoma said, would not lead to shutting down the headquarters.
Dunoma said: “We are all dejected about this fire as you can see the workers are not happy. But, FAAN is not shutting down, we have set up a panel and we will allow them to do their work. This is the reason we cordoned off the affected sections of the building.
“The reason for setting up the panel is to establish the immediate and remote cause and extent of damage,” he said.
Tag: FAAN
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Fire guts FAAN’s headquarters in Lagos
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Fire at Lagos FAAN office
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) office at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, was engulfed by fire on Tuesday.
The fire affected some offices including the Audit, Communications and Engineering Departments.
A source at the FAAN fire service said incident, which occurred at about 7:00 a.m., was caused by an electrical fault.
Although there were no casualties, files and other equipment belonging to FAAN were completely destroyed.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni and other top police officers were on ground to maintain law and order.
The incident caused heavy vehicular traffic around the airport and its environs.
Firefighters from FAAN and the Lagos State Fire Service were still battling to put out the fire at the time of filing this report.
NAN
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Unions protest appointments at FAAN
Unions in the aviation sector have kicked against the Federal Government’s appointment of ‘an outsider’ as the General Manager, Finance, of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). The unions maintained that the position was for career civil servants.
They made their position known during a peaceful protest at FAAN headquarters at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
The protest was organised by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), the Air Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers(NAAPE).
Addressing the protesters, General Secretary, NUATE, Mr Olayinka Abioye, said the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, had assured the unions that outsiders would not be given positions meant for career civil servants.
“After a critical analysis of the appointment, we have observed that there was an error in bringing in an outsider to head the Department of Finance, FAAN, and we are saying no to such appointment.
“The position he is being given is a career position and the minister has already told us that he doesn’t want outsiders to come and hijack any position in FAAN,” Abioye said.
On his part, ATSSSAN President Mr Ilitrus Ahmadu said it was unfortunate that career civil servants were not being given the opportunity to challenge those coming in from outside for such positions via written tests.
“They need to prove that they are better than the people already on ground and that they deserve the jobs but unfortunately that has not been the case, “ Ahmadu said.
This is just as some union members alleged ethnic bias in the appointment of some directors in some agencies.
The unions have vowed to protest the bias, which they said was not healthy for the industry.
The agencies are FAAN, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB).
The union members alleged that seven northernershave been appointed directors in less than a dozen appointments in the three agencies.
They include Ahmed Abbas Sanusi, director, Human Resources and Administration, NCAA, Bilikisu Adamu Sani, director, Finance and Accounts, NCAA, while Hashimu Ilyasu Wali, an engineer, and Captain Dayyabu Mustapha Danraka were appointed directors of Engineering and Operations at AIB .
At FAAN, three northerners were appointed. They are Group Captain USA Sadiq , director of Security Services; Captain Rabiu Hamisu Yadudu, director of Airport Operations, and Salisu Nura Daura, an engineer, director, Engineering Services.
The Ministry of Aviation, however, declined to comment on the matter .
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FAAN chief: Fed Govt addressing infrastructure gap
THE Federal Government is making efforts to bridge the gap in airport infrastructure to match growth in passengers’ traffic, the Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Saleh Dunoma has said.
He said in the last decade there had been considerable neglect of infrastructure upgrade due to poor planning and paucity of funds.
In an interview, he said government had designed a new template to address the gap in airport facilities through the construction of new international terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt , Kano and Enugu .
The new terminals, which will be completed before the end of this year, would assist to address passenger processing at airports.
Dunoma said the 22 airports managed by FAAN requires more terminal facilities to enhance passengers’ travel experience.
He said it was for this reason that the government had resolved to start the rehabilitation and overlay of the Abuja Airport runway..
Dunoma said: “The government is conscious of the need to address serious infrastructure gap at airports nationwide.
“This is has become imperative because the level of infrastructure at Nigerian airports in the last decade cannot match the growth in passenger traffic.’’
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Why retirees were evicted from Strabag Quarters, by FAAN
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has explained why it evicted its retirees from the Strabag Quarters in Ikeja, Lagos. The eviction was to enable it have accommodation for serving workers whose services are critical to airport operations.
In an interview, its Acting General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, said the exercise affected persons that had since left service and had been paid their gratuities.
She said: “FAAN took the right steps to secure the “duty quarters” so that staff in essential operations department have accommodation to respond timeously to emergencies.
“If the previous occupants have not vacated the quarters, the serving staff will not have accommodation . The affected persons have been paid their gratuity and other entitlement in the last one year.
“They have to vacate the duty quarters because FAAN has paid them and written several notices to them . They were even given an ultimatum, and they signed a letter of undertaking that they will move. But, now some are resisting the directive to move out.
