NIGERIA AND OUR RECURRING AVIATION DRAMA – A Case Of Ignoring Leprosy While Obsessing Over Skin Rashes

The 10 Real Challenges Facing Nigeria’s Aviation Sector and The Mayor of Fadeyi’s Common Sense Solutions

By Ope Banwo, Mayor of Fadeyi

Let me begin with a disclaimer: I am not an aviation engineer, aircraft mechanic, or certified pilot. I cannot tell you how to service a Boeing 737, install an aircraft turbine, or recalibrate a navigation system.

What I am, however, is a lawyer, activist, business consultant, and global traveler who flies in and out of Nigeria at least four or five times every year, and travels extensively to dozens of countries annually. I have seen the aviation experience in Lagos and Abuja, but I’ve also seen it in London, Dubai, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Doha, Atlanta, Nairobi, and more.

From this vantage point, I can confidently say that Nigeria’s aviation problem is not primarily technical — it is a failure of common sense, strategic planning, and consistent execution.

Yet, every time an unruly passenger makes the news — whether it’s a musician blocking a plane on the tarmac or a passenger slapping a crew member — our entire national conversation gets hijacked. We obsess over the rash, while ignoring the leprosy eating away at the sector.

Unruly passengers exist in every country. In the United States, the FAA received over 2,000 unruly passenger reports in 2023. In the UK, “air rage” incidents are a regular occurrence. No serious country treats these as their defining aviation problem. But in Nigeria, they become a national spectacle.

The truth is, passenger madness is a symptom, not the disease. The disease is the broken aviation ecosystem we’ve left untreated for decades.

1. Outdated and Overstretched Infrastructure

Plain Talk: Our airports look like they’ve been frozen in time, trying to serve 2025 traffic with 1990 facilities.

Everyday Examples:

1. You land at Murtala Muhammed International Airport and the escalator is out of service — again. Passengers lug heavy bags up narrow staircases.
2. Toilets with broken taps, no running water, and foul smells greet travelers in supposedly “international” terminals.
3. Departure halls jam-packed with standing passengers because there aren’t enough functional chairs.

My Own Recommended Common Sense Solution: Launch a 10-year phased Airport Upgrade Plan, starting with high-traffic airports (Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano) and funded through public-private partnerships with strict timelines and transparent contracts.

2. Air Traffic Control Technology Stuck in the Past

Plain Talk: Our control towers are running on old, sometimes obsolete tech. Imagine managing Lagos traffic with a black-and-white TV and a walkie-talkie.

Everyday Examples:

1. A single radar failure in Lagos can ground or divert flights nationwide because there’s no backup system.
2. Controllers still rely heavily on voice instructions rather than modern automated tracking systems.
3. Severe weather monitoring is limited, forcing pilots to rely on guesswork and experience rather than real-time data.

My Own Recommended Common Sense Solution: Digitize and modernize ATC systems in all major airports, with redundant backups so that one fault doesn’t cripple the entire network.

3. Chronic Airline Instability

Plain Talk: Nigerian airlines pop up, operate for a few years, then vanish like morning dew.

Everyday Examples:

1. Airlines like IRS, Chanchangi, and Med-View disappear after a short run, leaving passengers stranded with unused tickets.
2. Flight cancellations increase when forex access tightens because airlines can’t pay for spare parts.
3. Mergers are rare, so each airline tries to survive alone in a cutthroat environment until it collapses.

My Own Recommended Common Sense Solution: Enforce financial capacity requirements before issuing licenses, and offer tax breaks for fleet modernization. Encourage strategic partnerships instead of each airline struggling in isolation.

4. Poor Customer Service Culture

Plain Talk: Too many staff see passengers as an annoyance, not customers.

Everyday Examples:

1. Ground staff shout at passengers in boarding queues like they’re school children.
2. Lost luggage claims drag for weeks with no updates or apology.
3. Cabin crew roll their eyes at requests or disappear after promising assistance.

My Own Recommended Common Sense Solution: Make customer service certification compulsory for all crew and front-facing staff. Conduct mystery passenger audits to keep service quality in check.

