Said to be modelled after Schipol International Airport in Amsterdam, JUWE OLUWAFEMI discovers that unlike Schipol which has been redesigned several times and frequently maintained, Murtala Muhammed Internal Airport in Lagos has largely remained a shadow of its old glory… left to rot without any care!
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When Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) was being fashioned in the pattern of the Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, not a few Nigerian civil construction engineers applauded the foresight of the General Olusegun Obasanjo administration which saw to the speedy conclusion of the airport and also ensured the commissioning of the international airport. It was then said to be the pride of not just the West African sub region, but indeed, the entire Africa as a continent.
Interestingly, while majority of the nation’s aviation sector stakeholders applauded the commissioning of the airport, a minority set of observers criticised the move, insisting that the nation was not ready for such an international edifice. They instead, clamoured for a small-sized, manageable international airport which could be easily and readily maintained at low and minimal cost.?
True to these critics campaign, Schipol International Airport, which the MMIA prides itself to have been modeled after, has since been redesigned several times in spite of the fact that the present module Nigeria is still carrying can no longer be seen.
Worldwide, airports are redeveloped regularly to meet passengers’ demand and growth, so that the facilities are not over stretched.
Unfortunately, for the MMIA, since its commission, nothing has been done to improve on its infrastructure, except for routine maintenance.
That explains why air travelers, whenever they fly out of Nigeria or return into the country, often through the MMIA have tales of woe to tell. Usually, these borders on how filthy, unsafe and embarrassingly hot the airport terminals are.
Last week, the Senate President, David Mark decried the poor state of infrastructure at the nation’s airports, stating that the airports lacked standard facilities.
The Senate President who was speaking at the flag-off of domestic flight operations from the International terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja said the airports as the first port of call to any country creates a lasting impression on visitors.
“The Airport is what you use in judging any nation because the very first impression starts from the airport; but we lack standard facilities”.
This therefore explains why these tales of woe from the nation’s airport users, lamentably, come in different slant and vary from one passenger to another. But the most frequently complained of these problems, include, the malfunctioning air conditioning system, incessant breakdown of elevators, conveyor belts running in bad shape, toilets that are lacking with water and worst still, leaking roofs!
There is no denying the fact that the airport has been criminally neglected for too long, and left to deteriorate at such an alarming rate, that it has continued to be more of a scare to its users.
Confirming the deplorable state of the airport, a senior staff of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) who does not want his name in print said, (pointing at the airport) “This airport has just been the way it has been since it was commissioned about 32 years ago.”
Funny enough, even as these sour tales continue to inundate the ears, the immediate past leadership of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) led by Richard Aiseubegun had always insisted it was making serious attempts to change the situation, by providing new facilities and maintaining existing facilities on ground.
However, not a few analysts and frequent travellers have continued to pooh-pooh these claims, insisting that these often touted measures said to be put in place were tissues of falsehood.
The FAAN staff who admitted that Aiseubegun has since been relieved of his post in FAAN and another person is in the helm of affairs, further carpeted the “lackadaisical” and poor maintenance efforts which Aiseubegun show-cased during his tenure at FAAN.
Another senior staff who works at the Corporate Affairs Section of FAAN while confirming the status of the airport, confirmed that truly the terminal was built in the mid 70s and commissioned in 1979 by the then former military ruler, Obasanjo, and as such, in the estimation of some FAAN officials, “The airport has withstood the test of time, being the major gateway of air traffic in Nigeria and a major hub in West Africa.”
However, in the face of growing technological improvement in the aviation industry globally, aviation experts say it has become expedient to upgrade the facilities to conform to trends in the 21st century.
“When the airport was commissioned, even up to the late 1990, the airport was processing just about 200,000 passengers in a year,” the staff disclosed.
He said this has however changed, as the airport now processes more than that figure yearly, with an increase in the number of aircraft that fly into the country.
Stressing that the maintenance work of the airport has been left for too long untouched, a former airport commandant and retired airforce officer, Johnny Ojikutu, speaking with LEADERSHIP SUNDAY in Lagos, said that probably explains why the facilities are now refusing to cooperate with the engineers and artisans that have been maintaining it.
But an analyst, Wale Hasstrup, while puncturing holes in FAAN’s claim that MMIA is one of the fastest growing airports in the world, revealed that Dubai International Airport has been the world’s fastest growing airport since 2007.
He said, in line with the increase in the number of passengers, aircraft movements increased by nearly 15 per cent to 360,630, with an average of 755 arrivals and departures per day.
