Power outage at MMIA

Posted by admin Headlines Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

Passengers flying into and out of the country through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, were recently jolted because of a power outage that paralysed activities there for hours.

The outage, which according to the authorities, was due to technical problems from the public electricity supply caused stampede. Such was the fear that workers at the airport had to rely on light from their cell phones to screen passengers coming in and out of the country. Eye witness accounts say the blackout at the airport lasted for almost six hours. Many travelers arriving and departing the airport went through stress and some reportedly suffocated at the immigration and check-in areas as a result of the outage.

As if the ugly experience of the passengers on that fateful Sunday was not bad enough, the airport authorities have asked travelers to brace up for more darkness at the airport for at least another three months. In a statement it issued to rationalize the incident, spokesman for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Akin Olukunle, said that passengers would continue to encounter the same problem in the months ahead.The airport, he explained, is currently going through some refurbishing, or “remodeling” of the facilities. This is as a result of the malfunctioning of some obsolete equipment at the terminal.

Although electricity supply at the airport has been restored, reports indicate that the industrial air conditioners mounted at strategic places inside the airport are still not working. This is one huge embarrassment too many. Without a doubt, the international terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport is the hub of air transportation, not only in Nigeria, but in the West African sub-region.

The workability or otherwise of the facilities at the airport defines Nigeria’s image and identity. It therefore follows that the relevant authorities at the airport, in this case, FAAN, should also be proactive, by identifying faults before they result into a major accident. Remodeling the airport is a noble thing to do, as many of the facilities at the airport are either outdated or outrightly non-functioning. But it is inexcusable to use whatever face-lift that is currently going on there to plunge the airport into darkness, thereby causing untold hardship to passengers. Since the remodeling was planned, our expectation is that contingency arrangements ought to have been put in place to forestall situations such as the one recently witnessed.

It is regrettable that those entrusted with the management of such vital national institutions such as airports, have been found repeatedly delinquent in their official national assignment. All over the world, the state of a nation’s major airports mirrors the image of the country. Arguably, the incident at the Murtala Muhammed Airport has portrayed Nigeria in bad light. Over time, other countries will probably come to identify such flip flops as a Nigerian way of doing things.

Against this background, we are not encouraged by the explanation given by FAAN. The authorities ought to have provided alternative power supply and other logistics that should have prevented what happened that fateful day. The excuse given by FAAN is the height of inefficiency. To defend such clear dereliction of duty is simply provocative. It shows lack of seriousness on the part of the authorities. In these times of serious security challenges in the country, where all manner of terrorist groups are looking for the lightest security lapse to unleash mayhem, the authorities at the airport, and others across the country should be eternally vigilant. Efficient planning is imperative. A seamless approach on how to safeguard facilities and lives of passengers should always be pursued.

-Sunwp_posts