Nigerians Booted off London-Lagos British Airways Flight…Nigerian Embassy Should Investigate

45 comment(s)

1. Uncle Che | Apr 10, 2008 | Reply

   At least, I could have been clear to Ayodeji Omotade that speaking on behalf of a man being forcibly deported will just be like throwing water on a duck’s back. The decission to deport that man must have been taken in high places and no group of passengers could act as a court to reverse that. I am not very sure Ayodeji Omotade is telling us the real story. I don’t think he only said “Do not kill him”. He must have been loud, noisy and arrogant, I believe.

2. Misi | Apr 11, 2008 | Reply

   @Uncle Che, if you are an African or a Nigerian you will know our culture - we are not like our oyinbo counterparts who watch silently when they see an injustice, in most cases the average Nigerian would usually interfere trying to bring peace. I say that because I have witnessed many events like that where the Nigerian peacemakers try to bring peace. With that said, I strongly believe that BA’s acts boarded on racism. Having being a passenger on BA (millions of times) the captains & hosts/esses treat us extremely badly and I get the impression they only tolerate us because we are one of their biggest customers. I deliberately chose the word tolerate because that’s all our relationship with them is. Fine Nigerians can be the most annoying customers at times but the fact still remains that we are paying customers and we are entitled to the same rights as every paying customer.
   Back to Mr. Ayodele, my suggestion is get a d**n good attorney and suck BA for their last kobo. They caused you a lot of emotional distress (IIED in law) and denied you the opportunity to witness your brother’s wedding. Please make sure you milk them and teacher them a lesson for all of us.
   To Nigerian Embassy & Government, how long will you keep your hands folded and watch your people being maltreated by service providers all over the world. You alone have the power of sanctions, so why not exercise it. Start with airlines like BA, Delta & KLM who don’t respect your people even though we pay them millions monthly and a greater partaker in their revenue increases. I hope this will not fall on deaf ears…like many other issues!

3. Don Thieme | Apr 16, 2008 | Reply

   Uncle Che, I believe that if you watch the BBC interview with Mr. Ayodele that you will find him very believable. This is not a “disruptive” or “violent” man. The entire plane full of passengers was removed and forced to reschedule, not just Mr. Ayodele. Nigerians need to make British Airways feel this in their pocketbook, where it will hurt the most.

   When I signed the petition at Nigerian Village Square, I did not see many familiar names on there. Every reader of African Loft needs to sign!

4. Omotaylor | Apr 16, 2008 | Reply

   Is British Airways a racist airline, A CAPITAL YES. I have witnessed racism, rudeness and shabby treatment of Nigerians who paid good money to fly BA. This was in them days when I used to fly BA. For over 6 years now, I have given myself a ban from flying BA and have never regretted this decision. Yes flying airlines like Virgin Nigeria, Bellview etc may not be on a modern plane like BA but i feel more at home with the environ, enjoy the service that reminds me that I am an African and a respected customer. Sorry to hear about Mr Omotade’s misfortune and ugliness metted on him. Hope he follows Misi’s advice and dont relent in dealing with BA. BA has actually done Mr Omotade a favour by banning him for life. Wish Nigerians would boycott BA flights until they eat humble pie and treat Nigerians with respect. Oh yes some will say Nigerians are difficult and do not respect themselves either. Not 100% true. Nigerians are changing and behaving better, while BA does what the typical “Gesi oyibo” would normally do. OPEN OR COVERT RACISM, BLATTANT LIES WHICH THEY ARE SO USED TO, AND HOLIER THAN THOU ATTITUDE. I am not surprised that BA has been dogged by so many misfortunes in recent years. There is a force above oyibo treachery, and this Force is my almighty and omnipotent GOD.

5. CareTaker | Apr 19, 2008 | Reply

   The Nigerian embassy in the UK should investigate this matter.

6. solomonsydelle | Apr 25, 2008 | Reply

   “He must have been loud, noisy and arrogant”

   Wow, uncle Che. You really believe that? If so, that is indeed sad. Let me explain. You just categorized this man based on whatever stereotypes you have in your head about people. You don’t know this individual and i daresay that if you took the time to look closer into this incident and also into similar incidents involving Nigerians, other Africans, and people of Carribean and Asian heritage, you would realize that this is one of many incident involving BA or as I have repeatedly called them, Brutish Airways.

   To demean and disrespect any person based on their heritage is wrong and if I understand English law, illegal. All people must reject such behavior and encourage all individuals and organizations to treat people, and speak of people, with respect.

   NIGERIAN CURIOSITY
   IT WAS SO MUCH EASIER WHEN I ONLY HAD ONE…

7. Misi | Apr 26, 2008 | Reply

   @Solomonsydelle, thank you so much for posting that attachment. It just makes me more angry knowing BA’s internal culture through the eyes of its employee. Everyone please check out the attachments kindly posted by Solomonsydelle.
   Here is an excerpt: “Brutish Airways has seemingly not taken the threatened boycott and Nigerian demands for an apology seriously. The company, under its leader Willie Walsh, who I again say should be fired, has shown its disregard for Nigerians by ignoring summons to meet with Nigerian federal government officials. The company has also refused to properly address concerns raised by the boycott organizers. These actions, or rather non-actions, more than anything else, are a clear illustration of what Brutish Airways really is. I leave you to draw your own conclusions.”
   ALL PLEASE BOYCOTT BRUTISH AIRWAYS!

