Kelechi Deca
Three weeks ago, I did an explainer on the Top 10 Best Airports in the world in 2025. From the responses I got, it was evident that many Nigerians do not have an idea what a functional passenger friendly airport should be. Obviously, Nigerians are influenced by their environment and from the state of our airports; it would be hard for any to appreciate what quality airport services entails.
Earlier this week, as I made my way down the Departure gate at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos, I was stopped by a Customs officer in the company of other officials both in uniforms and in mufti. The Customs officer demanded to know the contents of my luggage; I asked if the scanner flagged my luggage because the officer behind the scanner delayed a bit before passing my two bags and carry-on luggage. He said no, but that I am required to open them for secondary search.
At that point, a few other officers from the NDLEA, Customs, Quarantine, and even DSS gathered around us. I told them that FAAN announced to the world on the 6th of April that they are doing away with the Customs Search Table at the entrance of the Airport and replacing it with an AI Scanner. I asked the FAAN official there why the Customs Table is still there. FAAN boasted that the new AI-powered machines will enhance security screening processes at MMIA for remote Inspection which would enable agencies like Customs, NDLEA, and Immigration to inspect baggage remotely using dedicated screens.
They feigned ignorance of the development, and some said they were not aware of the announcement. When I said that I would call the FAAN Managing Director to confirm if I was lying, they told me to go with my ‘wahala’.
I would have subjected myself to that search because 95% of passengers allowed it. And if I listened to the person who came to see me off at the Airport, I would have succumbed to their demands just to save time and trouble. But we are where we are today because we all want to save time and trouble.
There are some things that are so wrong with the way and manner our officers conduct themselves at our international airports
When you read about airports that win awards as the top 10, or top 50 in the world, over 50% of that came as a result of human interactions, not just awesome infrastructure. If you cannot keep the toilets clean, cannot attract some of the best restaurants in the country to come into the airport terminal and provide quality services to give real meaning to those empty spaces you have as Food Courts. Then, endeavour to make passenger movements seamless.
It is over a month since FAAN made claims to the acquisition of the AI Scanning machines, what is holding them back from installing them? Why are the Customs, NDLEA, Quarantine, DSS, and other enforcement agencies becoming laws unto themselves at the airports, harassing and intimidating passengers’ every day?
I do not know how many countries you have had the opportunity to visit, but if you have done up to 20 in the last decade, there are a few things you would have noticed that are practiced in Nigeria airports and nowhere else in the world.
First, it is only in Nigeria that passengers are required to submit their passport for profiling by airline staff, where they record passengers names, passport numbers, and destinations into a notebook before going to the check in desk for baggage drop, and boarding pass.
Second, it is only in Nigeria that it takes two to three different officers belonging to different agencies to profile your passport before Immigration officer would stamp you out to proceed for scanning. One funny aspect of this process is that the Immigration Officer will ask for your phone number, and your occupation which he enters into the system. Yet he has your passport which is among the most advanced biometric passport systems in the world. With a simple scan all the information are available to the officer.
Third, another thing that beats me is why Airline staff subject passengers’ carry-on luggage to another search during the pre-boarding process. This is after the passenger has passed the main scanning by Airport Police. Is their own IATA protocol different from those of other countries?
Then for arriving passengers, the same process is repeated. A DSS officer will profile the passenger, ask where he is coming from, and take a few details before giving you your passport for the Immigration Desk. And after picking your luggage, instead of an arrival scanner where you drop your luggage as some countries have, what we have here is a horde of officials who block the passageway as if they are looking for criminals. Each of them demanded the passengers’ attention at the same time, asking different questions while some would be dragging trolleys with passengers, all in a bid to see what they can extort.
Why would another line of officers be asking a passenger where he is returning from, and demanding for his passport after he has finished his business with Immigration?
At what time are we going to sanitise our airports and bring a little pretense of civilisation in the way we interact with passengers?
These and many more are reasons why the Nigerian system is in bed with mediocrity and inefficiency because such creates room for extortion and all sorts of backhand activities.
Kelechi Deca, a development journalist, and public affairs analyst writes from Lagos.
