Lagos Airport still in bad shape despite remodeling

Despite the resources put into remodeling of airports around the country by the Federal Government, unimaginable hitches are still being witnessed daily around the airports.

The worst hit is the nation’s flagship airport, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, where departing and arriving passengers suffer from discomforting heat waves as a result of the absence of a central air conditioning system and the non-functioning state of the installed individual air conditioning units.

A visit by our correspondent to the airport revealed that even though the external facade of the MMIA had been remodeled, widened and some visible renovations had taken place, there was still the issue of inadequate ventilation and deplorable state of the restrooms.

Passengers who use the airport on a regular basis said its current state negated the dream of the remodeling exercise.

According to them, it is rather unfortunate that the problem of poor air conditioning, which has been a major challenge at the airport for many years, has yet to be fully addressed.

Some of the passengers, who spoke to our correspondent on Wednesday, wondered what it would take the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to get the issue of the air conditioning right once and for all.

For instance, Mr. Ignatius Etuk, who shuttles between Nigeria and Turkey, said it was surprising that passengers were still suffering from heat waves at the airport despite the huge amount spent on the MMIA.

He said, “Yes, I am a very frequent traveler and I shuttle between Lagos and Istanbul for business reasons; I travel almost every week. While I want to commend FAAN for the job they did in expanding the airport and bringing in more security devices to ensure that it is secured to a certain extent, I am still wondering why they cannot seem to get the issue of ventilation right.”