MMIA Total Blackout: Sit Up or Get Sack, Keyamo Warns

Kasim Sumaina in Abuja

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, yesterday read the riot act to the management of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos airport to sit up or get booted out due to the recurring total blackout being experienced at the airport.

Disturbed by the recurring experience, Keyamo therefore, directed that henceforth, all the airports, particularly the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, to constantly ensure seamless instant power transition in any power outage situation.

The Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister, who is said to be utterly worried with the trending reports in the traditional and social media of three total blackouts lasting for about three minutes in the airport within the last three days, said a noticeable power outage leading to complete blackout lasting for even a few seconds is not acceptable in any international airport in this age no matter the state of electricity supply.

It was gathered that the minister, who is also concerned with the low level of efficiency in the MMIA,  has therefore directed the management of the airport  to put all the machineries in place and ensure instant, seamless power supply following any power outage at the airport.

Keyamo, in his latest directive, pointed out that beyond the embarrassment and discomfort passengers and other airports suffer during blackouts, the security implications are grave, especially with the prevailing insecurity situation in the country.

The minister, who has severally promised to give Nigeria the best in aviation management, vowed to eliminate any impediment in the effective and efficient management of all the airports and other aviation facilities in the country in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present government.

“The Minister was emphatic on efficient management of resources in the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, especially in power generation and management,” said a source.

The management of  MMIA had  put out a statement of apologies on Saturday over what it called “ a brief power outage yesterday February 2nd, 2024 lasting approximately 2-3 minutes during a transfer to backup power after the grid failed.”

However, between then and Monday morning, the minister’s office was said to have been inundated with the reports of more total blackouts lasting for minutes at the airport.

The minister was said to have been incensed with the reports in spite of the pledge by the MMIA management that there wouldn’t be any recurrence of lingering blackout in its apologies of Saturday.

At present, the MMIA is expending about N30 million daily on diesel alone, an expenditure industry experts said was bogus and unsustainable.