Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, the Deputy General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), has said that the authority is committed to efficient service delivery and improved security at the nation’s airports.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja, Yakubu said that FAAN had taken measures to ensure adequate maintenance of facilities at the airports by engaging cleaning companies.

FAAN spokesperson said that disclosed that the engagement of private cleaning companies had effectively addressed the challenge of poor maintenance of public toilets at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

FAAN, she said, had introduced a lot of changes such as the placement big boxes stocked with tissue papers.

“It is no longer like in the past when we just keep them open and the same passengers go there and carried them away; but the way they are now, it is difficult to remove them.

“So, the situation in the past when you have cleaners sitting by the door, cutting tissue and giving to members of the public is no longer happening at the airport again.

“The cleaning company is doing its job by keeping the toilets clean because its cleaners are on standby to ensure that the place is properly kept.”

According to her, the relevant departments have been asked to ensure that doors, lifts and other equipment at the airport are working properly.

This, she said, was to ensure that the travelling public enjoyed efficient service delivery in line with international best practices as well as International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standard.

“It is the responsibility of FAAN to ensure that facilities at the airport are in proper shape and that was the task given to all heads of departments so that we don’t receive complaints from members of public.

“If you go to other parts of the world, you see things working; why then should we not make our own work because if it can work elsewhere, it should work here too.”

The spokesperson said that FAAN had also improved on its security system by using intelligence and mufti security men around the airport to target touts.

She added that the airport security was also working with the police to enable them to prosecute offenders, adding that the strategy had greatly reduced the activities of touts in recent time.

According to her, the ‘stop and search’ by the combined security men along the airport road was put in place recently after the Kuje bombing.

Meanwhile, in a chat with NAN, a passenger, Mr. Adams Abuh, confirmed that the condition of airport toilets had greatly improved in recent time, commending the authority for being proactive.

Abuh said that he had stopped using public toilets at the airport due to the lack of maintenance and absence of tissue paper.

“I can recall that at a time, even female cleaners were always standing by the toilet doors to sell pieces of tissue paper to you and collect their money.”

Also, Mr. Leonard Apeh, described the improvement as commendable, adding that the situation in the past was shameful when compared to what obtained in other countries.

Apeh called on the authority to upgrade all the facilities at the nation’s airports to be able to compete with advanced countries of the world. (NAN)

•Photo shows Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

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