That Nigerian airports were rated among the worst in a recent survey of airports in Africa and beyond is hardly surprising given the parlous state of public infrastructure in the country. What is objectionable is the penchant of public official concerned to indulge in self-denial about the decrepit condition of public utilities. Until such officials adopt a more positive attitude, the improvement much sought after will remain elusive. There is no gainsaying that most of the country’s airports cannot compete with modern airports in other countries in terms of state-of-the-art facilities. The chaotic situation that defines most of our airports is a minus.
If Nigerian airports are rated low, the appropriate airport and aviation agencies should be less dismissive of the reports, as the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has done. Rather, it should first consider the basis of the indictment, considering that the report covered many other airports and employed the same yardstick for their assessment. Nigerian officials would do well to use the opportunity to explore what it is that distinguished those airports that were rated best. Taking a cue from the well-rated airports with a view to replicating the good aspects in Nigeria would go a long way to improving them. At present, the facilities are substandard and need improvement.
According to the survey by The Guide to Sleeping in Airports, a website that documents information on airports and the people who sleep in them, three Nigerian airports were rated among the worst in Africa. While the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, was rated 10th worst in Africa, the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja and Port Harcourt International Airport, Port Harcourt, were ranked the seventh and sixth worst airports on the continent.
The other airports in the 2014 dismal performance category include Khartoum International Airport, Sudan (first); Kinshasa N’djili International Airport, DR Congo (second); Tripoli International Airport, Libya (third); Dar-es-Salam Julius Nyerere International Airport, Tanzania (fourth); Luanda Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport, Angola (fifth); N’Djamena International Airport, Chad (eight) and Accra Kotoka International Airport, Ghana (ninth). It is unfortunate that going by this ranking, Nigeria’s principal gateway airport in Lagos is the worst in Africa at the tenth position.
In contradistinction to the foregoing, five airports made the list of the best in Africa. These include Johannesburg Oliver Tambo International Airport, South Africa, which ranked first. This is followed by Cape Town International Airport, South Africa (second); Durban King Shaka International Airport, South Africa (third); Algiers Houari Boumediene International Airport, Algeria (fourth); and Addis Abbaba Bole International Airport, Ethiopia (fifth).
Remarkably, the first three best airports are all located in South Africa, which further attests to its leading infrastructural development standing. The survey should be embarrassing to Nigeria for failing to live up to expectation as “the giant of Africa.” Elsewhere in Europe, Charles de Gaule Airport, France, was voted the worst, followed by Sheremetyevo in Moscow.
The results were reportedly based on the stories submitted by travellers as regards their experiences. These ranged from dirty floors and conveniences to the regular requests for bribes. Travellers were unimpressed with the airports that made it in the worst category in Africa. The assessment gave the results high degree of accuracy.
But the FAAN, in Nigeria, through its spokesman, Mr. Yakubu Datti, repudiated the results as inaccurate; a reaction that in no way invalidates the survey.
Notwithstanding FAAN’s objection, the truth remains that Nigerian airports are not in the best of shape. The deteriorating condition of facilities at the airports has been a long-standing issue. Space constraints, inadequate facilities and obsolete equipment that adversely affect smooth operation have remained the major challenges over the years.
Besides, overcrowding by touts and all manner of questionable characters, dysfunctional conveyor belts and air-cooling system are features of the airports. The Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos has no good roads leading to its main terminal. The airport has inadequate parking space; the available parking lots are dilapidated and impassable when it rains with the result that traffic snarl is a regular feature.
Little has been done to remedy the situation at our airports. The work begun by the immediate past Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, to give a facelift to the airports has stalled since she left. Attempts at concessioning the airports, as a way of improving them, have been enmeshed in controversies. Of recent, the FAAN has been battling with Maevis Ltd, an integrated automated service provider, and Bi-Courtney Ltd, over the concession of MMA2. FAAN said the agreements were skewed in favour of the concessionaires and to the detriment of government. But how plausible is this argument? How can an agreement between a private company and government be framed to undermine government?
Rather than put up lame arguments, FAAN should brace up to the challenge and do the needful. Some of the things it needs to do to make a big difference are so glaring and simple. The country’s airports certainly can be improved upon from their current bad shape and that is what the survey has reinforced. That challenge can be surmounted, if it is tackled systematically in the interest of the country and the travelling public. But first, FAAN must accept the unwholesome state of the airports.