8. AG | Apr 26, 2008 | Reply

   It’s sad that things like this continue to happen. But I wonder how successful a BA boycott would work for a variety of reasons which may not be important in this discourse. That said, the issue has less to do with the Brits than it has more to do with nigerians. After several years of oil wealth we can’t boast any major world airlines of our own, little wonder why sometimes we can only take what we are given; no matter how unsavory. The long term solution to problems like this is really about a nigerian vision, which is non-existent, at least to my knowledge. Let’s say the boycott works, a year from now, all of the pent-up emotions would have cooled off and it will be business as usual. However, the long-term problems remain unchanged - which can be summarized like this, Nigeria with an abundance of talent and wealth, lacks the infrastructure and cohesiveness to stand and compete on the world stage as a people. Our expectations should not be very high if we continue to lack a vision and a direction.

9. Abisola | Apr 26, 2008 | Reply

   Well,i amreally disappointed dat BA can b racist towards one of the countries dat bring them MAJOR profit!No long talk,i aint taking BA again period.

10. Maria | Apr 26, 2008 | Reply

    ok, I must admit I started out with the same thought process as uncle Che. Then I realized that, it is this mentality that allows these airlines and organizations to mistreat us. They basically figure that we will disown and detach from our own people in circumstances like these. if we can’t stand up for ourselves, why would they or anyone else give a damn.
    True, we don’t have first hand info about Mr Omotade’s behaviour but we do know that BA does not have a good track record.
    Yes , some of us may get loud but don’t British, Americans and all others?????
    Let’s not give them a FREE TICKET TO ABUSE US.

11. IB | Apr 28, 2008 | Reply

    Uncle Che I can well understand your first thoughts, having myself witnessed a Nigerians behaviour on a flight and even towards me as a passanger of his taxi. However, a few bad eggs doesn’t spoil the whole bunch. You could easily be misviewed or misquoted yourself in a situation, what would you expect of your country men - to stand support and defend or abandon you. I’m not saying we should support negative attitudes but lets not accept to be treated like animals.

    Most of all lets not put aside the comments of AG, he has said what is most critical, we need to grow as a country otherwise we subject ourselves and our citizens to these kind of treatment.

    Mr. Omotade, its not easy but if you are able and capable of suing BA then please do so, not only for yourself but for the all the Nigerians without a voice. We stand behind you and remain your kinsfolk.

    Aluta!

12. Human Rights Attorney | Apr 28, 2008 | Reply

    Suspend BA’s Landing Rights

    Globalization has been embraced in all spheres of human endeavour, in theory if not always in practice. From cross-border professional practice to inter-racial marriages, from exchange programmes between business and academic institutions to nearly-free movement of goods and services, the Global Village is the 21st century’s keynote. This has given rise to increased tolerance among peoples, cultures, and races across continents.

    Antitrust laws and enhanced competition, coupled with the growing emphasis on corporate governance and corporate social responsibility, have combined to constrain business organisations of all sizes to improve their client, human and public relations.

    In the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher the Milk Snatcher snatched the milk from giant monopolies like British Rail, British Gas, British Telecoms, and British Airways when that great Prime Minister commercialised, liberalised and privatised virtually everything, leading to the great prosperity which the UK continues to enjoy today. Speed and efficiency in the rendering of services and the supply of public utilities gradually became the order of the day. Bureaucratic red tape sagged. Competition at first sauntered, and then matched into the various business and service arenas. Quality in the production of goods and supply of services improved.

    British Airways did not like the trend set in by Thatcherism. And when Rebel Billionaire Richard Branson set up Virgin Airways, BA openly and shamelessly prayed for his planes to ‘drop out of the sky’. BA never gave Virgin a chance. Virgin came with new ideas and new ways of doing things, friendlier staff, prettier girls, lower fares, Equal Opportunity Employment policies. BA fought Virgin with all the evil weapons in its arsenal.

    Virgin, young as it is relative to BA which has been operating the Nigerian route for decades, already employs more Nigerians than BA. Without just cause or excuse, BA hates Nigerians.

    It is against this briefly outlined background that we at Law firm, as human rights and immigration lawyers, view the recent maltreatment of Nigerians aboard a BA flight. The facts, briefly, are as follows:-
    1. A Nigerian deportee was handcuffed unnecessarily and unlawfully aboard a BA plane late last month.
    2. Compatriot Ayo Omotade complained.
    3. BA crew threw the concerned Nigerian citizen, who was merely and admirably being his brother’s keeper, off the plane and banned him from using their services.
    4. Other Nigerian passengers on the same plane voiced their discomfiture at the mistreatment of their fellow citizens.
    5. They were all shabbily removed from the plane, which then proceeded to fly the deportee home.

    When confronted with the outcry of numerous Nigerians including the Federal Government, BA invoked the defence of statutory authority. They asserted that they had conducted themselves in accordance with the UK Immigration Act of 1971. This excuse is completely misleading and does not avail BA. Perhaps they assumed that Nigerians are not familiar with that statute. Well, at Law firm we have studied the legislation in detail and can find no provision in it that could justify or excuse the conduct of BA crew.

    •BA’s handcuffing of the deportee is insupportable by statute.
    •BA’s jettisoning of Ayo Omotade is insupportable by statute.
    •BA’s disembarking of the other Nigerian passengers is insupportable by statue.

    The egregious and extravagantly aggressive and violent conduct of that BA crew was not in compliance with the UK Immigration Act of 1971, nor indeed with any provision in any UK Immigration Act or Rules, nor compatible with any law for the time being in force in any part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. BA showed off that crew of scallywags as a bunch of ineducable racists and savages.