“The apartments cannot be sold , they are duty houses for essential staff . Such people have to disabuse their minds from thinking that they can buy government houses.
“The affected retirees are just giving excuses, that do not hold any water.
“If they do not leave how will serving staff have quarters to occupy . Duty houses are needed to run the airport -+system effectively.”
Last week, officials of the security, estate, legal and operations departments evicted six retirees occupying the quarters.
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‘FAAN addressing manpower gap’
To address its manpower gap, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has employed over 300 aviation security and airport rescue fire fighting officers, its spokesperson, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, has said.
This year, many senior and middle cadre staff are expected to retire service.
To bridge the anticipated manpower gap, FAAN is training its technical personnnel, including aviation security and airport fire rescue workers.
According to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards, FAAN requires no fewer than 1,500 aerodrome rescue and fire fighting officers. The Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos requires a minimum of 160 fire fighters, it was learnt.
In an interview, she said the authority is working hard for its safety certification audit at the Lagos and Abuja Airports in the year.
Mrs Yakubu said key operational officers, especially from the Aviation Security and Fire Rescue departments, had been trained to enhance their efficiency.
The training of such personnel, it was learnt, came on the heels of shortage of aerodrome safety and fire fighting personnel far below those required by the ICAO.
She said: “Reports from the audits conducted in the last one year showed a remarkable improvement in our level of compliance with regulatory requirements. There is no doubt that a lot still needs to be done but statistics show that we are on upward swing.’’
Yakubu said: “ In the last few years, the number of serviceable fire hydrant systems at our airports has increased. New firemen have also been recruited, trained and redeployed to airports, according to their manpower needs, in line with ICAO recommendations.”
She said FAAN would address the gaps in airport infrastructure to consolidate its performance in the pass the ICAO universal safety oversight audit programme (USOAP).
The FAAN spokesperson said the authority had started the migration to a new independent power source at the Lagos Airport with the acquisition of six new generators to resolve the power challenges at the terminal.
Mrs Yakubu said: “We are pursuing the entrenchment of safety and security as core values as an airport organisation by ensuring that the right facilities are installed to speed up baggage facilitation and ensure passenger convenience and comfort.”
She said the construction of new airport terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu was nearing completion.
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Abuja airport closure: FAAN to increase capacity of Kaduna airport
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ((FAAN) will increase the capacity of the Kaduna International Airport to handle the rise in human and cargo traffic to Kaduna when the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja closes for repairs.
The Managing Director of FAAN, Mr Saleh Dunoma, disclosed this while speaking with reporter in Abuja yesterday.
The Federal Government recently announced the closure of the Abuja airport for six weeks beginning from March 8, for repair works to be done in the middle section of its runway and taxi pavement.
“All we need do is increase our manpower in order to take care of the additional traffic.
“This is very easy for FAAN because FAAN can move some staff from Abuja airport since Abuja airport is going to be closed.
“By the time we move some aviation security, safety staff and operational staff to Kaduna airport that would assist them in handling additional traffic.
“For example in 2015, government gave us approval for additional staff and these additional staff are being trained now.
“And as the minister said, of course, after the training, we will equip them, they will be better equipped to handle arms and they will be better trained to handle public.
“They will be trained to handle the exigencies of security from the day to day operation of our airport.
“A lot of things are being done; we will also give them some additional training in managing security at the airports.’’
Dunoma also disclosed that FAAN began making reparations for the airport in Kaduna to handle the flights that would be diverted from Abuja long before the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, announced its closure.
He said FAAN began making the preparations much earlier because it knew in advance that the Kaduna Airport would be the alternate airport that would be used as soon as the Abuja was closed for repair works.
Dunoma said the authority would ensure that the aviation industry continued to contribute substantially to the country’s economy.
The managing director stated that although there is no statistic to show exactly how much the industry is contributing to the economy, the aviation industry is a catalyst for economic development.
“Just imagine a Nigeria without the aviation industry.
“Do you know how many businesses will die? You have seen in the press what is happening just because of the closure of the Abuja airport for six weeks.
“So I cannot imagine the Nigerian economy without the aviation industry. The aviation industry is a big contributor to our economy,’’ he said.
The FAAN boss assured that the issue of power failure at the airports, especially the Lagos airport, had become a thing of the past.
According to him, the cable lines that were damaged in the course of construction work have all been repaired and power supply restored -
Airports ready for traffic surge during Christmas – FAAN
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has assured members of the public, especially passengers and airline operators of hitch-free movement of passengers and cargo during the forthcoming Christmas.
The Acting General Manager, Public Affairs of FAAN, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to her, necessary operational and security measures have been put in place at all airports across the country.
