Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has justified the federal government’s decision to spend ₦712 billion on reconstructing Terminal One of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, saying the goal is to bring it up to global standards.
During an appearance on Sunday Politics on Channels Television, the minister emphasized that the terminal, constructed over 40 years ago, had deteriorated significantly.
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“The roof of the airport is leaking; the place is decrepit and smelly. You see people selling Indomie and all kinds of kiosks erected there. The ceilings are failing, and the carousels are not working because their parts are not in the market anymore,” Keyamo explained.
The recent approval of the ₦712 billion project has sparked widespread backlash, with many Nigerians arguing that such massive investment is ill-timed given the prevailing economic crisis.
Inflation has soared, hunger is widespread, and the cost of living has spiked—outcomes largely attributed to the elimination of fuel subsidies and the harmonization of the exchange rate by the current administration.
Responding to the backlash, Keyamo said the funding will not come from the traditional budget but rather from the Renewed Hope Infrastructural Fund.
“This government promised Nigerians major infrastructural upgrades across Nigeria, from the savings we are having now from the subsidy removal and the floating of the naira,” he said, adding that the project is slated to take 22 months to complete.
He warned that if the terminal is not rebuilt, international airlines may begin to avoid the Nigerian route.
“Without this, some international airlines will threaten to stop flight to your country when you don’t have a good airport, a good runway, because it affects insurance because when the runways are not good, the terminals are good, the insurance will go up because they will say that place is not safe to fly to,” Keyamo explained.
The minister also said that upon completion, the revamped terminal would match major aviation hubs on the African continent, such as those in Ethiopia and South Africa.
“As it is today, you cannot land in Lagos (local airport) and try to connect to an international flight, maybe to Ghana,” he noted.
“Lagos is not a hub, but that was the plan in 1977 when it was designed and in 1979 when it was commissioned. You cannot process one passenger from one terminal to another, so that has stunted the growth of aviation.
“What we are trying to do in Lagos now is to make Lagos a very modern airport and create a proper hub to begin to compete with other hubs in Africa…So, we want to completely pull down Terminal One.
“It is not a refurbishment; we are tearing it down, only the pillars will remain, the carcass, the decking. Everything will go, and they are going to redesign now,” he said.