Some of the passengers who also spoke with LEADERSHIP SUNDAY held that the airport management is not serious as it has become almost a norm for the air conditioning system to work only for a few days only to breakdown for more days.
In the estimation of Prince Olawale Olapade, an information consultant with Tribune Newspapers and who resides in Ibadan, but has to use the airport whenever he has to travel outside the country, “I am surprised that government will leave such an edifice to rot, knowing that this airport is the major gateway of the nation”.
Meanwhile, an official of the authority at the MMIA who pleaded anonymity said, “Thank God there is a new leadership at both the Aviation ministry which is now led by Princess Stella Oduah, the new Aviation Minister and George Uriesi, who is now at the helm of affairs at FAAN, as such, we expect them to do what is right to this airport.”
According to him, “There was a time when almost three quarters of the airports and that include others, did not receive running expenses, so how do you expect things to work?”
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY’s investigation, meanwhile, reveals that the airport’s chillers are as old as the airport, which translates to over 30 years. With such a situation, the source stated, how do you expect the air conditioning system to work efficiently even if it works at all? He stressed that the system needs a total overhaul.
Another passenger, Yemisi Osewa who though is London-based but frequently visits the country on vacation and other businesses observes, “When you say a concern is to be privatised, things must be put in place first, so that interested parties will better negotiate well.”
Osewa submits that the Federal Government is not dealing well with the issue of privatising the nation’s airports as they have been left unimproved since they were built.
Meanwhile, Princess Oduah has promised that by 2013, the nation will have befitting airports for the comfort and safety of air travelers, adding that on-going works at both Kano and Kaduna airports will be commissioned in January 2012, while that of Lagos will be commissioned in February.
According to her, it was the plan of government to ensure that air travel remained the cheapest, safest and fastest means of transportation in the country.
Urensi on his part has also assured that airport transformation process has commenced with the remodelling of the airport terminal buildings in some airports across the country, including Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Kaduna and Port Harcourt.
According to the FAAN boss, the re-modelling project was designed to expand the existing infrastructure in the terminals of the airports, especially passenger areas.
But as Nigeria continues to grapple with the restructuring of its airports to meet with international standards, the chairman of Dubai Airports – the company which operates Dubai International, and which is constructing the massive Al-Maktoum International Airport, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, while commenting on the traffic figures, told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY during a recent trip to Abu Dhabi that, “Dubai International’s growth is a reflection of Dubai’s robust economy, and its rising popularity as an international commercial and tourism hub”.
Reflecting the significant investment taking place in airports all across the Middle East and Asia, Dubai International has expanded with the opening of a new third terminal.
Paul Griffiths, the chief executive officer of Dubai Airports, said the additional terminal would allow the airport to record even more extensive growth rates during the course of next year.
He said the airport expects to handle more than 47 million passengers next year alone as a result of the new terminal.
Looking at Dubai as a case study, observers say, they would have thought that the FAAN management will have something to work with.
Under the Dubai International Airport Masterplan, reassessment of the runway system and development of the taxiways was done as phase 1.
Phase 2 has a total investment of around $4.5 Billion, and construction began in 2002. For phase 2 of the masterplan, a new terminal building was constructed to accommodate the increasing number of passengers, bringing the capacity to 33 million passengers a year (with 30 million and 3 million of Terminal 1 and 2 respectively), to at least 60 million (27 Million) passengers per year by the end of 2008. This was phase 2, the construction of Terminal 3 and Concourse 2.
Also, as part of phase 2, the airport will expand to handle at least 75 – 80 million (15 million) passengers per annum with the opening of Concourse 3 which will be part of Terminal 3. However, recent communications predict a further increase to 80 million passengers with additional reassessments of existing capacities.
In addition, also part of the phase 2 development was the opening of the Dubai Flower Centre. The airport saw the need for this as the city is a flower hub for import and export of flowers and the airport required a specialist facility since these products need special conditions. Apron’s and taxiways were also expanded and strengthened. In addition, work on other taxiways in the area was expanded in order to complete the work associated with the re-commissioned second runway.
In 2009, Terminal 2 expanded its facilities to handle 5 million (2 million) passengers annually, taking the airport’s total capacity to 62 million passengers. The Department of Civil Aviation has also said that Terminal 2 will continuously be upgraded and expanded to bring the total capacity of the airport from the initial 75 million passengers to 80 million passenger capacity by 2011.
Moved by this level of development, stakeholders say Nigeria too can learn from this and help the nation out of the shame called ‘MMIA,’ even as the edifice continues to deteriorate as the days go by.