The Deputy British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Robin Green, on Wednesday raised concerns over the poor state of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport and its connecting roads.

He said the current state of the roads stood as a militating factor to foreign investment in Lagos and Nigeria as a whole.

Speaking on behalf of the various diplomats, who attended a ceremony to mark the 1,100 days in office of the Governor Babatunde Fashola-led administration, Green said the roads leading to the international airport were in a bad condition and had been a major concern to the international communities.

He inquired from the governor on plans to rehabilitate the roads and inadequate facilities in the airport.

“I have just discussed with my colleagues from USIS about the state of MMA and wanted to know what the state government was doing even though the place is not within its control, the airport serves as a window to Lagos city,” Green said.

Fashola, in response to the question, said that despite the fact that the airport was not under his direct control, he was deeply concerned with the state of the terminal building.

He said the airport needed another terminal building and that the state had submitted a master plan to the Federal Government for a comprehensive rehabilitation of the roads leading to the airport.

He said, “The Federal Government is currently doing some palliative work on the roads, that’s not really what they need; they need a total work. We are presently relating with the Federal Government to see how we can expeditiously build the roads. I am sure in a not too distant time, we would put this behind us.”

The forum, which had the theme, “Harnessing Global Partnerships and Opportunities for Rapid Development and Economic Prosperity,” was dedicated to the diplomatic community, which according to the governor, was part of his government’s efforts to render account of stewardship to the stakeholders in the international community.

He said, “This series is unique to us in Lagos. It is our own public accounting process to stakeholders in our democratic experience to share progress and challenges with our people and those who our actions affect, in order to promote participation in governance, which is a critical ingredient of democracy.”

He noted that in the last three years, the state government had engaged several heads of foreign missions in talks on investment opportunities and partnerships.

He said, “These meetings also offer suggestions on how we can work together to deepen our democracy and ensure political stability as an essential ingredient of economic growth.

“Our road show to the United Kingdom in 2008 resulted in the successful marketing and sourcing of concessionaire interest for the Lagos rail project and the reinforcement of our commitment to the Ikeja Mall development, which has now broken ground and is under construction.

“Most recently, I met with the United States’ Consul-General to explore ways and means of improving the quality of governance in our country.”

Earlier, state Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr. Obafemi Hamzat, gave a one hour presentation of ways in which the Fashola administration had attempted to bring dividends of democracy to the citizenry.

He dwelt on various projects executed by various ministries including Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Education, Health, Housing, Rural Development and Home Affairs.

“Suffice to say that in the last three years, the state government has constructed 248 roads which saw about 24,870 people engaged during the construction process. We have also created about 300,000 jobs in the last three years,” he added.

FROM THE PUNCH

At least something is being done to rectify the issue.