    Unfortunately for BA, the March 27 incident is not an isolated one, but merely another turn in the long history of racially-actuated ill-treatment of Nigerians in particular and Africans in general by BA, an organisation stuck in the colonial mould of its founders.

    The Day of Judgment against BA in Nigeria has come!

    The Law firm Law firm joins other Nigerians in calling for a total boycott of British Airways by Nigerian passengers, even when this would entail travelling by indirect routes. Nigerians can afford to be selective of the airlines we patronize if the airlines can be selective of the nationalities of the passengers deserving their respectful service and treatment.

    Law firm in addition demands that the Federal Government should suspend the landing rights of British Airways at Nigerian airports until BA fully and publicly accepts responsibility for its mistreatment of Nigerians, tenders an unreserved apology and pays reasonable compensation to the deportee, to Ayo Omotade the patriotic sympathiser, and to the other Nigerian passengers initially aboard that flight, all of whom were insulted in their personal dignity, racial identity, national pride, and common humanity.

    Compensation of the adversely affected Nigerian passengers would accord with Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of Europe of 11 February 2004, which established common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights. In legal effect, Ayo Omotade and the rest of the Nigerian passengers suffered at least a constructive denial of boarding and cancellation of their flights.

    The despicable treatment of those Nigerian passengers also violated their human rights and passenger rights. It amounted to a blanket, prejudiced assault on their rights as stipulated under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Involving as it did a major airline of an allegedly “friendly” nation (UK) and passengers from her partner (Nigeria), the attack also entailed diplomatic implications. It would require a gesture from the British Government towards the Nigerian Government and people. For example, it has created an opportunity for the former colonial mistress to review her harsh and negative visa policy towards Nigerians and her negative immigration attitude to our people generally.

    Nigerians in their private capacities contribute billions of pounds to the UK economy, and our government is a major trade partner in a grossly unequal partnership. This diplomatic incident, for it amounts to that, should give the Nigerian state pause regarding her relationship with the UK. Is it not time for us to deal less with the Brits and more with other people who show us some respect?

13. Louis Odion | Apr 30, 2008 | Reply

    The British Airways Affair:
    A chilling testimony
    By hile I no longer fly BA worldwide, I empathize with Nigerian and other passengers who are not so fortunate to have similar choices. I am also very pleased that Delta Airlines among others will be having direct flights from the US to Nigeria and other African countries which should spare many US based travelers the indignities of experiencing BA’s shabby treatment as well as the patently racist immigration personnel at Heathrow. Heathrow Airport, Terminal 4 is the only place I know that immigration officials meet the passengers at the exit gallery from the plane and essentially rough handle innocent passengers in public view. It is the only time in my life when a dog was set at me to “sniff” me as I exit the plane. That incident sticks with me as if it happened yesterday. The incident took place in 2006 and I have never flown BA or through Heathrow since then. I may be fire-hosed next time, as the experience got increasingly worse with each trip. While the immigration officials use July 7, 2005 (7/7) terrorist incident in London as an excuse to maltreat passengers, my experience with BA and Heathrow dates back to well before 7/7. Hopefully someone in authority in Britain will be smart enough to recognize that government support of immigration officials who utilize terror to intimidate innocent travelers win no friends, but only serve to create terrorists of innocent people against innocent British nationals.

    Back to the latest incident involving flight BA75, I trust the Nigerian government will stand firm against BA on this incident. I personally would like to see British Airways banished forever from Nigerian and African skies. The only positive achievement of the late General Abacha was the banning of BA from Nigeria in the late 1990

    Unfortunately, the airline was allowed to return to Nigerian skies to continue inflicting its misery on African passengers. Obviously if the African (especially Nigerian) market were not so lucrative for BA, the airline would have voluntarily and thankfully withdrawn from that market. I know the passenger capacity of BA flights from US to London and from London to Nigeria. I trust that enough of us Nigerians are passionate on this issue to make BA ouster from African skies a reality.While I no longer fly BA worldwide, I empathize with Nigerian and other passengers who are not so fortunate to have similar choices. I am also very pleased that Delta Airlines among others will be having direct flights from the US to Nigeria and other African countries which should spare many US based travelers the indignities of experiencing BA’s shabby treatment as well as the patently racist immigration personnel at Heathrow. Heathrow Airport, Terminal 4 is the only place I know that immigration officials meet the passengers at the exit gallery from the plane and essentially rough handle innocent passengers in public view. It is the only time in my life when a dog was set at me to “sniff” me as I exit the plane. That incident sticks with me as if it happened yesterday. The incident took place in 2006 and I have never flown BA or through Heathrow since then. I may be fire-hosed next time, as the experience got increasingly worse with each trip. While the immigration officials use July 7, 2005 (7/7) terrorist incident in London as an excuse to maltreat passengers, my experience with BA and Heathrow dates back to well before 7/7. Hopefully someone in authority in Britain will be smart enough to recognize that government support of immigration officials who utilize terror to intimidate innocent travelers win no friends, but only serve to create terrorists of innocent people against innocent British nationals.

