SPECIAL taskforce on Trade Facilitation has bemoaned the level of decay of infrastructure at the nation's airports.The taskforce, led by its Chairman, David Adejuwon, urged the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to quickly overhaul infrastructural facilities at the airports to make them attractive to would-be investors into the Nigerian economy.He specifically lamented the state of toilets, insufficient trolleys and the size of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.Adejuwon, who made this call during on the spot assessment visit by members of the taskforce to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, recently, pointed out that the taskforce had seen that there was inadequate number of trolleys at the arrival and departure areas of the airport.The taskforce advised the authority to ensure that friendly flagrance was put to use in the toilet in order to ensure that visiting visitors form good opinion about the country.Adejuwon said that Nigeria was in the process of becoming theaviation hub for the sub-region and other parts of African countries and therefore stressed the need to ensure best practices in terms of movement of goods and people, as well as provision of adequate infrastructure.He observed that the size of the airport was still limited in terms of services and facilities that it was a bit better than what the taskforce observed in other locations adding that there was room for expansion and improvement of facilities.'The facility for now is still not adequate. There is a lot of room for improvement. If we want to achieve the best goal and transformation agenda of the president we need more injection of funds, government alone cannot do it. We believe that with the renewed interest from prospective foreign investors who are prepared to team up with Federal Government to expand the facilities and make it cope with the increase number of flight envisage in the next four years,' Adejuwon added.The chairman said that the taskforce has drawn the attention of FAAN to some of the gaps in the services and believed that within shortest possible time necessary amendments would be made.The Head of Immigration at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Mrs. Adzun Ahadexpressed the hope that the E-Passport equipment installed at the airport had made the officers of its organisation to perform their duty effectively, noting that some passengers still present old MRP passport, which the service had stopped accepting from passengers.She added that instruction on designated issuance of visa to genuine investors and tourists had not been communicated to them to commence the process as pronounced by Federal Government.Earlier,the Assistant General Manager, (FAAN), Shittu Olawale, explained that there were ongoing renovation work going on at the airport to improve the services rendered to passengers adding that necessary actions has been taken to ensure that conducive environmentand security are provided for travellers at the airport.
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