The Federal Government plans to demolish and rebuild the old international terminal at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos as part of a broader effort to modernise Nigeria’s busiest airport and improve passenger experience, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has announced.
Mr Keyamo, who shared details of the plan on his verified X and Facebook pages on Thursday morning, said the overhaul was recently approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC). He described the project as a major step towards meeting international standards and addressing the terminal’s decades-long decline.
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The MMIA in Lagos currently has two international terminals. Terminal One — the old building directly facing the main airport road was built and commissioned in 1979 under the Obasanjo-led military regime. It houses two wings, D and E, which have served millions of passengers for over four decades but have struggled to cope with the airport’s growing traffic.
According to Mr Keyamo, years of neglect and overcrowding have left the building’s facilities “totally decrepit,” despite frequent repair work.
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“What we simply want to do is to totally strip down that building, including the entire roof, then re-design and build a brand-new airport for the nation,” he said.
The planned demolition and redesign come just days after the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) announced the reopening of the newly refurbished D Wing at MMIA.
The move indicates that while a major reconstruction is in the pipeline, short-term improvements are already underway to ease congestion and modernise parts of the ageing terminal.
Expansion
Besides rebuilding Terminal 1, Mr Keyamo said the government has also secured approval to expand Terminal 2, the newer building on the right-hand side as travellers approach the airport.
The terminal was initiated under former President Goodluck Jonathan with a Chinese loan, completed under former President Muhammadu Buhari, and became operational during President Bola Tinubu’s first month in office.
The planned expansion will include enlarging the apron area where aircraft park, allowing the terminal to accommodate more flights, including wide-body aircraft.
To address persistent traffic bottlenecks, the minister said two new independent ring roads would be constructed for departures and arrivals. A new bridge will also connect travellers directly to the upper floor of Terminal Two’s departure lounge, eliminating the current design flaw that forces passengers to haul luggage up escalators.
Mr Keyamo said the redesign will introduce “smart solutions” that will allow MMIA to compete with top airports globally. He also emphasised that the project would not require fresh loans, but instead, it will be funded through the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, which the government says is backed by savings from the removal of petrol subsidies.
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To ensure public oversight, the minister said the government would invite journalists, civil society groups, lawmakers and interested Nigerians to inspect the site as work progresses. He urged Nigerians to compare the project’s cost with similar airport upgrades worldwide and said the Bureau for Public Procurement had done “a fantastic job” scrutinising the plan.
He also pointed out that while Nigeria has new terminals in Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt, they remain underused, with passenger traffic below 30 per cent of their designed capacity.
A short explanatory video detailing the proposed redesign has been released alongside the announcement.
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