    Back to the latest incident involving flight BA75, I trust the Nigerian government will stand firm against BA on this incident. I personally would like to see British Airways banished forever from Nigerian and African skies. The only positive achievement of the late General Abacha was the banning of BA from Nigeria in the late 1990

    Unfortunately, the airline was allowed to return to Nigerian skies to continue inflicting its misery on African passengers. Obviously if the African (especially Nigerian) market were not so lucrative for BA, the airline would have voluntarily and thankfully withdrawn from that market. I know the passenger capacity of BA flights from US to London and from London to Nigeria. I trust that enough of us Nigerians are passionate on this issue to make BA ouster from African skies a reality.

14. Misi | May 1, 2008 | Reply

    FYI:
    NBA sues British Airways for maltreatment of Nigerian —-By Tony Amokeodo

    The Nigerian Bar Association has dragged the British Airways before the Federal High Court in Lagos, following the maltreatment of its Nigerian passenger, Mr Ayo Omotade.

    In a motion ex-parte jointly filed by Omotade, NBA and its President, Mr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), the plaintiffs are seeking the leave of the court to enforce Omotade‘s human rights against the BA.

    Omotade, a Nigerian citizen and an information technology consultant based in Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom, was one of the Nigerian passengers on a recent BA flight.

    He was said to have expressed concern in the way a Nigerian deportee, who was handcuffed and screaming in pidgin English, I go die o, was being restrained by the UK police officers.

    Omotade, who reportedly pleaded with the officers not to kill the deportee, was said to have been humiliated, handcuffed and branded as a ‘disruptive passenger.‘

    The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare that the arrest, detention, humiliation and the persecution of Omotade on March 27 on board the BA‘s flight BA075 from London to Lagos without lawful justification was illegal.

    They added that the development was a violation of Omotade‘s rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement and expression, protection against racial and ethnic discrimination and protection from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

    The plaintiffs are also asking the court to restrain BA and its agents from further arresting, molesting or persecuting Omotade.

    Agbakoba also wants the court to hold that as a human rights activist, public interest litigator and president of the NBA, he is competent to initiate the suit on behalf of Nigerian passengers numbering over 100 on the BA‘s flight in the public interest.

    NBA further urged the court to declare that as the umbrella association of Nigerian lawyers with a stake in advancing the human rights of Nigerians all over the world, it is competent to join in filing the suit.

    The plaintiffs are therefore demanding public apology from the BA, saying that the apology should be published in five major Nigerian dailies.

    They are also asking the BA to pay compensatory damages to Omotade for his unlawful arrest and detention.

    No date has been fixed for the hearing of the matter.

15. Lawrence | May 2, 2008 | Reply

    “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere… whatever affects one person directly affects all indirectly” …Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

    Every rational thinking human being should feel the pain of the injustice inflicted on Omotade as deeply as he did. Its quite unimaginable that in the year 2008 that a whole race of people represented by the passengers in that flight would still be subject to such level of discrimination and injustice.

    If we ignore this issue as we have often done in the past, if we stand aloof and allow this issue to be swept under the carpet of indifference, then we would have successful validated their action and established their impression of us as toothless bulldogs and lame ducks who deserve to be treated as dirts.

    The very least that we expect from the FGN is to place a ban on that airline for the next one year. Be that as it may, we must leverage on this despicable incident to redefine our relationship with BA and as many organizations and countries that may have such tendencies towards us-WE MUST BE TREATED WITH FAIRNESS AND DIGNITY LIKE ANYONE ELSE!

16. Omotaylor | May 2, 2008 | Reply

    I go all the way back first to AG’s comment of April 26 and yes very true say. Nigerians need to awaken to our real position and how we are viewed by “haters”. Nevertheless this still does not give BA the right to act the way they did, period. Boycotting BA would surely mark our collective protest against Racism, dehumanisation and blatant abuse of power on the part of BA. For 6 years now I have boycotted BA due to their disrespect for passengers for I have observed this a lot, but never been directly affected. Even if some Nigerians behave “crudely”, we need to study the cultural backgrounds of different people before trying to label them. If I eat eba with fingers while the English eat marsh potato with fork and knife doesnt make me less of a human being.

    I have pondered over and over again on this BA issue and realised that as much as we are all calling for a Boycott, our Nigerian ‘leaders’ ‘movers’ and ’shakers’ who are used to the “best of the best”, flying premium first class on BA with our hard earned and their easy earned money will not be boycotting BA, unfortunately.

17. BA Can't Help It | May 3, 2008 | Reply

    I just flew from London to LA on BA in Business Class. The flight is roughly 11hours long. As a typical black woman, I decided to wrap my hair in a scarf for the flight. My seat was in the upper cabin on the 747. During the flight I went downstairs to Club Kitchen to grab a bite to eat. As I was helping myself to a packet of crisps and some chocolate, a very nasty air hostess said in a loud and condescending voice ‘these (the food) are for business class customers only not world traveller customers, please go back to your section’. I looked at her slowly, continued to help myself and then said in my own snooty voice ‘well actually I’m just managing on this flight since I usually fly First’ and then went back to my seat. 10 minutes later she came upstairs to look for me and started apologising profusely saying she was just protecting the club passengers from the scavengers in world traveller since they keep coming through to steal food. I just looked at her and continued watching my film. The bottom line is this, all blacks will be treated badly by BA, they just can’t help themselves.

18. Omotaylor | May 3, 2008 | Reply

    @BA cant help it, thanks for sharing your experience which is one of too many. But BA CAN HELP IT. All they need do is practice what they preach. You see they are just too full of themselves. Cant wait for China Airlines to take all their business away as it is happening in the world of technology and business. Not their fault. Nigeria had such a pride called Avaition and Airlines in dem yesteryears. Hope you will be boycotting them too,.

