Passengers who disembark from planes at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and head toward the arrival hall expecting world class services are in for shocks, no thanks to the shameful state of the airport.

Here are five reasons why the popular MMIA does the nation no favours:

1. Urine odour

The first shock for passengers is an attack on their sense of smell; a pervasive odour of urine is almost always certain to invade the nostrils. Unfortunately like sweet aroma leads to food, the offensive ordour leads to something worse.

2. Dirty toilets

A strong, choking odour in a building symbolises the badly maintained toilets. That is precisely the case at the MMIA. God help passengers that forget to handle their “business” on the plane, putting their faith instead in the airport toilets. Blocked, dirty, stinking toilets await them.

 

3. Broken conveyor belt

If you have luggage to claim, you do not only have to live with the offensive odour for several minutes, you also have to banish the sight of a broken and torn conveyor belt out of your mind. Yes, after a longer-than-usual wait for your luggage, you have to be careful that a tattered conveyor belt does not hurt you further.

4. Terrible ventilation

Sorry if it rains, sorry if it doesn’t rain. Most of the windows at the MMIA are poorly maintained and mostly always shut, meaning on a rainy, cold day, the stench in the arrival hall area kind of “creeps under the skin.” On a hot day, with broken and inadequate air conditioners dotting the nation’s premier airport, getting through the airport means coming out as a sweaty mess.

5. Beggarly airport officials

Of course, there are all manner of aviation officials at the airport, whose basic responsibility is to ensure everything goes smoothly and that passengers get the best experience possible. Well, someone probably flipped the brief for officials at MMIA; it appears their objective is to seize every opportunity to fleece passengers.

Many officials have abandoned professionalism for unnecessary questions and pleasantries as well as unsolicited offers of help that end with phrases such as “Don’t forget your people,” “Happy weekend sir/ma” and “What did you bring for us?” adding to the irritating and annoying experience that the biggest airport in Africa’s largest economy offers.