5. A Reactive, Not Proactive, Regulatory Mindset

Plain Talk: The NCAA and FAAN only act after disaster or public outrage — like waiting for a car crash before installing traffic lights.

Everyday Examples:

1. An unruly passenger trend explodes online — that’s when new rules suddenly appear.
2. Policy changes vanish when a minister leaves office.
3. Safety inspections ramp up after foreign regulators raise alarms, not before.

My Own Recommended Common Sense Solution: Pass a 15-year National Aviation Policy that survives political changes and mandates proactive safety and service audits.

6. Pricing Chaos and Passenger Exploitation

Plain Talk: Ticket prices change like the weather — and not in your favor.

Everyday Examples:

1. A Lagos–Abuja flight that cost ₦70k last week now costs ₦150k today, with no explanation.
2. Peak-season surcharges double fares without notice.
3. Airlines cancel your cheaper ticket and rebook you at a higher rate “due to operational reasons.”

My Own Recommended Common Sense Solution: Mandate transparent fare structures with published benchmarks and limit peak-season surcharges to reasonable caps.

7. Maintenance Deficit and Old Planes

Plain Talk: Some of our planes are so old, you’d think they belonged in a museum.

Everyday Examples:

1. Cabin interiors with broken seats and peeling armrests.
2. Frequent “technical delay” announcements that leave passengers stranded for hours.
3. Engines roaring like generator sets during takeoff.

My Own Recommended Common Sense Solution: Impose aircraft age limits for commercial service and strictly enforce maintenance schedules with surprise audits.

8. Corruption and Security Lapses

Plain Talk: Security isn’t always about safety — sometimes it’s about “settlement.”

Everyday Examples:

1. Ramp access granted to “friends” or “big men” without proper clearance.
2. Staff waving passengers through security checks after a discreet handshake.
3. Bags passing screening without proper checks because the owner is “known.”

My Own Recommended Common Sense Solution: Fully digitize and centralize security clearance and baggage screening, with live CCTV monitored independently by the NCAA.

9. Lack of Passenger Complaint Resolution Mechanisms

Plain Talk: When something goes wrong, your complaint disappears into a black hole.

Everyday Examples:

1. Delayed flights with no refund or compensation.
2. Lost luggage cases dragging for months with zero resolution.
3. Airlines ignoring written complaints because “nothing go happen.”

My Own Recommended Common Sense Solution: Create a Passenger Rights Ombudsman with the power to issue binding resolutions and fine airlines for non-compliance.

10. No Clear Brand or National Strategy

Plain Talk: Nigeria has no aviation identity, no master plan, and no goal beyond “just run flights.”

Everyday Examples:

1. Lagos could be a West African transit hub, but travelers prefer Accra or Addis Ababa.
2. Tourism suffers because our airports aren’t welcoming or efficient.
3. No global campaign sells Nigeria as a destination or aviation hub.

My Own Recommended Common Sense Solution: Build a Nigeria Aviation Masterbrand positioning Lagos and Abuja as premier transit hubs, with targeted marketing to international carriers.

MY CONCLUSION

The rashes — like unruly passengers — will always be there. The leprosy — outdated infrastructure, weak regulation, poor service culture, and lack of vision — is what will cripple us if we keep ignoring it.

We can fix Nigerian aviation. But only if we start treating the real disease, not just scratching at the skin.

Conclusion – Stop Treating Rashes While Leprosy Spreads

I may not know the technical details of aircraft servicing, but I know when a system is failing its customers. Nigerian aviation is not just limping — it’s rotting from within.

The rashes — like unruly passengers — will always be there. The leprosy — outdated infrastructure, weak regulation, poor service culture, and lack of vision — is what will cripple us if we keep ignoring it.

The ministry can ban all the unruly passengers it wants, but if we don’t treat the root causes — outdated infrastructure, poor service culture, weak regulation, and lack of strategic vision — our aviation will remain a global embarrassment.

Aviation is the front door of any country. Right now, Nigeria’s front door is creaky, rusty, and smells like neglect. If we want to be respected in the skies, we must fix the disease, not just the symptoms.

Dr. Ope Banwo
Founder, Naija Lives Matter
Mayor, of Fadeyi