The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said the aviation industry contributes $1billion to the country’s economy annually while providing more than 300, 000 jobs.
The agency assured Nigerians that government would continue to ensure growth in the sector.
Spokesman for the agency, Yakubu Dati, disclosed that most of the leakages observed in the past had been closed by the authority, stressing that this had made it possible for FAAN to scale the American Transportation Security Administration (TSA) security audit carried out earlier in the month at the Lagos Airport.
Speaking on infrastructure of aerodromes, Dati stated that the Federal Government would require at least N25 billion to construct perimeter and operational fences across all the 22 airports owned by it.
He noted that a recent survey carried out by the authority indicated that to properly fence the 22 Federal Governmentowned airports, FAAN would need the massive sum.
According to Dati, each of the 22 airports is about 50 kilometre-long and would require serious investments for all of them to be properly fenced according to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommended practices.
Apart from the four international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt that are partially fenced, other 18 airports owned by the Federal Government are not fenced, a situation, which has led to porosity of the aerodromes and incessant cases of stowaways in recent times.