Travel/Tourism
Abuja Airport Closure: Fashola Calls for Careful Driving to Avoid Accidents
By Dipo Olowookere
Ahead of the planned reconstruction and repair of the Abuja Airport runway, which would lead to a diversion of air traffic and passengers from Abuja to Kaduna, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola at the weekend, inspected progress of work on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway.
The Minister, who stopped at several points on the road to ascertain the quality of work being done in company with the Minister of State, Mr Mustapha Baba Shehuri, and other senior officials of the Ministry, said the Federal Government through the Ministry was effecting the emergency repair work to ensure that the road was safe and motorable even as he called for careful driving to avoid accidents during the period of closure and on the nation’s roads generally.
In an interactive session with newsmen after the inspection, Mr Fashola said although government has embarked on the emergency repair of the road to make it safe by removing the potholes , a lot depended on the users of the road to ensure that they remain safe and avoid accidents while the closure lasted.
The Minister, who said he would wish a day when no accidents would be reported on the nation’s roads, expressed regrets that such a wish remained farfetched adding that apart from the condition of the roads, human error constituted, from available reports, a very significant factor in road accidents.
Recalling an accident that occurred on the same day on the road involving a heavy truck, the Minister said the accident most likely happened in the night advising that those who drive heavy trucks in the night must try and get as much as sleep as they could during the day.
Also advocating training and retraining for drivers, Mr Fashola declared, “I think that it is fair to say that not many people who manage vehicles on our roads are actually trained to manage vehicles on the roads; many people are auxiliary drivers for want of something better to do”.
“There are rules in the operation and utilization of automobiles”, he said adding that the FRSC has continued to address the problem in terms of education, enlightenment and the introduction of a speed limiting device while his Ministry was also looking at how to assist them in the short to medium terms by introducing some speed cameras to deter people and support the efforts of the Corps.
Pointing out that the wish to stay alive rested ultimately it in the hands of drivers themselves, Mr Fashola said such a wish must be matched with abstention from substance abuse that some vehicle operators subject their bodies to adding that such abuses make their bodies vulnerable.
He, however, said the effort to prevent or limit accidents on the nation’s roads was an obligation on the government which, according to him, must not be given up adding that there was need to also go back to the primary schools and begin to teach road traffic behaviour from the foundation while also enlightening the older generation “that they must begin to prepare the younger generation to make sure they become better road users in future”.
On the purpose of the inspection, the Minister, who clarified that the work being carried out on the road was an emergency repair, and not the real reconstruction of the road, essentially to remove the potholes and reduce the risk of accidents, added that the purpose was to see the progress made on the repairs as the date for the closure of the airport was drawing near.
He told newsmen that, “The work that is being done here, you must understand this is a road of more than 160 kilometres. We are at kilometre 130 from Abuja. So the work that is being done as I said is an emergency intervention essentially to remove the dangerous potholes and eliminate potential hazards that could cause accidents for motorists on this road”.
According to the Minister, there is a major contract provision that is going through Procurement for the essential reconstruction of the road, which he recalled, was constructed in the early 1990s when it was expanded from a single carriageway to a dual carriageway adding that no record indicated that there has been any major repairs ever since.
“So the road needs to be rebuilt because it has been subjected to a lot of axle load. But what we are doing right now is emergency repairs to remove the potholes to make the road safe for commuters ahead of the planned reconstruction and repair of the Abuja Airport runway which will lead to a diversion of air traffic and passengers from Abuja to Kaduna which will start on the 8th of March”, he said.
The Minister, who noted that the role of his Ministry was to make the road motorable and safe for commuters reiterated that he just came to inspect the place to see the progress of work first hand, promised that the Ministry would deliver the road and hoped that the Aviation counterpart would also deliver the runway in six weeks as scheduled by it.
He told the newsmen, “You can see that some sections have been resurfaced completely but that is not the main reconstruction of the road; let us be clear about what is happening here”.
“The whole purpose of this contract is to cover the potholes on the 160 kilometres road two lanes on one side and two lanes on the other side; so that is really to cover 620 kilometres of potholes; that is a contract for N1 billion,” Mr Fashola said, adding that the amount was not what would be needed to rebuild the road.
The Minister reiterated, “So let’s be clear about that. This is emergency short term. When the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) gives the no objection contract, we will start when the airport runway would have been completed”.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A travel card designed for tourists, business visitors, Diaspora returnees has been launched by Verve in partnership with Providus Bank.
Known as the ProvidusVerve Travel Card, the Naira-based travel card will allow inbound travellers to enjoy a smooth, secure, and convenient payment experience throughout their stay in Nigeria. It was powered by Verve’s secure.
Created to support the surge of tourists, expatriates, business visitors, conference delegates, and returning diaspora expected during the festive Detty December season, the ProvidusVerve Travel Card enables seamless payments for transportation, hotels, dining, shopping, entertainment, and everyday essentials nationwide.
