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The Federal Government has positioned the N712 billion reconstruction and expansion of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Terminal 1, Lagos, as a major infrastructure intervention to transform Nigeria’s principal international gateway into a more modern, efficient and passenger-centred airport.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, disclosed this Tuesday at the opening of the ongoing 35th Airports Council International (ACI) Africa Annual General Assembly, Board and Committee Meetings, Regional Conference and Exhibition in Abuja.

Keyamo said the MMIA Terminal 1 rehabilitation and expansion was part of the Federal Government’s broader programme to modernise Nigeria’s airport infrastructure and align it with the requirements of next-generation airports.

According to him, the intervention goes beyond the physical expansion of terminal facilities, as the government seeks to reposition the airport as a critical component of Nigeria’s aviation and wider economic infrastructure.

‘The rehabilitation and expansion of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Terminal 1 in Lagos is a major intervention designed to transform a historic gateway into a more modern, efficient and passenger-centred international airport,’ he said.

Keyamo stressed that modern airport development must incorporate operational efficiency, resilience, technology, commercial sustainability and passenger experience.

‘This is not merely about concrete, steel and glass. An airport is a country’s front door. When a visitor arrives, the airport is often the first physical expression of the nation that visitor encounters. We therefore want our airports to communicate efficiency, dignity, hospitality and confidence,’ the minister said, noting that the quality of airport infrastructure shapes the first physical impression international visitors have of a country.

While pursuing this objective, the Minister also pointed out that the Federal Government would simultaneously strengthen the capacity of the nation’s airports to support trade, tourism, investment and connectivity.

The minister’s position comes as the global airport industry increasingly moves towards integrated infrastructure in which terminals function not only as passenger-processing facilities but also as commercial, logistics and economic platforms.

He said next-generation airports must be safe, efficient, financially sustainable, technologically enabled, environmentally responsible and resilient to disruption.

Keyamo identified digital transformation, smarter infrastructure, data-driven decision-making and diversified commercial models as critical components of future airport development.

He also linked airport infrastructure development to the government’s broader objective of building an aviation economy in which Nigeria moves beyond consuming aviation services to producing greater value across the aviation value chain.

‘An airport is not simply a place where aircraft land and take off. It is an economic ecosystem,’ he said.

According to him, airports create employment, support tourism and logistics, attract investment, facilitate trade and connect businesses to markets.

He added that the government was encouraging greater private-sector participation in airport infrastructure and services, while maintaining safety, security, service and public-interest standards.

The minister further disclosed that Nigeria was supporting the development of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) capacity, aircraft leasing, cargo infrastructure and other components of the aviation value chain.

On airport connectivity, Keyamo said Africa needed stronger intra-African air links to support the objectives of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

He argued that airport infrastructure would be central to converting Africa’s expanding economic space into practical connectivity and increased movement of people, goods and services.

‘Aviation must help make that economic integration real,’ he said.

Keyamo also disclosed that Nigeria recorded an Effective Implementation score of 91.45 per cent following the 2026 ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission, describing the result as the country’s highest-ever score.

He, however, said the achievement should be treated as a new baseline rather than a destination, stressing the need for continued improvement in aviation safety and institutional performance.

The minister said the transformation of Nigerian airports must ultimately be measured by passenger experience, with technologies such as biometrics, artificial intelligence, automation and data analytics deployed to make journeys safer, faster and more efficient.

He called for stronger collaboration among African governments, airport operators, airlines, regulators, investors and development partners to address the continent’s infrastructure and connectivity gaps.

The 35th ACI Africa gathering, he said, should therefore produce partnerships, investments and implementable solutions capable of strengthening the resilience and competitiveness of African airports.

The Chairman of the Board of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, on Thursday affirmed that conflicting regulatory demands by the NUC and professional regulatory bodies were imposing huge and avoidable costs on Nigerian universities and students.

Ogundipe stated this while delivering the 16th convocation lecture of Osun State University (UNIOSUN), Osogbo.

Speaking on the theme, ‘Coping With Double Oversight: Harmonising the NUC and Professional Bodies for a Sustainable University System,’ the former UNILAG vice-chancellor said overlapping regulatory responsibilities had become a major challenge to the effective administration of university education in Nigeria.

