Of FAAN and Deplorable State of Airport Facilities

Chinedu Eze writes that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria lacks the freedom of innovation to manage the deplorable state of airport facilities

One of the major challenges the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is facing is that it earns profitable revenue from four airports and deploys the revenue to manage 24 airports.

From its lean earnings, the agency still pays 50 per cent compulsory remittances to the federal government, and this explains why many of the airports under its management do not have airfield lighting. This also explains why many of the airports do not have state-of-the-art facilities and this also explains why it takes a long time for the agency to rehabilitate airport infrastructure that have become obsolete or broken down.

Inside sources told THISDAY that FAAN does not have adequately trained staff because many of them do not undergo training as at when due because of paucity of funds. In many departments, especially in the technical areas, the agency is short staffed. This is why there are fewer Aviation Security (AVSEC) personnel at the central search at the E and D gates of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos the busiest gateway in Nigeria. Because of paucity of AVSEC staff, all the X-ray machines are not manned effectively, even at peak hours and that is why passenger processing takes a long time. From 5:00 pm in the evening, passengers can stand for over one hour waiting to be screened by security officials. Compared to other airports in Africa, no Nigerian airports is among the first 10 best airports in Africa and Nigeria has 24 airports under FAAN management in addition to the about five airports built and managed by the state government. Functionality is what characterises a good airport. That is why the airport in Togo is said to be better than any Nigerian airport. Katoka International Airport, Accra is rated higher than MMIA.

A former private jet charter operator told THISDAY that modern international airports have effective Internet that any passenger who has boarding pass easily connects to. There should be enough seats at the departing passengers lounge and conveniences (lavatories) are well maintained and enough to adequately service passengers.

“But at the Nigerian airports there are no toilet roles, even when there are the toilet attends will unfold it and give you a little, as if they are doing you a favour. In addition to that they will also be soliciting for money. When you see them, they look hungry and sometimes unkept. All these are what non-Nigerian passengers see and write us off. And there have never been any efforts to correct these lapses, as Managing Directors of FAAN come and go and as Ministers of Aviation come and go,” the operator said.

INTERFERENCES

FAAN is the aviation agency that suffer the greatest interference from the Ministry of Aviation. FAAN officials told THISDAY that many decisions and actions in FAAN are taken directly from the Ministry of Aviation; that the former Minister of Aviation simply micromanaged the agencies, especially FAAN.

“You can come in and see some people installing equipment at the international terminal of the Lagos airport. You make inquiries and you find out that the Managing Director is not aware of that. They will tell you they got approval from the Ministry. So, the Managing Director is not even free to manage the airport. He or she must resort to the Ministry to get approval for most things. Now, most of our earnings go to them. Recently because of the dollar and naira disparity, everybody is now eyeing the revenue of FAAN, even as we are already paying the compulsory remittances,” a FAAN official said.

Some FAAN officials are of the view that FAAN can effectively manage the airports if it is given some levels of autonomy enshrined in the Act and not arbitrary decision taken by the President of the time. They said FAAN should be run as a corporate organization with members of the board and transparent management.

“We know our airports are not operating with the global standard, but that is where we see ourselves. All those airports they cite as examples are run differently. You can go and check. We are just the children of the Ministry. Ministry is our mother that tells us what they do, but instead of giving us food to eat; they take the ones we have got. It is a pity,” another FAAN official said.

FAAN/STATE AIRPORTS

Some state governments had built airports and when they realised that they would not be able to fund its maintenance, they hand them over to FAAN through the approval of the Ministry of Aviation.

To this end, the Managing Director of Flight and Logistics Solutions Limited, Amos Akpan urged state governments not to embark on building airports when they know they do not have the resources to manage them. Airports have to be viable to sustain their operations and they need high calibre personnel to maintain and run them.