The first impression of any visitor to any country, will be the airport itself. It is the first building any tourist will see when they arrive any country. Don’t blaim anyone. It is just normal that one will have an overall perception given the state of the airport.

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I was well prepared on the state of Lagos airport before I arrive. To me, the shock was even deeper as much as I have heard about Nigeria, I’ve never thought it will be as bad. How bad? Let me just explain.

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This is how the airport looks like on the tarmac. As much as I have heard, the VIP halls are much better.

Coming out from the aircraft, one have to walk through te bridge and then throuh this under-maintained walkway to the immigration hall. There is an escalator going down, but before the escalator, there are officers checking for UN Yellow Fever Vaccine card. The non-courteous officer did a quick run through to make sure you have one and soon release u to the immigration hall.

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I don’t know if it is appropriate to call it an immigration hall, it was stuffy, and doesn’t seem to be very well organized to live up to its “international” standards.

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The air conditioning is not really working and I believe that an airport such as this should have a centralized air conditoning. There is one, LG air cond there but only one to support a 200+ arriving passengers per international flight? It could be better.

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There are 8 working immigration counters, split of 4 each for Foreign and Nigerian passport holders. They have electronic systems in place but by the looks of it, it may be broken. it may have broken down. I guess, simplifying the flow of arrival would really help tremendously.

Oh, did I mentioned that Nigeria is facing a huge power issue? While waiting in line, the power went off for a good 10-15 seconds. I am very sure it is seriously affecting the airport operations.

Just a few days ago, I read in the papers that the Ministry of Aviation and the airport authority has been given 90 days to revamp the whole airport and to make it work to reach the like of Dubai International Airport and I seriously hope they do for the sake of reviving the tourism in Nigeria. If they do so, I believe a lot more airlines will opt to fly into Lagos.