If We Don’t Sort The Arrival Experience At The Airports, We Will Lose Foreign Investors - Omojuwa Writes On Airport Experience

Japheth Omojuwa

Nigerian author and social media commentator, Japheth Omojuwa has recounted his experience at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

He described it as ‘scary and very unpleasant”, saying Nigeria deserves better.

He also stated that the noise level at the airport is more than being at the market.

Sharing his not so pleasant experience on X, he wrote;

”Post passport protocol and luggage collection, I used to count 7 to 8 officials from different agencies doing “hello sir” as they invite you and your luggage over.

Today, I counted twice, they were 18 of them, wearing various uniforms.

Imagine entering a country for the first time and 18 people are lined up, left to right, all visible to you – without counting, they looked like a battalion in a clothing discord.

We can do all the reforms and grand looking-for-investors gestures abroad, but if we don’t sort the arrival experience at our airports, we will lose more of the ones that take the bold step of coming to Nigeria. Foreign investment is the same as local business – word of mouth works wonders.

Apart from this sight, a gory one for anyone who has ever arrived at any serious country, the noise level at the airport when I arrived moments ago was louder than being in the market. This is no exaggeration. If you go there now, you will hear it for yourself.

I will write about this experience every time I travel, especially through Lagos. Despite my best efforts, I find myself repeatedly arriving the country via Lagos this year. Because compared to Abuja, it continues to feel like a different, even more disorganised country. Nigeria deserves better.

Infrastructural improvement has traveled in inverse proportion to the passenger experience. It is shocking that anyone with the powers to do something about this sees it and thinks, yeah, this works. Even if you don’t travel, movies nko?''.