MMIA in need of overhaul — aviation firefighters

The Nigerian Aviation Fire and Safety Association (NAFSA) said on Wednesday that the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja building was in need of rehabilitation or a total overhaul.

The chairman of the association, Mr. Sunday Ugbeikwu, said this in an interview with the newsmen on Wednesday in Lagos.

He was speaking on how to check recurrent fire incidents at the airports.

Ugbeikwu said that the airport building was over 40 years old and needed rehabilitation or an overhaul.

According to him, this will contribute to checking the recurrence of fire incidents at their roots.

He said that the fire equipment at the airport was up to standard and could fight any level of household fire when deployed.

The association chairman said that the growing number of concessionaires around the airport came with its own problems, including overloading of the electricity system.

“It is really not about the equipment at this point in time. It is much more about the building.

“The equipment we have presently can handle any category of domestic fire. It is more about the building itself, talking about MMIA.

“MMIA has been there for over 40 years, what that means is that it has been long overdue for a rehabilitation, remodeling or total overhauling,” he said.

Ugbeikwu said that most of the concessionaire points and the shops seen around MMIA were not in the original master plan.

“So, most of the shop owners kept dragging wires here and there, thereby overloading the system, and when you overload the system, it becomes a potent danger.

“Wires tend to heat up, and whenever there is heat, there is going to be an imminent fire outbreak, or what you call a spark that results in an outbreak.

“That is why we are recommending a rehabilitation of the MMIA to a more modern airport,” he said.

Ugbeikwu also said that there was a need for more fire personnel, as aviation or aircraft fire required more technicalities than domestic fire.

He said, “Well, we always urge operators to employ more personnel because we are not yet enough.

“As a matter of fact, the minimum standards that were set by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) have not been met.

“So, in a nutshell, what I will tell you is that there is an urgent need for the recruitment of more firefighters.”.