Yakubu said the authority had also charged all airport managers to employ measures to ensure that only eligible persons had access to all restricted areas at the landside, terminals and airside.
She said bomb detection unit of the Nigeria Police Force had also been charged to be more alert to compliment the efforts of aviation security personnel at the security screening points.
“To reiterate her commitment to safety of lives and properties, the Federal Government through the Nigerian Airforce recently conducted counter terrorism simulation live demonstration at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, “the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the FAAN spokesman as saying in the statement.
“Passenger facilitation at all our airports has also been enhanced by the upgrade of power installations, installation of modern and bigger conveyor belts and metal walk-through detectors, servicing of lifts and escalators.
“Stringent measures are being taken to eradicate the menace of touts and other unwholesome activities around the terminals.’’
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FAAN: new facilities ‘ll curb delays
The three carousels and conveyor belts installed at the D’ Arrival wing of the Lagos International Airport will fast-track departure and arrival formalities, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), has said
At the inaugurattion of the facility, FAAN Managing Director, Saleh Dunoma said the measure was taken following passengers’ complaints that they spend much time to retrieve their luggage and to keep pace with growing traffic brought about by the remodelling of airports.
He said: “The timing of this world class facility is in consonance with the authority’s readiness to thrill her esteemed airport users with fascinating travel experience especially with the approaching festive season usually associated with increased inbound passengers and luggage.
“ The authority assures all airport users of improved quality services in line with global best practices as we are not unmindful of the need to provide world class facilities in spite of the economic challenges facing the country.”
Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has concluded plans for global roll out of an Airport Wildlife Trafficking Assessment Tool which will help defeat smugglers of endangered species next year, its Director General , Alexandre de Juniac has said
The Assessment tool, according to Juniac was developed in partnership with the World Customs Organization (WCO) with support from the USAID ROUTES Partnership, will be piloted with WCO at Maputo International Airport this
The Tool will helps airports assess their supply-chain security, intelligence and risk management, staff awareness, and reporting processes, alongside air cargo and passenger screening policy and procedures.
He said : “ The illegal trafficking of wildlife products, including many iconic and endangered species, is an issue which the aviation industry takes very seriously. It will take a team effort to combat this deplorable trade. We are working in close partnership with USAID Routes, WCO, CITES and other organizations to make the world a much more difficult place for wildlife traffickers. Our common goal is to preserve our precious wildlife inheritance for future generations to enjoy,
“Actors in the air transport sector can serve as the eyes and ears of enforcement agencies and can be valuable partners in the efforts to eliminate wildlife trafficking from supply chains.
The Assessment Tool will enable them to identify weak points in procedures and practices, often exploited by traffickers, as well as ways of strengthening them,” said Kunio Mikuriya, WCO Secretary General.
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‘How to bridge airports’ infrastructure gap’
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN) Managing Director Saleh Dunoma is for concessioning to address the problem of infrastructure. In this interview with KELVIN OSA-OKUNBOR, he insists that that is the only way to turn around the airports.
There is growing disapproval by some stakeholders of the government’s plan to concession some international airports. What is your take on this?
Many people do not know much about airport concession. It is critical for players and stakeholders to understand clearly the motives of the government before kicking against the exercise. From a global point of view, airport concession has become fashionable because of the benefits accruable. Concession is a model adopted to address serious gaps in infrastructure at airports.
Since governments do not have enough money to address infrastructure gaps, it considers concession an incentive to attract investors. It is a very good thing for the global aviation industry. The whole idea of adopting concession of airports is to get capital to develop infrastructure. This is the reason government is looking at airport concession.
Airports concession is used to close gaps in terms of infrastructure. These gaps have arisen because of insufficient intervention through funding. This is the major attraction for introduction of concession.
How does a typical concession arrangement work, given that previous ones ended in controversy?
The model affords government the opportunity to share risks with private sector players who are interested in putting money into airport infrastructure to make them work more efficiently. It is a business arrangement that allows people who know how to do the business as stakeholders collaborate to share risks and possible profits in managing airport terminals. Under this arrangement, the facility remains the property of government, but managed by the private sector.
That is all what concession is. Let’s come and close this gap and share the profit. If concession is done properly and openly and transparently and all parameters, issues are properly considered, it is better.
The shared risk in case of concession is important. I think we need to understand the difference between privatisation and concession. If all the parameters are gotten rightly at the beginning, I think concession is better. The challenge here is a matter of perception.
How do you address the growing agitation for airport services by airlines and other users in Africa?
From a continental point of view, airports in Africa were built to meet some demands at the time of their construction. But, as you have it in Nigeria, over the years , the volume of flight and other operations have reached a level that public funding has become inadequate to meet the needs of airlines and other airport users .
