Finally, the Nigerian government has decided to refurbish its major gateway, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Terminal One, which has become a national disgrace to the country and its citizens. The move has, however, generated a hot debate among the stakeholders.
The Federal Executive Council, on August 7, 2025, approved the complete renovation of the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, which according to the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, would see the complete renovation upgrade and remodelling of the international terminal one of the Murtala Mohammed Airport and other parts of the airport, including the repair of the main terminal, access roads and bridges, for 22 months at the total cost of N712bn.
Keyamo stated that while briefing State House journalists after the 7th meeting of the Federal Executive Council, presided over by President Bola Tinubu.
Information coming out from the industry said the N712bn Lagos Airport upgrade involves several components, including terminal one reconstruction, terminal two expansion, security enhancements, airfield lighting upgrades, and apron areas reconstruction.
The terminal, which was commissioned in 1979, will be completely overhauled, stripped down to its structural core and rebuilt with new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.
There will be construction of a new apron, access roads, bridges, and related works to enhance the terminal’s capacity. There will be bridges and ring roads. All these are expected to consume N712bn.
The contract also includes a N49.9 billion perimeter fencing project with advanced security features like intrusion detection systems, CCTV cameras, solar-powered floodlights, and a patrol road.
Upgrading airfield lighting on Runways 18 Left and 36 Right, as well as on Taxiways B and C, to CAT 2 LED systems is covered under a N44.13bn contract. This is the same project that was inaugurated in November 2022 by the immediate past Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Senator Hadi Sirika.
Sirika had said that the completion of Airfield Lighting on Runway 18L/36R of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, after 14 14-year hiatus would improve safety, airport efficiency and efficiency of airlines. In less than three years, the contract was re-awarded for N44.13bn.
Reconstruction and conversion of over 82,000 square metres of apron areas to improve aircraft parking and traffic management will also be executed under the contract.
The project, as told, is to be executed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation over 22 months, without foreign or local loans, and is funded entirely through the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund.
A whopping sum of N900bn, as approved by the FEC, will be on aviation infrastructure projects across some airports. It is, indeed, a great dawn for the industry that has been struggling under critical challenges, including poor infrastructure, limited access to capital, manpower shortage, and regulatory challenges, among others.
Some weeks earlier, Keyamo had announced that the MMIA Terminal One would be demolished and reconstructed, which the stakeholders found very weird and wasteful. Thank God, reason prevailed.
If there is anything, every stakeholder agrees that the airport terminal for a long time deserved to be rehabilitated.
Speaking recently, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sule Lamido Sanusi, said, “The Lagos airport is a disgrace to all who travel internationally and being the commercial centre of the sub-region, that airport needs a major upgrade for the economy and image of the country.”
Virtually nothing is working at the airport, from the cooling system to the conveyor belt to the toilets.
“Let’s face the facts. MMIA Terminal 1 was inaugurated in 1979, designed to handle fewer than a million passengers annually. Today, it receives over eight million passengers, often forcing travellers through a moribund, smelly, and visibly dilapidated terminal. The air conditioning system barely works, the conveyor belts are prone to breakdowns, and the aesthetics resemble a government office stuck in the 1980s,” said one of Keyamo’s aides.
While many see this as a bold move by the government to tackle the age-long infrastructure deficit that has clogged aviation development in the country, some others query the process, the cost, and the transparency.
For a government that has touted itself as a supporter of a private sector-driven economy, many are wont to ask why the government did not allow the private sector to drive the infrastructure development and free the funds for other critical needs of the industry, especially the aeronautical facilities that are in huge deficit. Why not concession the airport and go into private public partnership?
Several attempts have been made in the past to concession the airports, but the Nigerian factors of corruption, selfishness, vested interest by the operators of the system, the lack of transparency and outright sabotage have always truncated the efforts.
Concession works very well in other climes but becomes problematic in Nigeria.
The only success recorded in airport terminal concessions in the country, so to speak, is that of the MM2, the domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, which has been embroiled in crisis, court cases and lingering controversies. Notable airports around the world are run by concessions. Gatwick Airport in London is being run by a Nigerian-born investor.
