Remodelled Kano Airport Offers Hope

Despite the challenge of insecurity that Kano, a city well known for its trade and commerce, have had to grapple with in recent times and the fading hope that MallamAminu Kano International Airport may never regain its former glory, after several years of neglect, AdeolaAkinremi reports that the remodelled Kano Airport now offers a glimmer of hopeAs night wears into the day, conversations shift effortlessly from what once described the metropolitan city of Kano -Boko Haram insurgency- to something cheering. The crowd began to breathe again. Like someone upon a midnight pillow they sighed. It was a sigh of relief.  Kabir Al-hassan, 65, from Tundun Wada saw the early days of MallamAminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) when it was built. He had travelled using the airport too. He saw it decayed with years without any thought by successive government to rebuild it. So, on Friday, March 15, when a remodelledMallamAminu Kano International Airport was unveiled to his eyes, in the waiting crowd that had gathered at the airport to gaze at it, Alhassan shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ meaning God is great.To the delight of the mammoth crowd, Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor, MallamSanusiLamidoSanusi, stepped forward in company with the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah to cut the tape declaring open a new look MAKIA. And when that happened, they did it to a thunder of applause and warm smiles from the crowd expressing acceptance.“The city of Kano truly deserves the transformation that has taken place at the MallamAminu Kano International Airport, being the cradle of civil aviation in Nigeria,” says Oduah whose aviation ministry seeks a revamp of 11 terminals across the country. “Ironically, the MallamAminu Kano International Airport has suffered considerable neglect in the provision of modern infrastructure with the result that the international terminal, as it was then, became too outmoded for effective service delivery.”She acknowledged that all the previous efforts made in the past to refurbish the terminal did not make any reasonable impact because the infrastructure had become too old. “International passengers were no longer getting value for their money due to poor terminal facilities,” she says.Truly, with the passage of time, MAKIA, that was once the second most active airport in Nigeria where more than half of the international flights into the country were landing and taking-off either as final destination, a transit or stopover field has become decrepit and somewhat a shadow of its former glory.According to Oduah, the poor state of infrastructure at the international terminal of MAKIA and other airports across the country, prompted President Goodluck Jonathan to quickly establish the Airport Remodelling Project to arrest the infrastructural decay in the industry. The project according to her entailed the restructuring and in some cases, outright reconstruction of existing terminals in all the airports managed by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), to make them compliant with current international standards and practices, in terms of facilities and service delivery. “It is also the expectation of government that all the airports terminals so remodelled will begin to make more tangible contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), through increase in private investments at our airports,” she enthused.And now, fascination is the word at MAKIA. More space and improved passenger flow with the aim of saving time and improving passengers tell the story of the new look airport. New shops, new services, faster formality clearance and a new and welcoming architectural environment have once more brought back the glory.Before moving on to their departure lounges, passengers can now enjoy retail opportunities through innovative model provided by a journey through stores and of course the design equally allows disembarking passengers into the arrival hall to arrive straight into the embrace arm of their loved ones.The managing director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), George Uriesi painted the picture of the new look airport with words.He says, “The remodelled international terminal of the MallamAminu Kano Airport is a huge improvement on the old terminal that we all used to know, with regard to ambience, facilities and seating capacity. The entire cooling system in the terminal was replaced with a new one, to ensure effective cooling at all times, especially at peak periods while a walkway was provided on the airside, to protect passengers from the elements since the terminal does not have avio bridges. This is aside from the installation of new conveyor belts, check-in counters, immigration counters, toilets, offices, shops and other related facilities.“One major feature in the remodelling of this terminal was the extension of the departures lounges to double its original size to accommodate more passengers, apart from the refurbishment of the upper section of the departures lounge where the VIP and protocol lounges are located. Government, through the foresight of President Goodluck Jonathan and the dogged determination of the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella  Oduah, has repackage the Aminu Kano International Airport into an airport of choice for airline operators, passengers and other aviation stakeholders, including potential private investors.“By embarking on this huge development project, the government throws a challenge to all stakeholders, including the people and Government of Kano State and government agencies, including FAAN, to take advantage of the modern facilities provided now at this airport to turn Kano State and other surrounding states into industrial and economic havens in line with the aerotropolis concept that has turned airports all over the world to meeting points of economic development.”Interestingly, one of the cardinal points of the aviation sector master plan has been to establish cargo airports in different geo-political zones of the country to act as processing zones for the exportation of perishable goods, especially food items to different parts of the world.Perhaps the remodelled airport now offers such respite for the pyramid city.A passenger at the airport, GodswillUdeme, says, “there  are great opportunity around here now. I can see ample opportunity for the resuscitation of the popular groundnut pyramids in Kano and the start of a kind of revolution in the production of such cash crops grown mostly in the northern part of the country as potatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, lettuce, tomatoes and millet.”He adds: “The positive economic effect of this reality on unemployment and urban-rural migration will be huge too. I also know that once the issue of insecurity is arrested foreigners will come back because there is something about Kano that makes everyone come back to it. It’s its historical sites and business environment unique only to the city.”Last year, the airport was designated as cargo terminal to make it a hub for freight services and in particular to ensure that government loss of revenue in that area is addressed.The designation of MAKIA into a cargo airport, experts say will help raise the bar and help to develop the nation’s cargo export potentials, since a lot of perishable agricultural products emanate from the Kano axis.They argued it will also help to diversify Nigeria’s economic drive to a multi-pronged one, as against an oil and gas driven.“The development of cargo terminals will ensure farm to market for agricultural produce and it will generate more employment, help to empower the farmers, reduce waste and generate wealth for the entrepreneurs which will help to raise the gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation’s economy,” says Ibrahim Muhammed, an agriculture expert.MallamAminu Kano International Airport is the oldest in Nigeria, with operations starting in 1936. In the first decades of operation, the airport became an important fuel stop for airlines flying long-haul services between Europe and Africa, but much later many international airlines stopped serving the airport.Just like MAKIA, three other terminals have since been commissioned in Lagos, Abuja and Benin in what industry watchers says may become quick gain for the economy.