A stakeholder in the travel and tourism industry, Mr Ikechi Uko, on Monday said the Federal Government’s Executive Order on Ease of Doing Business at Nigeria’s airports would attract more visitors to the country.
Uko, who is the promoter of the Akwaaba African Travel and Tour Market, said this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.
He said that the sustained implementation of the order would erase the negative impression created in the minds of some travellers that airports in Nigeria are “war zones”.
“Your travel experience begins and ends at the airport. The first impression you have of a country is its airport and the last impression you have of that country is the airport.
“So when your airport is like a war zone, no matter the other experiences a person had in your country, it will leave a sour taste in his or her mouth.
“Improving your airport processes goes a long way in improving how intending visitors will be attracted to your country,” he said.
Uko said the situation at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, had improved due to the ongoing implementation of the order by the agencies concerned.
He said: “I went to the MMIA last week and I can tell you that there was a little bit of decency there.
“Usually you have so many bottlenecks at the airport. I call them bottlenecks because whatever they were doing could have been done in a different way.
“These bottlenecks were not there last week which helped to increase the efficiency of the airport.”
According to him, an airport is supposed to be passenger friendly.
Uko, however, said that the contrary was the situation going by what was obtainable at Nigeria’s airports prior to the order.
Then passengers were often frustrated by aviation and security personnel, he said.
Uko, therefore, called for the sustenance of the implementation of the order as well as creating other reforms that would improve seamless passenger facilitation at all airports in the country.
He said: “ I think the executive order is good but we are still far behind comparing our airport processes to an airport like Accra Airport in Ghana.
“For instance, our immigration card which was recently launched is so small and the prints are not legible.
“It cannot even contain all the intending passengers’ details.
“Besides, the relevant agencies at our airports have not provided tables and chairs for intending passengers to fill the forms.
“We need to make our airports as passenger friendly as possible because that is what attracts visitors there and makes them want to come again,” he said.
NAN reports that Acting President Yemi Osinbajo had on May 18 signed the executive order expected to ease doing business at Nigeria’s airports by streamlining the activities of various aviation and security agencies.
Following the order, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said the Federal Government had approved only six agencies to interface with passengers at airport terminals in the country.
The agencies are the Nigeria Immigration Service (arrival and departure), Nigeria Customs Service (arrival) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (arrival and departure).
It also includes the State Security Services (SSS), Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit and Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Services (cargo terminal only). (NAN)
WAC/ASO/ENN/PAD
=================