SOME
OF THE THINGS…
A close-up observation
of the Lagos international airport should be able to provide any keen observer
enough detail of some of the things that are fundamentally wrong with the
Nigerian state. I had the “pleasure” of being at the airport on Monday night to
pick-up a family member and could not resist committing the “offence” of looking
about and documenting in my mind the things I saw and heard during the ordeal.
I arrived at the makeshift car park a few meters from the main terminal and
beside the big chapel situated on the right side of the road towards the
airport. The time was 6:11pm when I approached the access gate for my
electronically tagged paper pass; I quickly observed that there was now a
different method for charging from the last time I was there. It was now a mandatory
first hour charge of 200naira then 100naira for every additional hour; I
braced myself for a long wait and a higher fare.
It took about 15
minutes before the lone bus shuttling between the car park and the arrival zone
arrived. It has been a few months now since the old car park characterized by
numerous pot-holes and congestion was demolished for “transformation” by a
certain Chinese construction company. The waiting area outside the arrival
lounge was crowded and disorganized as usual. It came as no surprise when a
scene suddenly developed just outside the open glass doors. The overly steep
nature of the descent from the exit doors regularly caused luggage piled upon
trolleys to fall over despite the many comical attempts to prevent such.
Cascading luggage could not however compare to what we were about to witness
only 10 meters away.
I watched as the crew
of a certain European Airline made their way to a waiting vehicle somewhere on
the right side of the exit. One of the pilots who was at the rear, appeared to
be held up in conversation with a small group of people including a young man
who was probably a teenager. The almost 7 feet tall male had apparently held on
to the sleeve of the pilot refusing to let go despite appeals from airport
staff and his family members who had been waiting to pick him up. Nigerians
began to gather around the ensuing drama with some commenting about a suspected
psychiatric condition while a few who stood behind me wondered if the lad was a
basketball player. The obviously tense young man seemed to be only pacified by
the words of the pilot ignoring pleas by others around to let go of the jacket sleeve
which had two golden stripes just like the other hand. When it was obvious that
the airline crew had been delayed long enough, the time came for the pilot to
free himself from the loose grip and join his colleagues waiting in the bus.
Some airport security men had moved towards the center of the gyration supposedly
in anticipation of a degeneration of proceedings. They were apparently
unprepared as the tall and lanky frame broke free from them after a few harsh
words were exchanged and began taking long strides in pursuit of the now
fleeing pilot and the airline escort.
We all looked on in
amazement as a handful of airport security officials made timid attempts to
halt the now very upset man who was swinging his long arms wildly to prevent
anyone from taking hold of his hooded sweatshirt. I was almost certain that he
would catch up with the pilot but this did not happen as a mobile policeman who
was most likely unaware of the origin of the situation pulled up beside the
running man and grabbed him with one hand while holding his AK-47 rifle in his
other hand. The policeman must have been a full two feet shorter than the
restless runner but his efforts though very risky was sufficient to delay long
enough for the security agents to catch up with the action. The airline crew
eventually got away and the next thirty to forty minutes was occupied by a
wailing and inconsolable young man held crudely by at least three airport
security staff while his brother attempted to calm his nerves. The action had
moved a considerable distance away from the exit doors although a few people
still gravitated towards the scene to scan for more gossip. An overzealous
civil defence officer who was missing in action when the young man was punching
wildly suddenly appeared and barked instructions for those closest to the exit
to retreat behind an imaginary boundary.
I felt pity for the
young man and for the pilot who must have been alarmed that a gangling and distressed
man was allowed to pursue him in a foreign land. It was appalling to watch lax
security with officials failing to anticipate and protect a pilot who should
never have been allowed to have his sleeve held by anybody. It was sad to watch
a distressed young man chased down and held so awkwardly like a criminal when a
medical solution such as sedation could have been attempted. What if the
policeman’s gun went off? Would there have been a rapid emergency medical
response? After it all died down, I observed that it was business as usual for
the many franchises that have regularly operated and the more recent ones which
sprang up at the airport since the construction of a new car park commenced.
The taxi service at the
airport is obviously unregulated with several men accosting newly arrived
passengers straight out of the exit with offers of a pleasant ride. It is
difficult to identify genuine operators if at all such methods are abnormal in
the first instance. Foreigners are also not spared perhaps because the
transporters hope to encounter a few generous and gullible enough to patronize
them. The use of airport baggage trolleys is mostly free at airports across the
globe (I may be wrong); however this franchise is run in Lagos by a group who
charge specific amounts despite the taxes inherent in the relatively high ticket
fares paid by Nigerians when compared to other nations. Some of the employees
who ought to retrieve trolleys from all over the airport present themselves to
passenger as helpers for pushing trolleys out of the airport after which they
demand for tips. I have witnessed one fellow who angrily rejected the tip given
to him because he felt he deserved more for his effort; this was without
considering that the use of the trolley had actually been fully paid for.