19. Didiane | May 4, 2008 | Reply

    The man called Uncle Che must be a BA fan…he didnt doubt what BA said, he doubted what his fellow Nigeria said. Well, he will surely get what he wants one day..humiliation from BA…then we will all tell him he must have been lying. It will surely happen.

20. Kenny Bashland | May 7, 2008 | Reply

    Please at this point ,I strongly believe we should all collectively make a strong and clear statement to BA , None of thier country men would be treated like that in/from Nigeria . Please BOYCOTT this carrier and let them feel our patronage . Thank you

21. Adachioma Mike | May 13, 2008 | Reply

    I do agree with you AG. In this instance, Nigerians must stand to their feet and make the country be valued if only what needs to be done is implemented on.

22. Adachioma Mike | May 13, 2008 | Reply

    I think Virgin Nigeria should have its terminal at heathrow because Gatwick is usually not convinent for those not not having anyone to pick them on arrival. I should suggest they have a space in heathrow and by so doing many Nigerians can travel with them. I flew Belview once but i dare not try it again to London. We need Nigerian crafts just as other nations do have theirs…there is Libya airways, Ghana airways and so on.

23. Misi | May 13, 2008 | Reply

    Virgin does go to Heathrow from Lagos.

24. Omotaylor | May 13, 2008 | Reply

    Virgin Nigeria only flies out from Gatwick while Virgin Airways flies out from Heathrow. Although Gatwick is a bit out of town, there is direct Gatwick ~Express to the heart of London (Victoria) and the connections are very direct and easy. Virgin Nigeria is good for Nigerians because we like to carry luggage i.e. we always have excess baggage to carry and Virgin Nigeria allows 32kg per suitcase (2 suitcases per passenger). Other airlines allow 23 - 25kg per suitcase). I fly Virgin Nigeria regularly and to be honest depending on where you live in London, Gatwick could be a cheaper option than Heathrow. Virgin Nigeria may not boast of state of the arts planes like BA, but it is nice to see Nigerians in the Uniform again, they are very polite and professional and you have a very at home feel on their flights e.g. Nigerian music, Nollywood films and the cuisine has a Nigerian feel too. So who needs BA?

    Like Mike above I flew Bellview once and that was once too many, they were late, plane really old and service just tolerable.

    As Virgin Airways terminal is in Heathrow,it only makes sense that Virgin Nigeria terminal is in Gatwick. It could be worse for Stanstead is a more difficult airport to get to.

    Yes Yes, we need to stick to our resolve to boycott BA.

25. Omotaylor | May 13, 2008 | Reply

    I GOT THIS VIA EMAIL AS SENT BY A FRIEND. IT WAS SUPPOSEDLY ADDRESSED TO DELE MOMODU. THOUGHT I SHOULD SHARE A DIFFERENT SIDE WITH YOU, TAGGED - “NIGERIAN NOISEMAKERS”:

    First, I got this from Olu Ayodeji:
    I have to admit I’m one of the great admirers of yours; in terms of your business acumen and your regular column in This Day which I do read religiously online every Saturday. Also I wish to state that I’m one of the few African ‘Cabin Services Director’ (CSD) working on BA flights and I’ve been a London based BA employee for over ten years on the ‘Longhaul’ fleet. I must stress that I’m not writing this rejoinder as an official spokesperson for BA, rather I’m doing this as a Nigerian who had witnessed at close quarters the attitude of fellow Nigerians on BA flights.
    A number of my friends had called my attention to the petition/campaign going on the internet regarding BA. I wasn’t going to pay much attention to this until you alluded to it in your column. Contrary to what most Nigerians may believe, BA is not a racist company; BA employs more people from ethnic minorities than any other public quoted company in the UK, and it was also one of the first companies in the 90’s to introduce positive discrimination by insisting that new job applicants must be able to speak a second language. Among the languages officially recognised were Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa; and each crew employee gets annual allowance for speaking another language. Even Richard Branson’s Virgin had not managed to do this. I was employed mainly on merit without having to ‘press any button’ or contact any ‘godfather’ for favouritism.
    Of course, there is no disputing the fact that the Nigerian route is one of the most lucrative routes for BA, but also one of the most problematic. When I first joined BA, I used to stand up to my colleagues, at the risk of losing my job, to defend fellow Nigerians’ integrity. Sadly, over the years, I’ve since abandoned that attitude having witnessed and experienced first hand the embarrassing attitude of Nigerians. As an employer of labour yourself, you will agree with me that employees are employed to work to certain rules and standards. Most Nigerians I’ve had to deal with expect you to bend the rules for them; even when you try to explain that such compromise could cost you your job.
    About five years ago, when BA was still flying to Malaysia, I witnessed first hand when a high ranking Nigeria Diplomat slapped a BA colleague of mine on the face for having the audacity to stop him from bringing a hand luggage that had exceeded the limit on a London bound flight. He produced his diplomatic passport to avoid arrest by the Malaysian Airport security. In my over ten years of flying, I’ve suffered more abuse in the hands of fellow Nigerians who were passengers on flights I operated on than from any other Nationalities. I’ve witnessed so much fighting - verbal and physical - among passengers on Lagos bound flights over what I will call trivial issues.
    While most black people I’ve encountered in the course of my flights are often proud of me as a fellow black man and offered words of encouragements, most Nigerians often see my presence on their flights as an opportunity to bend the rules for them, and barrage of negative comments often followed whenever such request was turned down. Only about three weeks ago on a flight from Chicago, I had to intervene to stop a Nigerian woman with three children from being offloaded from the flight because she was very abusive towards a lady colleague of mine. This woman’s grievance was that she was not allocated a seat that would enable her to put her infant baby in a ‘flight cot’. No amount of polite explanation that there were other families that missed out as well, and that this allocation was done on ‘first come first served basis’ would stop her from shouting at the top of her voice. I had to tactically intervene and spoke to her in Yoruba that she was on the verge of being off-loaded. That was when she stopped her embarrassing posturing.
    Most of my colleagues, especially those who had been operating for decades as crew on Nigerian routes, often spoke highly of Nigerians they had met and had made friends with. Some of my white colleagues have told me stories of how they’ve gone out socially with some of our Nigerian passengers and how pleasant some of them can be. At the same time, they are often frustrated especially with the present generation of Nigerians who see every shortcoming on the part of BA as a basis for confrontation, verbal or physical assault.
    I heard of an incidence from one of our Captains: About three years ago, a Nigerian Minister of Aviation caused a BA London bound flight from Lagos to be refused dispatch clearance by Air Traffic Control. The said minister was supposed to be on the flight, but he arrived late to the airport and the aircraft had already pushed back from the air bridge. He wanted the aircraft to come back to the stand so that he could board, this request was against the BA policy, apart from security issues involved. But the minister wouldn’t take no for an answer. After the flight was delayed for about three hours on the tarmac, and intervention from BA HQ and Aso Rock, the minister sadly had his way. My colleague told me that throughout the said flight, the minister was very rude to the crew attending to him.
    Sir, again as an employer of labour yourself, I hope you will appreciate some of the difficult circumstances we as BA crew face when having to deal with Nigerians; most of these situations are sadly unique to Nigeria. I don’t even want to delve into credit card fraud we had to endure, or so many negative experiences of my colleagues that work on the ground at Heathrow.
    Of course as a profit making company, I agree with you that BA could do better in the area of Air miles allocation for executive card holders and I will gladly pass on your suggestions to our products department. As for your suggestion regarding Richard Branson’s style of management, that style suits his niche market. BA is not a one man band, unless the company is bought by a maverick multibillionaire.

