VIPs in Nigeria will no longer be able to bring aides who are not traveling with them to airport terminals, at least for the foreseeable future.
The country’s Minister of Aviation Hadi Sirika made the announcement as part of measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic by reducing the number of people present at airport terminals ahead of a resumption of domestic flights.
“Henceforth, all VIPs will no longer be permitted to bring non-traveling aides into the Airport Terminals. This especially applies to Governors, Ministers, NASS members, Judiciary and Military officers,” Sirika said.
Airports in the capital Abuja and Lagos will open on July 8 for domestic flights while a handful of others (Kano, Port Harcourt, Owerri and Maiduguri) are set to open July 11 and the rest on July 15.
Sirika said that he expected full compliance as he is a public servant who leads in that instance by example.
“Everyone who has seen me travel knows that I don’t travel with aides or assistants. I travel alone, I carry my bags by myself. I’m leading by example, so I expect all VIPs to comply with the new directive that no non-traveling aides will be permitted in Terminals,” he added.
Nigeria’s official delegations are notoriously large and costly with critics arguing that some members have little or nothing to do with the event they are attending.
Sirika also announced measures which will be taken to ensure that there is a relative smooth flow of travellers to avoid congestion at terminals.
“We will sequence domestic flight arrivals and departures to ensure we don’t flood the Terminals, and that we are able to respect physical distancing requirements,” he said.
Other procedures to be implemented ahead of the resumption are: mandatory temperature and symptoms checks, compulsory wearing of face masks inside the airport and airplanes, frequent cleaning of hands and maintenance of physical distancing at all times.
The Nigerian government is expected to announce the date for resumption of international flights in due course.
