If officials of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, knew of Thursday’s surprise visit by the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, they probably would have ensured that he didn’t get to see the true state of disrepair of facilities at the nation’s gateway.
Osinbajo and his team however caught the officials unawares with the unscheduled visit and insisted on seeing what was ‘working’ and what was not ‘working’ at the airport.
The Ag. President checked out the toilets, noticed some of the non-functioning carousels in the arrival hall and went to Immigration officials to check the progress of plans to grant visa on arrivals to foreign investors.
He observed the non-functioning air-conditioners and chillers in the Departure and Arrival halls, the escalators and elevators that are in a state of disrepair among several others.
Speaking briefly with the press after inspecting several parts at the airport for over an hour, Prof. Osinbajo said “as part of our work on the Ease of Doing Business, on making the environment friendly, not just for local businesses but also for those who want to come and do business in Nigeria, the airport obviously is one of the major places where we need to ensure that facilities are working and that things are being run properly.”
“ So we have looked around, we’ve seen some of the equipments. There are many many things that need to be done, many things that need to be corrected, and we have to work on them as quickly as possible.”
He was accompanied on the trip by the Aviation Minister of State Hadi Sirika.