26. Misi | May 14, 2008 | Reply

    @Ms. Omo-T, I know the above comment is not your stance on the issue so this comment is not directed at you. What did you expect this writer to say, he is an employee of the offender thus he has no choice but to lose his soul and betray his people if he wants to keep his job so I am not surprised about his article. Secondly, we’ve acknowledged through most comments here that Nigerians can be loud and rude sometimes, however, this does not justify maltreatment by BA staff because just like every quiet, demanding customer we are paying for good service. And as long as BA is not giving Nigerians free tickets to fly the airline we need to be treated as well as every other passenger.
    FYI – the minister’s case is an extreme example, regular Nigerian has the audacity to pull such a stunt.

27. Omotaylor | May 15, 2008 | Reply

    @ CORRECT. The article is posted to let people read between the lines and know what happens in the minds of different people, just as most have expressed their views and stance above (with the exception of Uncle Che). Even if Nigerians are offered free tickets, will this justify dehumanisation. The Nigeria and Nigerians I know will not accept this for Nigerians dont eat the food of insults (at least the Nigeria I used to know (I echo here the words of Captain Von Trapp in Sound of Music on his stance as an Austrian against German invasion and rape on the Austrians)).

    Oh by the way it may interest you that BA is offering discounted tickets and lowered fares here in London (not that cheaper than other Airlines e.g. KLM but still lowered). I am impressing it on the people I know to stand their ground and still boycott BA until a formal apology is received and Dr Omotade is recompensed and the life ban on him is lifted. Not that he would want to fly BA after all this, but his name need be cleared. Thanks Misimi.

28. Omotaylor | May 20, 2008 | Reply

    Update on this saga courtesy of Nigerian Guardian Newspaper:

    NCAA wades into British Airways, Nigerian passengers’ feud
    By Chika Ezeokoli

    TO unravel the circumstances surrounding the British Airways (BA) alleged maltreatment of Nigerians aboard its aircraft from London to Lagos on March 27, 2007, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has waded into the crisis.

    Media Assistant to the NCAA Director-General, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, while briefing journalists in Lagos yesterday, said the authority’s decision to intervene in the incident was to ascertain the truth of the matter.

    He explained that it was important that NCAA heard from the passengers as the authority had held a meeting with BA officials to hear their side of the story.

    His word: “We have had a meeting with the BA officials. We can not rely on the information received from them to come up with our actions. We need information from the passengers to unravel the reservations from the BA”.

    “I can assure you, the process of information gathering is on. The passengers are responding - they are calling and also sending e-mails to us. Some of them have been coming up with suggestions, although the authority will not accommodate suggestions that fall short of the international standards because aviation is global and there are standards for everything”, he added.

    Adurogboye, while saying the step taken by the authority was a testimony that the Federal Government was sensitive to her citizens plight, however, noted that the delayed response from the authority was due to the late arrival of the reports they needed from London.

    Said he: “This incident happened in London, so we have to wait for a report from there. If it had happened in Nigeria, a quicker intervention should have followed from NCAA”.

29. enny | Jun 10, 2008 | Reply

    No BA for me again as simple as that, it is high time they realise a customer is a customer and the colour of the skin doesn’t matter.