Most serious and
modernized airports in the world have motorized electric carts that traverse
the length and breadth of their structures to carry travelers who may be
elderly, those whose movement may be impaired or those who need to reach their departure
gates in record time. The few that exist in the airport in Lagos are surely
benefitting a few having been deployed outside the main terminal to offer
services at a cost to anyone or group of people in need of express transport
all the way to the interim car park instead of waiting for and scrambling for
the free bus. The rocky and uneven path to the park has no doubt led to the
burnt rubber which serves as wheels of these buggies. More dangerous is the
reckless nature of the young men who actually do the driving; many times they
only barely manage to avoid knocking down bystanders.
It has become normal and
acceptable to have immigration, custom and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
officials paw through our luggage and threaten us with some unknown contravened
law regarding the content(s) of our bags only for them to ask us to “bless the
table” or pay some ridiculous fine(s) which never get documented or have
receipts issued in exchange. It is normal to wait at the departure gates and
conveyor belt area in boiling heat; it has become easy to accept the
substandard nature of lavatories, leaky roofs and a generally dirty
environment. Such anomalies as these are not unique to the aviation industry; other
public services and government establishes are ravaged by most if not all of
these vices. Some people call it the Nigerian factor, a exogenous genetic
defect that predisposes an individual become selfish in his thoughts and
actions. We are hardly concerned with the things that would benefit the general
populace; we have become adapted to surviving in the midst of anarchy and
lawlessness.
An agitated people may
not likely cease from their debilitating ways spontaneously if they do not get
direction and reason to embark on saner paths. A corrupt people will most
likely stop offering bribes if those above them cease from making such demands;
a mother will not break the bank to secure an admission for her son if she is
assured that the admission process will be done fairly irrespective of tribal,
gender or social status considerations. The people will become more patient if
they see their leaders waiting in the same line with them and using the same
facilities like them. Security officers at the airport bar people from getting
close to the arrival gate to pick up new arrivals; those powerful enough to
overrule them or generous enough to grease palms do not however operate by
these orders. There is one law for the elite and another for the others; many
become desperate to fall into the former category even those who claim grace
and anointing. We do in fact know the normal use of resources but do not mind
utilizing such abnormally or for personal gain. A few cases of abnormal use may
actually be attributable to ignorance; it is high time those who understand “normal”
are encouraged and sponsored to lead the way and guide the people on the path
of righteousness, justice and equity.
Leaving the airport was
another dilemma. I looked at my wristwatch and thought we still had time to
exit before my parking time trickled into the third hour. We made it to the
spot where others were already in line to board the bus back to the parking
lot. There was a mad scramble when the bus eventually arrived and it was a
miracle to me that we squeezed ourselves in just ahead of a prominent Nigerian
Pastor who is regularly on television. I was very impressed that a respected
man like that would engage in hustling for the same transport medium like the “common
man” and unlike some of his kind who I am certain would have been swept away
from the departure zone by their exotic protocol officials. I greeted the man
when our eyes made contact; he had been engage in a brief discussion with
another man who was also familiar with him as a pastor. We endured an almost 30minutes
drive due to the fairly heavy traffic that had built up as a result of the many
vehicles arriving at the airport to drop off departing passengers that night
and by the time we pulled up at the car park, my car was well into the third
hour of parking. I could not help but notice that a Caucasian had joined us in
the struggle to enter the bus in which we were stuffed in together like
sardines in a can.
I had to pay four
hundred naira for three hours of parking which did not take into cognizance the
bottle necks and avoidable delays of Ebola screening, immigration clearance, baggage
retrieval and the single bus which was deployed that night to convey people to
and from the airport. The bus is free and I am certain those responsible must
be glad in their hearts that they are doing the people a favor just like the “transformers”
and government officials at all levels boast about the dividends of democracy
they have provided for their people. They chant about constructed roads that
still cut short the destinies of Nigerians, 4000 megawatts of electricity,
boreholes, Almajiri schools amongst other basic things which ought to be the
right of the people and not privileges. The nation’s health sector cannot
remain as it is with regular strikes crippling the system. The last time the
Nigerian Medical Association went on a protracted strike, all hell was let
loose and doctors called names. The federal institutions are essentially paralyzed
at the moment because other health workers are now on their own strike leaving
theatres, clinics and laboratories shut even though the doctors are at work. We
must urgently canvass for a system with structure; one that favors the entire
populace above selfish interests. There is a workable template that was
operational when our nation was still young; this could be a start point to
revive, restore and stabilize our nation. I hope we have the courage to move
for lasting change next year.
Joa
26/11/2014
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