Aviation contributes #250 billion to economy annually-FAAN
*FG requires N25b for airports fencing
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said the aviation industry contributes #250 billion to the country’s economy annually while providing more than 300, 000 jobs.
The agency assured that government would continue to ensure growth in the sector.
Spokesman for the agency, Yakubu Dati disclosed that most of the leakages observed in the past had been closed by the authority, stressing that this had made it possible for FAAN to scale the American Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security audit carried out earlier in the month at the Lagos Airport.
Speaking on infrastructure of aerodromes, Dati stated that the Federal Government would require at least N25 billion to construct perimeter and operational fences across all the 22 airports owned by it.
He noted that a recent survey carried out by the authority indicated that to properly fence the 22 Federal Government-owned airports, FAAN would need the massive sum.
According to Dati, each of the 22 airports is about 50 kilometre long and would require serious investments for all of them to be properly fenced according to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommended practices.
Apart from the four international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt that are partially fenced, other 18 airports owned by the Federal Government are not fenced, a situation, which has led to porosity of the aerodromes and incessant cases of stowaways in recent times.
The 22 airports across the country occupy more than 500 kilometers of land mass.
ICAO security guidelines prescribe that all airports must be secured with double perimeter fences.
Dati however explained that there are other safety measures FAAN has taken in line with international best practice to boost security and safety within the nation’s airports.
He pointed out that the agency had introduced the perimeter patrol, built perimeter towers, which enables the Aviation Security, AVSEC, personnel and other security agencies to have a full overview of the airport environment and installed latest technologies in strategic locations to increase surveillance.
“It would be recalled that about two months ago, we invited a team from Airport Council International, ACI, to carry out security audit of our airports and they identified some gaps, which needed to be closed and we were able to close those gaps. That is why when TSA came calling about two weeks ago, we were given clean bill of health because all the loopholes have been closed.
“Insider’s threat is another area that we are looking at. We profile anybody that works within the terminal or in the terminal in line with global standards. It is after passing that we issue them the On-Duty-Card, ODC. Even at that, the ODC also have some levels of restrictions such that it is not every holder that has access to every part of the terminal. We have different levels and colours based on the level of clearance you have received.”
