Passengers lament state of Lagos airport despite billions spent by Stella Oduah, for remodelling

Rowdy passenger scene at Lagos airport

Despite the billions of resources put into remodelling of airports around the country by the Federal Government through the embattled Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah, 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 SHOWBIZPLUS to the airport revealed that even though the external facade of the MMIA had been remodelled, 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 remodelling 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 us 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 traveller 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.”