The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, has reacted to a video on some sections of the social media on a leaking roof at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport, MMIA, Lagos as a result of “the deplorable condition of facilities” at the Airport.
Henrietta Yakubu, acting general manager, Corporate Affairs, FAAN, said it was regrettable that the story, which was capable of creating fear in the minds of intending passengers, was not based on assessment of the said facility by the reporters.
“This is more so because the reporters could easily have cross-checked their facts with our Corporate Affairs Department before going public with such a sensitive issue,” she said.
She added that, “following this malicious video clip targeted to tarnish the Authority’s hard earned reputation; Management wishes to put the records straight, that the licking roof was a result of the on-going works at the MMIA, Lagos. This upgrade is coming at the heels of the Executive Order issued recently by the Presidency aimed at ‘Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria’, and the Authority is doing everything possible to improve the quality of her services in line with the Order. Management in compliance with government policies has since initiated practical steps to improve on safety and security architecture of the nation’s premier airport and also improve comfort and passengers experience.”
Consequently, Yakubu explained that upgrade of facilities was on-going in different areas at the International Terminal building of MMIA Lagos. “As a result we are experiencing challenges as we have to keep up with our core operations going on while the upgrade continues. Sequel to this on-going works, we recently experienced some leakages from the roof at the ‘D Wing’ of the Terminal of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, owing to a heavy rain accompanied by wind storm. This is directly connected to the civil engineering works going on at the roof top at that location, which temporarily interrupted our engineers who are replacing the old roof members with new ones at that instance. It was practically impossible to work at that location due to its altitude and slipperiness while the rains lasted, but work immediately resumed after the rain subsided, and the integrity of roof was restored,” she said.
According to Yakubu, the defect did not affect operations in any way or at any time at the Terminal: “FAAN assures passengers, airport users and the general public of her commitment to a safe, secure and improved facilitation at the nation’s airports.”