Infrastructure requires renewal all the time. This renewal also requires a lot of capital investments. African governments are unable to fill the infrastructure gap. So what is the solution? That is why concession is becoming popular.
How will you as the president, African Region of Airports Council International, improve air transport on the continent?
Our concern mostly is to make sure that we continue to improve the environment for safe, secure aviation business. Because of the global challenges that we have, we need to make sure we improve our security in all our airports in Africa. The next important thing is commercials. We need revenue to sustain some of our operations. We need air services which are critical.
We need connectivity because right now, we don’t have the connectivity that we require to cover the entire African continent and this is our immediate concern.
We also need proper and improved air services. We need to collaborate with African airlines through African Airlines Association (AFRAA) or IATA to make sure that African airlines are developed in such a way that they rate with other airports. We need to look at creating an environment so that these African airports get access to our airports. Whatever it means, if it means getting some incentives or encouragement or whatever it takes to bring our African airlines to cover all African airports that we have to improve connectivity in Africa.
We will sit down and look at them critically and collaborate with stakeholders to make sure that we achieve proper connectivity, within the African airspace and African airport. It will go a long way in improving the growth of our airlines and services within the continent of Africa.
There are the other things that we need to add, in addition to safety and security, that will make our aviation robust. It is a growing economy and there are so many potentials to make sure that we encourage investors into African aviation business.
What are the incentives?
We are working towards that. We are thinking seriously. We have discussed this and we asked all the members to go and think. Different issues for different countries. But I assure you, in our next meeting, we will bring the issues and we will discuss them, harmonise and work out the incentives we would like to provide for African airlines to achieve a better connectivity. We have committees and these committees are given some of the assignments that come up with the board and then we work on that.
You talked about air connectivity in Africa and how ACI was trying to create a single sky. How can this be achieved without infrastructure?
Many countries are making efforts in this direction. In the last meeting we had a lot of projects across Africa, airports are either in advanced stage or just taking off. The countries are providing adequate infrastructure for the kind of traffic they want to attract. It is not the size of the building that determines the traffic. Mostly, passengers and other airport users see only the terminal building. There are lots of things that you don’t see. The airlines are there; what about the runway, apron, ground services and others. These are the important things that airlines will require to come. What is important to attract traffic is whether we have adequate navigational equipment at the airport, runway, apron, ramp services, and fuel. Those are things that everybody would want to know if they are adequate. African airlines are trying to address all these.
How can African airlines begin to work with global technology at major airports?
Technology is very important because you cannot, for example, construct the runway without it. We are looking at that critically. In every meeting that we hold, we invite manufacturers from all over the world. And they come with the state of the art equipment. We give them this opportunity so that member states will look at the new technologies and then see how we can get access to such new technology. They also do presentations so that everybody understands what is there. We share experiences with other airports that have already started using these new technologies. We agree on way to go. We also talk to the manufacturers to assist individual airports that are ready to adopt these technologies on training.
What legacy will you leave as ACI Africa President?
I am working hard with the board. I have already discussed with them in my acceptance speech that we need just to convince our governments and our approving authorities in the various states. In order to take aviation to the next level in Africa we have identified some areas that we need to cover. They will collate all the issues and solutions and bring to us. We will now liaise. We want to bring the approving authorities close to us. If we bring them close to us and they understand the issue, that makes life easier for us in Africa. We intend to explore more and the relationship between African Union with ACI Africa through, of course the rightful channels. We have regional, ECOWAS and we have groupings. We will use the ECOWAS to get African Heads of State. We intend to improve that; so at the end of the day, there will be smooth and proper relationship between us and them and they will see reasons to approve us on all the issues we tend to bring out in the future. And we get the blessings of these governments as quickly as possible.
In capacity building, what is on the table for Africa?
Many capacity building initiatives have been designed to improve African aviation. The Human Resources Sub-committee team for African region met recently in Maputo and the members of the team have come up with suggestions on capacity development in Africa. Mostly, it is geared towards improvement of airport workers as far as airport in Africa is concerned. It is also geared towards knowledge that will enable them execute their responsibilities, bearing in mind the current issues of terrorism. We are talking about airport security but we place emphasis on land side security because people come from the land side to the airport and perpetrate whatever bad intentions that they have. So, we have a template of how to tackle security at the airports, especially the landside security. These are the kind of things we look at and we proffer solution to them. There are lots of improvements in the training programme. We are looking at: what are the threats; what do we do; what is on the table for ACI Africa. These trainings are geared towards addressing such issues and we are very flexible. We look at the requirements of various countries under ACI Africa. Then bring it to the board and then discuss and determine the people that require these training. We try as much as possible to train more people. So we normally, take the training to the doorstep of those that need it so that we don’t have to pay much or spend much on the training.