For the second day this week, vehicular movement was hugely restricted at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos following the implementation of ‘Operation Go Cashless” policy by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the tollgate area of the airport.

Vehicular disruption, which began on Sunday, was worse on Monday as motorists spent at least 90 minutes from the Beesam area of the airport to the tollgate, a stretch of less than two kilometers.

This further compounded the woes for motorists, international and local travellers as some of them were seen alighting from their vehicles and opted for motorcycles in order not to miss their flights.

With this new initiative, motorists are mandated to pay toll and access fees electronically, rather than with cash at the airport tollgates.

Apart from Lagos airport, motorists also faced the same harrowing experience at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja.

In fact, motorists and air travellers experienced a worse situation on Sunday than the Lagos’ disruption.

At the Lagos airport Monday, The Guardian observed that many motorists without the required cards, registered on-the-spot, which further slowed traffic.

It was also observed that FAAN deployed additional workers to the access gate including some members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) who were conducting on-the-spot registrations for motorists and other airport users.

Expectedly, airport users expressed frustration over “inadequate public sensitisation and insufficient preparation for the transition” by FAAN.

Some argued that the sudden enforcement did not take into consideration the heavy daily traffic at the nation’s busiest airport.

Speaking on the issue, aviation analyst, Dr Alex Nwuba, confirmed that FAAN did not carry out enough sensitisation programmes in the new policy.

He opined that rather than implement 100 per cent cashless policy in one full sweep, the agency ought to have executed it in phases and dedicate one of the lines to those with cash transactions.

He feared that if the policy was not carefully implemented, it may create more chaos and frustration at the airport.

He added: “The FAAN Managing Director shouted herself hoarse on the implementation, but the road users are in their cars all day, listening, not reading. ATM cards cannot work at a tollgate. The essence of electronic payment is not just security but speed.

“The time to insert a card, enter a pin, wait for authorisation and print a receipt will bring the traffic to a halt. It’s a contactless transit area. There are two ways: give away free contactless cards, allow remote loading, or make users suffer so that they can make the transition.”