The card also works on select global merchant platforms that accept Verve, including Netflix, Google Play, and other digital services, ensuring travellers enjoy uninterrupted access to familiar services.
The ProvidusVerve Travel Card eliminates the hassle of sourcing naira or converting foreign currency on arrival. It enables instant, secure transactions, reduces reliance on cash, and supports compliance with the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
It also mitigates the risks associated with carrying physical cash such as loss, theft, or fraud, offering a safe, regulation-aligned option for both online and in-person payments.
“The ProvidusVerve Travel Card is a timely solution for inbound travellers seeking reliability, security, and simplicity while navigating Nigeria.
“Together with Providus Bank, we have created a product that eliminates the friction traditionally associated with accessing local payments.
“Whether for tourism, business, or festive activities, this card ensures a smooth financial experience from the moment visitors land,” the Vice President for Issuing and Acquiring Management for Africa at Verve International, Mr Paul Ohakim, stated.
On his part, the Divisional Head for Product Management and Solution Delivery at Interswitch, Mr Ademola Adeniran, described the partnership as a reflection of “Verve’s commitment to designing products that respond to real user needs.”
“The ProvidusVerve Travel Card supports everyday experiences — from booking rides and hotels to shopping, streaming, and dining. It provides inbound travellers with a secure, compliant, digital-first way to experience Nigeria without financial barriers,” he added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr Festus Keyamo, has disclosed that the federal government may recover and sell the assets of Dana Air to refund passengers and travel agents whose funds remain trapped following the suspension of the airline’s operations.
The Minister disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at the Ministry’s fourth quarter stakeholders’ engagement to enhance governance for effective service delivery in aviation.
Speaking at the event themed “leveraging public feedback to drive excellence in aviation services, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will be directed to probe why funds trapped by the airline are yet to be refunded.
He revealed that the authority suspended the operations of the airline as a matter of choice between safety and disaster.
“For Dana, the problem is that it was a choice between safety and disaster. So we didn’t take the commercial thing as priority. The priority was safety, and we all looked at the damning reports that we had met on the table.
“It was a decision of the NCAA to suspend them, but I pushed them to say, look, these are the reports we are seeing on the table about safety record, about lack of standards that put the lives of Nigerians at risk. If they continue flying, I don’t know whether most of us will be here. Many of us would have been victims of one of those flights. God forbid.”
According to him, “I have asked Najomo (NCAA director general) to dig deep to find out how those passengers and agents will be refunded. He has to dig deep on that.
“One solution will also be that if that same individual or those entities are trying to come back to aviation under any guise, whether to go and register a new AOC or use any business within the aviation sector, they have to go and settle their debts first.
“We should look at their assets. There are assets that are still available. Let them sell their assets. Let’s cannibalize their revenue and pay people. Let’s find a way to go after their assets and get money to pay Nigerians who are owed.
“NCAA should do that because they can’t get away with it.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said it has imposed a N5 million penalty on Qatar Airways for consumer protection violations.
The announcement was made on Wednesday by the NCAA’s Director of Public Affairs & Consumer Protection, Mr Michael Achimugu, on X, adding that there may be other sanctions depending on how the airline treats other cases.
“Glad to announce that, today, the NCAA has sanctioned @qatarairways to the tune of five million naira being penalty for consumer protection-related infractions. In addition, the letters of investigation (LOI) written to the airline over other cases may lead to further sanctions if not treated satisfactorily,” Mr Achimugu wrote.
The fine followed an incident when a Nigerian passenger was accused by a Qatar Airways cabin crew member of sexual harassment during boarding in Lagos for a flight to the United States via Doha, Qatar.
The allegation was only reported in Doha, where the passenger was arrested, detained for 18 hours, fined, and compelled to sign a document written solely in Arabic.
Qatar Airways allegedly refused to continue his journey, forcing him to purchase another ticket at considerable financial and reputational cost.
The NCAA said it invited Qatar Airways’ country manager to a meeting over the incident, but he failed to attend, sending subordinates instead.
“I understand that some countries do not have advanced aviation consumer protection regulations like Nigeria does. In certain cases, some countries don’t even have any. This creates a situation where airlines operating out of those countries (mostly national carriers) act with disdain towards consumer protection enforcement in Nigeria.
“This is not a situation that we would accept here. It is against the law for ANY Airlines not to respond to the NCAA. It is against the law to provide false information to the NCAA. It is against the law to fail to comply with the provisions of Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023,” Mr Achimugu said in an earlier post.
In September, the NCAA accused Qatar Airways of mistreating Nigerian passengers and failing to comply with consumer protection regulations under Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023.
The regulator then threatened stiff penalties against the airline for repeatedly disregarding its directives.
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