The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, has defended the Federal Government’s plan to remodel the Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos with N712 billion.
Keyamo said the project is aimed at meeting world-class standards and preventing foreign airlines from abandoning the country’s route.
He also described the current state of the airport terminal, built over four decades ago, as “decrepit and smelly” with a leaking roof, kiosks erected within the terminal, and non-functional carousels.
The minister who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, said the airport terminal, built over four decades ago, has gone rusty.
His words: “The roof of the airport is leaking; the place is decrepit and smelly. You see people selling Indomie and all kinds of kiosks erected there.
”The ceilings are failing, and the carousels are not working because their parts are not in the market anymore,” he said.
The approval of N712 billion by the Federal Government for the project last week has triggered discontent from various quarters as critics argued that it was a misplacement of priority by the Bola Tinubu Presidency at a time when millions of Nigerians groan under all-time high inflation, hunger and skyrocketing cost living, sparked by the twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of the foreign exchange windows by the government.
The minister, however, clarified that the project would be funded through the Renewed Hope Infrastructural Funding, a special infrastructure fund, rather than from the budget.
He further emphasised that without the rebuilding of the airport terminal, many foreign airlines would threaten to stop flying to Nigeria due to safety concerns and increased insurance costs.
He stressed that the project is part of the government’s promise to upgrade infrastructure across Nigeria using savings from subsidy removal and foreign exchange reforms.
“This government promised Nigerians major infrastructural upgrades across Nigeria, from the savings we are having now from the subsidy removal and the floating of the naira,” he said.
According to Keyamo, the project is aimed at meeting world-class standards and preventing foreign airlines from abandoning the country’s route.
He said, “As it is today, you cannot land in Lagos (local airport) and try to connect to an international flight, maybe to Ghana
“Lagos is not a hub, but that was the plan in 1977 when it was designed and in 1979 when it was commissioned. You cannot process one passenger from one terminal to another, so that has stunted the growth of aviation.
“What we are trying to do in Lagos now is to make Lagos a very modern airport and create a proper hub to begin to compete with other hubs in Africa…So, we want to completely pull down Terminal One.
“It is not a refurbishment; we are tearing it down, only the pillars will remain, the carcass, the decking. Everything will go, and they are going to redesign now.”
Keyamo said that upon completion, the terminal would rival continental aviation hubs in Ethiopia, South Africa, and other countries, and facilitate the growth of aviation in Nigeria.
The project involves tearing down the existing terminal, retaining only the pillars and decking, and redesigning it to create a modern airport hub.
The project is expected to last 22 months.
Keyamo’s defense comes amid criticisms that the project is a misplacement of priority, given the country’s economic challenges and the suffering of millions of Nigerians.
