On the 12th of February 2020, all international flights bound for Murtala Muhammed Airport was rerouted to Ghana. Reports say it was due to some technical complications from some newly installed equipment in addition to the bad weather.
Many travellers were deeply affected by this diversion and it caused a lot of anger towards the Nigerian government from the passengers and their families, also with flights scheduled for later hours were very angry.
Many Nigerians took to their social media complaining about the situation, many of them referred to the situation as “Embarrassing” and they claimed to have become laughing stocks by other African countries such as Ghana and Togo.
Senator Hadi Sirika, the Minister of Aviation, Nigeria has stepped forward with the claim that Nigerians airspace is one of the safest in the world.
This statement was made yesterday, Thurday, 5th of March 2020 at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, in a forum hosted by the Air Traffic Controllers/Pilots forum.
Hadi Sirika said at the forum that neither International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), nor International Airport Transport Association (IATA) has recorded a single accident or death in the last six years at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
He stressed that the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) of Nigeria to ensure that the safety regulations are properly implemented and should be improved on.
Sirika mentioned that Nigerian aviation agencies such as Nigerian Air Management Agency (NAMA) and Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) should focus on developing the airport infrastructure in the Abuja and Enugu airport runway and improve the radio and instruments to help improve the navigational aids.
