Thewill Editorial: The Poor State Of Facilities, Security At Nigeria Airports
BEVERLY HILLS, September 08, (THEWILL) – Airports are major gateways to any country or geographical space. How they are built and maintained say a lot about the country where they are located, as their state also confirms the importance a nation attaches to the safety of passengers and its airspace. With these in mind, one cannot but decry the poor condition of facilities and the security threats presently inherent in Nigeria's airports.
The deplorable service-delivery at these airports, including the international airports in Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Abuja calls for serious interrogation and introspection.
In the last one year, the deteriorating state of infrastructure and services at the nation's Aviation sector has again called to question, the readiness of relevant authorities in securing the country's navigational space.
Recently, it was reported that power supply was disrupted for over 24 hours in one of the country's major airports. Although power outage is not a new phenomenon in the country, it is embarrassing for that to be experienced at an airport of international stature.
Beyond that incident of blackout, which is not the first at an airport in the country, most facilities are in a state of disrepair. The result is that there has been poor service delivery to the airport users.
Not long ago, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, ICAO, had warned against these poor facilities and the attendant security implications on travellers and the country.
Although ICAO had, had reasons in the past to laud the improvement at some of the airports, the malfunctioning facilities, some of which were aggravated by the endemic corruption in the system, have continued to endanger the safety of passengers.
Operations at the airports have deteriorated so badly that users, including first time visitors and investors, are made to wait endlessly before picking their luggage. To make matters worse, they are made to wait in suffocating waiting rooms with dysfunctional air conditioners. A situation as this can indeed hamper the much-needed foreign inflow of investments into the country, particularly at this time of economic recession.
THEWILL calls on the Federal Government to take the issue of airport security very seriously. There are growing complains of the nation's airport users about damage to luggage done by obsolete conveyor belts.
Relevant agencies must be seen to make the most of the huge sums of money realized daily from landing and parking, passengers' service, overflying and additional charges to improve on these facilities.
We recall that the vision of former President Goodluck Jonathan in remodeling the airports necessitated the Aviation Master Plan in 2012. Under the arrangement, 11 airports would have been remodeled, while 22 others were to be equipped with the latest state-of-the art safety and navigational radar.
The upgrading was also to include the installation of lightning and thunder detection equipment. Unfortunately, four years after, the vision has not only been abandoned, but the existing facilities have been allowed to rot away.
The operational environment has been made more complicated by the economic recession, which has forced several airlines to either cut their flights or suspend operations. While some foreign airlines have already moved out of the country, local airlines have been hit badly.
Only recently, a popular local carrier, Aero Contractors suspended operations due to the harsh economic realities. Another carrier, First Nation had suspended its operations to carry out a routine maintenance on its fleet, in line with safety standards, though it was earlier reported that the suspension was for economic reasons.
THEWILL calls on the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, and other relevant agencies to take urgent steps to improve on facilities at the airports and the security therein.
Coming on the heels of the current global terrorists' attacks and the peculiar security challenges in Nigeria, it is feared that having airports with obsolete and malfunctioning equipment and poor service-delivery, could make the country more vulnerable.
Airport security is synonymous with national security. According to Monte R. Belger of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration “The goal of aviation security is to prevent harm to aircraft, passengers and crew, as well as support national security and counter-terrorism policy.” Regrettably, this has not been accorded its desired place in the management of the nation's airports.
The security lax at Nigeria's airports can be better captured by the story of a 13-year old boy who, some years ago, breached the Benin airport security and stowed away in the tyre compartment of a Lagos-bound Arik Air plane.
It is common knowledge that some airports lack landing facilities, especially at night or during bad weather. This situation, alongside others, has already forced most airports to operate below capacity.
THEWILL urges the Ministry of Aviation to direct the immediate compliance with all international statutes. The facilities and security at the airports must be immediately improved upon, using the best airports in the world as the standard.