He maintained that while professional regulatory bodies had important roles to play in ensuring professional standards, they should not usurp the statutory responsibilities of the NUC, particularly in matters concerning the admission of students into universities.

According to him, the NUC remains the statutory authority responsible for determining whether universities can admit students, stressing that professional councils should operate within clearly defined jurisdictional boundaries.

Ogundipe explained that the NUC operates alongside several professional regulatory bodies, including the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, the Council of Legal Education, the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria.

He said the situation had become increasingly complex because the different regulatory agencies operated under separate laws, accreditation requirements and professional standards, sometimes resulting in conflicting directives to universities.

The academic don, however, stressed that the solution was not to weaken regulation, but to make it more coherent, predictable and transparent, noting that quality assurance must remain central to the university system.

‘Nigeria does not need less regulation of university education; it needs better regulation. Quality assurance must remain non-negotiable,’ he said.

Ogundipe identified six major areas of friction between the NUC and professional bodies, including curriculum ownership, accreditation timelines and costs, differences between minimum university standards and professional standards, institutional capacity, resistance to new universities, and challenges associated with professional registration after the National Youth Service Corps scheme.

He also identified inadequate data as another major weakness in the regulatory system, warning that poor coordination among regulators could affect institutional planning, academic staffing, students and public confidence in the university system.

The NUC board chairman further faulted attempts by professional bodies to determine qualifications for academic positions in universities, arguing that the university system must retain responsibility for academic appointments while professional councils focused on standards within their respective professions.

He said the country also needed to address the gap between its population and the number of universities available to provide access to tertiary education, while ensuring that expansion did not compromise quality.

To resolve the challenges, Ogundipe proposed a five-pillar framework comprising clear legislative and policy boundaries between regulators, a permanent national consultative mechanism, harmonised accreditation procedures, student-protective developmental accreditation and a shared national regulatory information platform.

He also called for a national task group, unified regulatory matrices, coordinated accreditation pilots, student-protection protocols, improved regulatory intelligence and collective advocacy as part of measures to implement the proposed reforms.

Ogundipe disclosed that the NUC would require universities to update their institutional data annually as part of efforts to tackle the problem of academic staff working simultaneously in multiple institutions, commonly referred to as moonlighting.

He urged universities to take greater responsibility for maintaining academic standards, while advising graduating students to familiarise themselves with the regulatory requirements governing their professions and to register with the relevant professional bodies.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor of UNIOSUN, Professor Odunayo Clement Adebooye, said the institution had recorded significant growth in its academic programmes, research activities and postgraduate education.

Adebooye disclosed that the university had increased its undergraduate academic programmes from 66 in 2022 to 128, while its postgraduate programmes had risen from 99 to 299 within the same period.

He added that the university had secured 175 international research grants, describing the development as evidence of growing research capacity and international engagement.

The vice-chancellor said the stability and growth recorded by the university were partly attributable to the character of successive administrations in Osun State, while describing convocation lectures as important platforms for generating ideas capable of influencing public policy.

The Michael Adeniyin Koleosho Polytechnic, Saki, Oyo State, has intensified efforts to secure accreditation from the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) for additional programmes being offered by the institution.

The move, according to the management of the polytechnic, is aimed at expanding opportunities for students, particularly those completing four-year Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes, to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.

Among the programmes being presented for accreditation are engineering-related courses, Business Administration, HND Mass Communication and other related programmes, and already, more than 90 courses have been accredited at the institution.

As part of the accreditation process, a team from the NBTE recently visited the polytechnic to inspect its facilities, equipment and other resources required for the proposed programmes.

The team conducted the resource inspection and assessed the facilities and equipment available for the various programmes.

At the end of the exercise, the NBTE team expressed satisfaction with the facilities and equipment provided by the institution, while encouraging the management to sustain its efforts towards the development of the polytechnic.

The team also commended the management for the quality of equipment available at the institution and urged it to continue investing in the development of the polytechnic.

Following the exercise, the NBTE team visited the palace of the Okere of Saki to receive royal blessings.

The accreditation drive is part of the efforts of the management, under the leadership of the Rector, Dr Ajibola Sikiru, to further develop the institution and expand its range of accredited programmes.