In the past, I have had cause to comment on the official and unofficial misconducts pervading our various airports, particularly in Lagos and Kano. The situation was so bad then that it took the intervention of the erstwhile Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osibajo, GCON, SAN, to bring some measures of sanity to the Airports. Prior to the intervention, you hardly could differentiate the airports from motor parks, the exclusive terrain of touts. Both uniformed and ununiformed officials; legitimate staff, and unofficial wanderers operated in the airports with impunity. Harassment, molestation and extortion of passengers were the order of the day.
In this respect, I am choosing to ignore the insalubrious state of the facilities and other infrastructure in the airports, as this is a story for another day but which remains a nightmare. Although, there is a new facility at some of the international airports which is still exciting, this is equally without noticeable defects and maintenance challenges. Factually, however, the unscheduled visit of the then Vice President assisted greatly in substantially reducing the menace associated with that era.
As opined above, some degree of sanity was enthroned. Regrettably, as if awaiting the departure of that administration, and as soon as the new administration resumed, business as usual returned. There are now full activities of touts, particularly those in uniforms, in terms of harassment and extortion at the airports.
You hardly can pass through the airports, particularly the international wing, without some form of harassment, molestation or extortion. The situation has degenerated to the level that you have to be at all times vigilant whilst transiting through the airport, otherwise you will easily lose any of your personal effects without any trace. I have had cause recently to intimate my friend and brother, Mr. Festus Keyamo, SAN, who is the Honourable Minister for Aviation on this. My hope and expectation are that shortly, something positive will occur to arrest the drift. The above is simply prefatory to the crux of my engagement in this discourse as I have hitherto addressed the issues. My destination in this conversation centers on the irresponsible and reckless manner in which the local airlines operate.
Another worthy area of concern is the deliberate booking of flights, with the fore knowledge that the flights will not take off on time or as scheduled; or will never take off. In these instances, they have the fore knowledge but do so to exploit the passengers. The strategy is to frustrate such passengers into purchase of alternate tickets, and the abandoning of the original tickets. For passengers with no time, and those who are not frequent patrons of those routes, that is the end time of the tickets.
They fully know that a sizeable number of the frustrated passengers that have abandoned the flights due to unreasonable delay or cancellation, have no time nor patience to start pursuing the refund. The implication of this is that the funds end up being embezzled by the airlines. This is systemic fraud perpetrated by the airlines with impunity. Even where the passenger chooses to pursue the refund, the procedure is so complex and cumbersome as to constitute an impediment.
The whole arrangement is simply a scam that needs to be investigated, monitored and uncovered. It is the continuity of this ‘Ponzi scheme’ without any reprehension or reprimand from any authority, that is making not only the nefarious activities entrenched, but the operators operating with impunity. The inability to curtail the activities of the scammers suggests the absence of regulations, and by extension, the non-existence of regulators.
What is the essence of regulations when it is not being enforced, nor impactful? Are there really even regulators on ground? It is appearing that it is a totally deregulated environment with no rules. Being a victim of some of the atrocities in recent times compelled my enquiry into the issues the discovery of which validates my assertions above.
Common signposts on the rights of passengers and the mode of exercising those rights, which used to dot the local airports, have suddenly vanished. The rationale behind the disappearance remains a misery. In those days, I took advantage of the instructions on the signposts to ventilate my issues. Just two weeks ago, I was a victim of the same unexplained delay. As a matter of fact, and at the risk of advertising for the Valuejet Airline, except my schedule does not fit into the airline’s operation, I hardly fly any other airline on Abuja route again.
On this very occasion, I had booked my return ticket for Monday evening on the preceding Friday morning on Valuejet. The very evening that the schedule changed, I was notified immediately via a test message. That compelled me to search for alternatives, leading me to buy the tickets of Maxair and United Airlines simultaneously for the trip. This was done out of my desperation to meet the appointments I had given the potential lawyers that were waiting in my office to sign their Bencher’s forms.
The idea behind purchasing the two tickets of the airlines was to catch any of the two latest by 4 pm. Interestingly and as now become conventional with them, the earliest of the two, which was the United Airlines, departed around 6.30 pm ultimately, with no explanation or apology. I honestly cannot count the number of tickets I have had to forfeit in circumstances of this nature. That Maxair ticket is gone forever as I hardly have any trip to make with the airline. While wasting away at the airport and waiting for the flights, I had searched all over for information points or signposts to lodge complaints but none was seen. Barely over a week ago, I stumbled on a news item on social media on the penalty for missing or delayed luggage. In the same piece, I found in the content the suggestion by Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority that there is equally penalty for delayed refund. No allusion has been made to the other issues raised in this conversation, nor the critical issue of the information being signposted at our various local airports. The absence of this has continued to embolden the airlines to continue operating with impunity. For how long this will continue, your guess is as good as mine. All I can conclude with is that the appropriate authorities need to wake up from their slumber and address the issues. The absent-mindedness of the regulators might not be unconnected with the fact that most political leaders have deserted the commercial flights for private jets or when last did you hear in the crew announcement, “Your Excellency” …again? God save the country as we are fully now left in His mighty hands. The regulators have outsourced ultimately their responsibilities to God in the usual and characteristic fashion in the country.