30. Mr Jones | Jun 21, 2008 | Reply

    With regard to the statements posted above. Why is it that when something goes wrong on board a BA aircraft, the majority of passengers citizens use the correct channels to complain. We do not behave like animals onboard an aircraft, thus as a result we do not get thrown off the aircraft. I certainly, would not have travelled on the aircraft in question, if a deportee who was whining ‘I go die’ was not handcuffed. Why should the comfort of a criminal or illegal immigrant be put before the rights of regular, law abiding citizen. I hear of many incidents which are termed racist. I believe that some are not in fact racist, but people simply play the ‘joker’ card by misusing this aspect of human rights law. I am not racist and agree wholeheartedly with the punishments which is handed out to those that commit racist crimes. People commenting on the events above need to wake-up and get to grips with civilised behaviour for which BA and all national airlines in the west would expect of their passengers.

31. Rebecca | Jun 21, 2008 | Reply

    Uche must be an idiot to think that Ayodele was arrogant and the lot. I do not think he ever understands what Africans living in the west are going through. I thank Mr Ayodele for speaking on behalf of the deportee. Otherwise, he might have returned home dead. Not long ago, a Nija man was restrained in Woolwich, he pleaded with the police that he was dying but they did not listen until he was shocked to death. Once again I say a big thank you to Mr. Ayodele and the rest of the passangers affected for standing up for what you all belief. For people like uche, he can never be one of us.

32. JustAJoe | Jun 21, 2008 | Reply

    OMG, I feel another Nigerian scam building.

    “Back to Mr. Ayodele, my suggestion is get a d**n good attorney and suck BA for their last kobo. They caused you a lot of emotional distress (IIED in law) and denied you the opportunity to witness your brother’s wedding. Please make sure you milk them and teacher them a lesson for all of us.”

    Funny, emotional distress causes outrage in the U.K., but tribal genocide in Africa is… Why don’t you take some of this outrage back home where it will do the most good?

    There is nothing racist about this, though I am sure that is your first thought. That your country can be a hell-hole, but bad manners are the standard of unacceptable in other countries IS racist.

33. Misi | Jun 21, 2008 | Reply

    @JustAJoe,
    What scam do you see? Clarify your statement.
    The fact that our country is the way you describe it doesn’t mean that we should keep quiet when other countries treat us badly. Who says we don’t have the same outrage and more towards the happenings in our country? But that is not the issue here. In case you haven’t noticed the issue here is BA Maltreatment of fellow Nigerians, and that is what is being addressed. If you don’t think BA’s treatment of Mr. Ayodele is racist you obviously don’t know the definition of racism (check webster for racist and tell me if this case doesn’t fall within that definition). It is obvious you don’t know the law otherwise you wouldn’t criticize my statement about Ayodele suing BA for IIED — you can read up on its definition online if you don’t believe it’s truly a legal remedy. If you say scam then you would have to law makers who created the concept!

34. JustAJoe | Jun 21, 2008 | Reply

    @Misi
    Thank you for your considered response to my post. My reaction to your post was more emotional than considered. I read so much about the unbearable suffering in Africa, feel so helpless to do anything about it, that when I hear the people who live there, who in the end are the only ones who can make their country and lives different, wasting effort on encouraging a petty lawsuit, on what is in perspective a relatively petty issue, compared to say Darfur, that I posted before I thought.

    “The fact that our country is the way you describe it doesn’t mean that we should keep quiet when other countries treat us badly. Who says we don’t have the same outrage and more towards the happenings in our country?”

    This shows a rare honesty and courage to face uncomfortable facts that I applaud you for.

    I grew up in the U.S., in Georgia, and was personally involved in the Civil Rights Struggle. Of course, BA is wrong. Of course, you should use the law. Been there, done that. But I guess where we got off wrong was the idea of making money off it. Civil Rights is something you go to jail for, not the bank. Took me by surprise. One of our greatest fears was some scammers coming in and using the movement for personal gain, because there were always people waiting to discredit the movement and thereby stop us.

    But your battle is your battle, and I wish you the best.

35. Misi | Jun 21, 2008 | Reply

    @JustAJoe, I do not encourage the lawsuit for personal gains but more to teach BA a lesson. Organizations learn when they are sanctioned.

36. JustAJoe | Jun 21, 2008 | Reply

    @Misi

    One last word. Choose your battles carefully. If your goal is to see that you and the people you are with are not “treated poorly” and possibly make a few bucks on the way, then you have chosen the right battle. I have to comment that the worst, most corrupt, leaders in Africa are doing nothing less, while millions starve. If you are even on BA, you can do so much more and you know it.

    As a result of picking the right battles to fight, an African man came to America for a few years, fathered a son before returning to Africa and by this time next year there is every cause to believe that son is going to be the most powerful man in the world.

    He has already taken the world’s cameras proudly down the African dirt road to his African Grandmother’s house and said to the world proudly “She is part of what I am”.

    The impossible is impossible when it is not attempted. Africa desperately needs people who are fighting for something bigger than being treated personally as “they feel they have a right to be treated”.

    If all you are fighting for is “a pleasant flight”, that is the most you will win.

    Can you today, of all days, settle for that?

