Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, (SAN), Monday affirmed that current infrastructural upgrade and improved passengers experiences among others are the core values of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration as the government continues to change the maligned narratives about Nigeria and the country’s airports.
He added that passengers passing through Nigeria’s international airports are witnessing a new lease of travel experience from the vexed challenges of harassments and subtle extortion at the hands of various government officials while trying to exit or enter the country through Nigeria airports in the past.
Keyamo, who spoke while unveiling the newly refurbished E Wing Departure terminal at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos also commissioned four environmentally friendly CNG-powered air-conditioned buses that are purchased to improve passengers’ mobility within the airport premises.
An excited Keyamo attributed the new experiences being shared by passengers and other airport workers on various social media to the collaborative efforts of his ministry alongside the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
Speaking of the new facility, the minister said: “What you are seeing today is the general plan of FAAN, endorsed by the Ministry of Aviation to remodel our airports, in partnership with private entities within our limited resources to make airport facilities user friendly. What we are doing today is the commissioning of Wing E- Departure of the Lagos International Airport, in partnership with the United Bank of Africa, which has been with us for a very long time.
“They have done a tremendous amount of work, which is the outcome of the partnership. We thank them for their support.”
“FAAN has done a lot on the issue of harassments and extortions. There is a paradigm shift, which is good for our collective image. The agencies and their personnel have changed, and this is because of the deliberate steps the government has taken on the issue. We have taken all the flak for the previous not very pleasant experience. But, I can tell you categorically that the agencies and their personnel have stepped up their game, passengers affirmed online in their reviews that the harassment is now less, the people are more professional, I appeal to them to continue in that line.”
Speaking further, the minister added that, “We have been working with the National Security Adviser, we have updated him on the steps taken, which he has endorsed, and we engaged him through writing on the concrete steps for him to inform the agencies to be on the same page.”
The Group Managing Director of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Mr. Oliver Alawuba, affirmed the financial power house’s enduring partnership with FAAN which he disclosed spans over 22 years.