It also appears that due process was not followed in the road leading to this N712bn contract, as there was no public tender, no public hearing, the National Assembly was not involved, no budget and no involvement of the stakeholders. Everybody became stupefied as the news broke that the FEC had approved N900bn contracts and the contracts were already awarded. In a democracy?
That was the same way that a $500m loan was procured by the Federal Government under Stella Oduah as the aviation minister to build four airport terminals, circumventing public procurement procedures and without any input from the industry stakeholders and the National Assembly. The contract was rushed, leaving design errors and other deficiencies that made it difficult for the airlines to use the airport. The master plan was not followed, thereby creating serious crises that are yet to be resolved.
Murtala Muhammed International Airport was modelled after Schiphol International Airport in Amsterdam.
In my days as an aviation journalist, I was privileged to participate in official tours of the airport, at least not fewer than two times. The old terminal that was like MMIA has been swallowed up by subsequent developments that made the modern-day Schiphol Airport. They did not pull the old terminal down as Keyamo wanted to do.
In Lagos, the new and old terminals are not linked, making it difficult for passengers to seamlessly use the two terminals. Even at the London Heathrow Airport, which has four terminals, you can easily move around all the terminals with ease. Same with other major airports around the world.
We are simply not an orderly nation. We cannot simply follow the airport masterplan, or at least take a cue from Schiphol Airport. The areas that should be for the future development of the terminal were allocated to companies to build maintenance hangars. They were trying to relocate the hangars without paying compensation to the owners during the time of Hadi Sirika.
The Lagos airport, as it is, is not conducive for a hub, especially with no transit area on the airside for transit passengers. If the new development does not take this into consideration, it would be a disaster and a waste of money. There is also no link between the domestic terminal and the international terminal for the passengers, except for the airport link road that has proven largely unsuitable.
Another vexed issue is the source of funding for these projects, which we are told would come from the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund. That means it is an internally generated revenue. If that is so, how come the contracts did not go to the National Assembly for appropriation or go through due process? Would that not place a question mark on the transparency of the whole transaction?
Emir Sanusi said: “The amount being spent on Lagos airport is nowhere to be found in the Federal Government budget and is coming from an opaque fund without appropriation and legislative oversight. We do not know yet if there was a tender and a competitive bidding process for this contract and if it will even be done or become one more abandoned white elephant.”
There are also speculations that the project might be funded with a Chinese loan, which must have been fuelled by the curious award of the contract to the Chinese company without any public tender.
Some aviation stakeholders are also not comfortable with the projected costs of the contracts, saying that they are outrageous. Keyamo has, however, defended the cost, adding that they were even cheaper compared with what was obtainable in other countries.
He said the project, awarded to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, would strip the old terminal down to its structural core before reconstructing it with new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. He said a thorough work would be done. Hence, the seemingly humongous amount.
A retired group captain, John Ojikutu, does not buy that argument. His words, “You are talking about overseas-built airports and not built terminals or refurbishment of terminals as in our Nigerian case. Please note that we have built four terminals in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and Enugu, with a borrowed $500m Chinese loan. In the present case, we are refurbishing just one terminal with $447m. Who is fooling whom? On the other hand, who will save us from ourselves?”
The argument of those opposing the deployment of this huge amount of money on refurbishing a terminal is that embracing the PPP would be better, as it would enhance the impact of the airport and revamp the airport infrastructure.
In 22 months, when this contract is expected to be delivered, this administration will have given way to another or will be on its way out. We hope these projects will have been delivered by then.
With this unprecedented allocation to airport terminal development, the aviation industry should not expect another significant investment from the government, especially in aeronautical segments, including navigation, communication, and other infrastructure.
In situations such as this, going by experience, people in government are usually desperate and rarely listen to contrary opinions or views.
The government, however, needs to do well not to dismiss the opinions of the stakeholders but consider them with a view to repackaging the project for the benefit of the country. Anything short of this will lead to incalculable implications. There is a need for a transparent review of these projects and their costs, even as public accountability must be ensured. We all need a befitting international gateway, but not at the expense of good governance and prudent resource management.
Oketumbi, a former manager at Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau, writes from Lagos