37. Omotaylor | Jun 21, 2008 | Reply

    BA officials were racist in their treatment of Mr Ayodele and other Nigerian passengers on this particular flight. As for those who believe that Nigerians generally behave badly or rudely, this is called labelling for you need to prove that this was what the Nigerians did on this flight, I havent seen this proof. Lastly, the fact that due to cultural differences, Nigerians tend to be more outspoken and possibly loud, does not make them monkeys to be treated anyhow on a flight they paid good money to travel on. Give me the Nigerian openness, frankness and loudness anyday, than snakey smiles laced with wickedness and contempt.

38. Omotaylor | Jun 21, 2008 | Reply

    @justajoe, little drops of water makes a mighty ocean. By this I mean, fighting for justice on a flight, is part of the overall freedom fight for being treated right and given deserved respect, be it on a BA flight or anywhere else. For example, if this matter was hushed up, I bet BA would unleash greater mistreat and disrespect on future Nigerian passengers. But as it is right now, BA will think twice before behaving same way again. This is good for BA, as we all hear Equal Ops being preached mostly by the British. As for your Obama reference, is it me, or do I sense a sort of bias even in the way you commented on his parentage and lineage?
    Well sorry if i got the wrong feelings about this. I am sure you are a fine man who would not tolerate racism. Peace

39. JustAJoe | Jun 21, 2008 | Reply

    @Omotaylor

    Everything you say about BA is true, but just my own personal opinion, let me be real blunt. If at home people by the millions were dieing gruesome deaths by starvation, they were giving guns, drug, and machete’s to eleven year olds and sending them out to kill, and my main worry was if I going to be treated politely on my plane flight, I would consider myself a moral monster.

    If I pushed the African Pride button too hard, my bad. Is that what you are referring to? And yes, I support Obama, and not because he is black. I personally was arrested, ( sometimes beaten ) and released many times in Georgia during the sixties. My record is nothing. Otis Carter in Thompson was a one man Civil Rights movement in that town. It was so small, it only had one diner and they would not serve blacks. Otis came in and demanded t be served. The police were called and they arrested him, let him out, and he went right back. Long story short, they arrested him, beat him and let him out and he went right back for 113 days. I met him, and he said number 113 was a terrifying as the first, because he never knew if it would be the last. He didn’t know, but they had decided they couldn’t kill him, because they didn’t want the media attention on their little town. They just gave up. He was never served, but he would go in there to read his paper when he wanted to, because he had won the right to do that.

    My point was you can change your country, we did and the proof is before you. Not that it is as easy as filing lawsuits over rights someone else has gotten you in England. I stand by my point that looking out for how you and yours are getting “everything due you” while other people starve is what is wrong with Africa. Until the guy who can fly on the plane starts looking out for the person without enough to eat who can’t look out for themselves, the future will be more of the same. I just can’t get behind this BA issue. Sorry.

40. Don Thieme | Jun 23, 2008 | Reply

    I cannot understand how anyone who cares about civil rights would not be standing up for Mr. Omotade and the Nigerians booted off of this flight. Perhaps the other Americans commenting above are not aware of the close relationship and long history existing between Nigeria and the United Kingdom. British Airlines at one time time had a monopoly on travel between Nigeria and the rest of the world. Nigerians deserve to be treated as a well as any other travelers on British Airlines.

41. Omotaylor | Jun 23, 2008 | Reply

    As always my brother Don, well said. God bless

42. negotiator | Jul 1, 2008 | Reply

    uncle che are you nigerian or british as in english man? Firstly, ba is the most arrogant airline I have ever known…the crew is beyond rude and no they don’t tolerate us, they have nothing but contempt for us and you can forget respect! It took their ban to recognize we were worthy of their attention merely for monetary purposes only. The truth of the matter is that we gave them power to treat us in the demeaning fashion that has become customary for them. We need not whine and complain but rather act in unison in taking back the power we gave over to them. How about our government letting them know it is not ok to treat their citizens like that rather than been so chummy with them? How about we don’t fly ba?? how about we acquire updated aircraftand who says we won’t all fly our national airline? it’s up to us to decide how we want to be treated so why don’t we?

43. Dilly | Jul 8, 2008 | Reply

    African knee-grows chimping out? NO WAY. Say it isn’t so!

44. afreakan | Jul 14, 2008 | Reply

    justajoe,

    wise words indeed. but there is some context missing. the issues before us aren’t simply to do with maltreatment by BA - it is simply an example of straw breaking a camel’s back. all conscious black people experience a rage against the white man for well-known and documented reasons. and that rage gets expressed in many different ways. i have learnt not to be too critical of the ways in which this rage is expressed. I applaud the man who stood up against the mistreatment of the man on the BA flight therefore.

    I agree with you though about the wisdom of going into battle against BA - it is futile and as you point out a grotesque choice. And i think your statement about the state of the moral compass of Nigerians is also true. These same people who are screaming for fire and brimstone to rain down on BA lose their moral acuity when confronted with home-grown dilemma.

    Nigerians, make una stop all this posturing - when you land for Lagos and you reach house, no be another black person you go treat like slave (i’m speaking here of your housegirl/houseboy)?

45. Patrick B. Ogunnowo | Jul 19, 2008 | Reply

    The Community Developers International Limited , United Kingdom would like to lend our support to the visit of the Nigerian President to the UK because we believe that resources mobilisation is a conceptual strategy that will enhance the functionality of the Nigerian government to proffer a solution to the Niger Delta issue.

    Our input stems from the believe that community regeneration is the way forward. It ios only by tackling social and economic disadvantage that communities are empowered and change can happen.

    The visit of the President is therefore presumed to be strategic and he should be given a chance to develop this.

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