Operations, management of Nigerian airports rejigged for innovation, ideas

• Emerging structure seen in new directorates

• PACP, Special Duties, Cargo Dev. & Services

• Orah, FAAN spokeswoman, says it’s to meet global standards

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Idris Suleiman, chairman, LAAC, and Obiageli Orah, director, public affairs and consumer protection, FAAN, during the courtesy visit

Sade Williams/Business a.m.

The new directorates created in the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) are designed to bring fresh ideas and innovations into the operations and management of airports in the country, Obiageli Orah, director, public affairs and consumer protection of the agency has said.

She said FAAN has gone through tremendous changes with the upgrade of the former Corporate Affairs department into the Directorate of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, the creation of a Special Duty directorate and that of Cargo Development and Services, among other changes, all geared toward meeting global standard in the management of airports under FAAN.

Obiageli spoke when she received the new executive members of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents (LAAC) led by Suleiman Idris, its chairman, in her office in Lagos.

According to the FAAN director, the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as encapsulated in the Renewed Hope Agenda underscored the vision of the minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo to create new directorates that will ensure that Nigerians and the travelling publics are offered the best services across airports in the country.

While she commended the minister for the new initiatives, Obiageli said, “FAAN has gone through tremendous changes in the past few months. We’ve added some new directorates to the existing ones; I will start with my directorate which is public affairs and consumer protection. It is relatively a new one because we had corporate affairs but now christened public affairs and consumer protection. We also added a directorate of cargo development and services, which deals with everything regarding cargo and hajj operations. We now also have a special duty directorate, one I will describe as an interventionist directorate that helps the agency intervene in any situation as the case may be.”

According to her, “Whether new or existing, every single director has the drive, the energy including the managing director who on her own has super energy, everyone of us has the drive to ensure that we give the best to Nigerians. The minister himself, who I am sure you are equally aware of his capacity, is always on the go. The vision he has for FAAN is outstanding, and I would extend that to the new hope agenda of Mr. President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, because we are all here to key into the new hope agenda.”

The FAAN spokesperson further said that “the new directorate and the existing ones, all we are here to do is to serve Nigerians and we are bringing a lot of innovations, we met system in place and all we can do is to build on the system, and in building upon the system we met, changes may occur, we may modify some things but it is all in good faith in order to serve Nigerians and the travelling public better.

“The passengers that pass through the airports deserve the best because they pay money, they pay taxes, buy tickets and pay taxes on those tickets and all that, so we feel and know that they deserve the best. So that is why security of all passengers is very important, their safety and comfort of all our passengers are paramount to our operations.

“And you talk about the services we render like seamless movement at the airports and of course the movement of goods from one point to the other without any form of damage or challenges. When you look at all these, it gives you an idea of the vision that this administration has for Nigerians and where we are heading to.

“We want Nigerians to be proud when they talk about FAAN, when they are passing through the airports, we want them to be proud of being citizens of this great country and the agency responsible for managing the airports on their behalf,” she stressed.

In his response, Idris, the LAAC chairman, pledged the support of the association in achieving the vision of the new administration in turning the fortune of the country’s aviation industry around, affirming that they will continue to play the role of the media in upholding the leadership of the sector to account.