Aviation experts and Jet A1 marketers have called on the Federal Government to urgently rehabilitate and reopen the 98-kilometre pipeline that supplies aviation fuel to the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos.

They noted that restoring the long-shut facility would eliminate over 100 fuel trucks from Lagos roads daily, easing traffic congestion, reducing accidents, and lowering the cost of aviation fuel.

The pipeline, closed in 1992 after a rupture, was reportedly shut down amid government suspicions of sabotage.

Speaking on Thursday at a colloquium themed “Aviation Fuel Business in Nigeria: The Scenario and the Metaphor,” the Managing Director of CITA Energies Ltd, Dr. Thomas Ogungbangbe, emphasized the need to revive the pipeline, citing reasons of efficiency, safety, security, and product quality.

Ogungbangbe further noted that reopening the facility could save the country millions of dollars each month and urged authorities to tackle systemic inefficiencies in the aviation sector.

He also lamented that the number of aviation fuel marketers now exceeds the available airlines in the country and appealed to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority to urgently review the number of licensed marketers operating at Nigerian airports.

“We still lose millions of Jet A1 to our neighbouring African countries in West African countries. However, some of these are being reduced due to the emergence of Dangote Refineries in the last 18 months.

“Now, our industry is growing, but we are groaning due to a lack of adequate control. We used to have about six fuel marketers, but now, we have about 45, which is good for the industry, but now, we have a problem with the quality of the product.”

Also speaking, the Managing Director of Ndano Energy, Mr. Chris Ndulue, urged the NCAA to strengthen its oversight of the quality of aviation fuel supplied to airlines.

He further advised the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to exercise greater caution in allocating land to operators within airport premises.

“Some airports have about 30 fuel marketers. At Enugu airport, for instance, we have about five fuel marketers, which is a high number for the operators at that airport. It is increasingly necessary for people to work together. Though it is quite difficult because of the poor experience of some who collaborated in the past, the truth is that we can’t run away from it,” he said.