FAAN Board Chairman Describes MMIA Fire Incident As Unfortunate

The Chairman of the Board of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Dr. Umar Abdullahi Ganduje has described the fire incident that occurred at Murtala Muhammed International Airport as an “unfortunate situation.”

Speaking during an inspection of the site of the fire incident, Ganduje said “we decided to be here in order to see for ourselves, because we say seeing is believing. We have seen the damage that occurred, but at the same time we have to congratulate the MD and her management team, especially the firefighters, over 150 of them who were around until the fire was completely quenched. This is an unfortunate situation.”

He further said “there’s no doubt when we had the fire outbreak at the International Airport here in Lagos, it was an issue of great concern, especially the board members who we believe our core value in FAAN is safety; and this really affected the safety of the airport, including the safety of the employees, the safety of passengers, the safety of equipment and the safety of many other infrastructural facilities.”

“We have not got the report yet. The MD is working on that but what we could say is that this is really affecting the aviation reform by President Bola Tinubu, but the staff are equal to the task.

From what we have seen, the firefighters did a lot of work. We have seen that a lot of very sensitive equipment has been destroyed, but no death was recorded anyway. I think the situation is under control, but it’s unfortunate.

We have to thank everybody. We have to thank the press themselves, because they informed Nigerians that there was a fire outbreak, and we are happy also they informed Nigerians that the fire outbreak was controlled. Also, we seized the opportunity to see the remodelling of the International Airport, which the MD took us around, and the work is going on.”

He described the work at the temporary terminal created recently for airlines as “quality work.”

“I thought I was in one of the well-developed foreign international airports, but I am happy to see that I am in Nigeria and in Lagos. The quality of work is beautiful, and all the equipment is being fixed now, and I think it is going to be a big success with the remodeling of the aviation reform.”