Ladies & Gents,let me start by saying these are my personal views/thoughts on the recent British Airways controversy involving some nigerian passengers(and some other foreigners,i should add)in March.Well,i personally love flying BA...simply because i've alway had a pleasant experience each time i fly with them to and from the UK.And like the saying goes,'if it ain't broke,don't try to fix it'.That aside,Nigerians make me laugh.With all due respect to the passengers who were allegedly affected by the incident on that fateful day in March,why have nigerians not signed petitions for the appalling way they are treated(as customers) in banks,general & private hospitals,offices,govt agencies,state secretariats,ministries etc over here?How about the way bullion vans,military & policemen harass law-abiding citizens on a daily basis simply because they have guns/power?..what about the decay called Nepa(PHCN),the frightening crime rate,insecurity and other pathetic vices most nigerians face daily?..why has no one petitioned/protested against the Govt for treating it's citizens like this due to some greedy officials in office who have no conscience while in public office?..or is that not maltreatment,especially for tax-paying citizens who expect to receive certain basic things/a respectable standard of living.?Left to me,this BA incident is primarily a publicity stunt by some selfish twats who want their names/faces in the limelight.We are really funny in this nation,i tell you.Instead of facing real issues,we are trying to feel important in the eyes of foreigners.This reminds me of the dumb petition some jobless passengers made against a foreign airline for spraying the plane(passengers included) with insectide before international flights leaving Nigeria.1.Didn't the passengers hear a prior announcement from d cabin crew that the spray wasn't harmful to passengers?2.Weren't the cabin crew also inside the plane to face the same spray?3.When else should one spray a plane leaving a mosquito-infested country except when all the plane's doors have been shut,as a prelude to the flight's departure?Some people are just plain jokers,indeed.Back to the BA flight,do most of us know the procedures that can be carried out by the flight captain/police when there are incidents or cases of disturbances onboard a flight that could have an impact on the flight's security/safety?How do we know that the nigerians on board didn't get unruly/aggressive(as many of us could tend to be)during their protest in support of the nigerian passenger who was the catalyst for the entire drama?I'm aware that many passengers of different nationalities have been ejected from flights hundreds of time across the globe e.g in cases where they were deemed as security risks,unruly,aggressive or a danger to other passengers etc.
P.S. As someone who believes in the rights & respect of a paying customer,i however believe that BA should indeed apologise for the inconvencience/disrespect some passengers alleged faced on the day in question.However,we should stop seeking cheap publicity primarily for the sake of self-importance/relevance.
13 comments:
you are probably just one out of the very few people that say they have nice experience flying BA.
I have always had issues flying with them and stopped since 1999! and thank goodness havent had cause to fly with them.......
that said, a very close friend of mine' cousin was on this flight and truly it was the most appalling treatment. BA could have been more courteous/diplomatic about the whole incident but they carry on like they are doing us a gaddamn favour by flying us (not when one has forked out thousands of £ or N equivalent).
With regards to procedures blah blah... yeah, i sure do know quite a bit about this and YES BA did mess up. Finito.
At the end of it all, we PROBABLY wont be facing all these if Nigeria had a safe, reliable, functional national carrier (esp for the Los-Lon-Los route)
Peace n Love
I agree with you to a large extent, especially as I know Nigerian passengers can be a real nuisance. There're 2 sides to every story and as u pointed out, who knows if the passengers were threatening the crew verbally or physically? There's actually an IATA regulation which stipulates that where a passenger on a flight is being disruptive, said passenger MUST disembark from the flight; and where the flight has already taken off, the pilot must land at the next available airport- its that serious.
So until we know how disruptive these passengers were being (and knowing how we tend to behave, Im betting it got quite ugly) we cannot say with a 100% certainty that what BA did was wrong. And from all reports, the affected passengers were put on the next available flight.
However, as u also said, the whole mess could have been handled better by BA.
You see thats the problem with us Nigerians... When a fellow country man is treated badly we somehow try to blame it on something that he may have done to provoke the treatment meted out. Instead of uniting behind our people we try to explain it away hoping that somehow this type of humiliating behaviour can be explained or even acceptable(Myself included).
What BA did on that day was definately out of OTHER AND REMAINS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. The treatment of Nigerians by this airline (as a lot of anecdoctal accounts suggests) has been appalling, rude and downright unaccptable. An airline pilot from France writing on a blog on this issue said that in France that pilots on flights where forceful deportations occur refuse to fly. The treatment of the said individual contravenes so many articles of the international human rights law especially his dignity. Imagine if this had been a flight to the US, would this have happened?
Normally deportation procedures are such that the individual is brought onto the plane before passengers board. I have seen a few in my time. I also hear that while Nigerians where bundled out of the plane, an expat was upgraded to Business class by BA staff. In addition the Nigerian who complained about the treatment of the passenger was later arrested by the Police. As if to say who gave you the audacity to speak! In my view, the Nigerian government must review BA license to fly this route in the light of this (remember this is their most profitable route after London-New York).
Until we begin to deal with issues like national pride and how we are perceived, multinationals like these will continue to thread on the basic human rights of Nigerians why our so called leaders turn a blind eye. The Niger-Delta is a typical case in point.
Bisola, I am also one of those (the few?) that have nothing to complain about BA. That said I don't think boycotting BA is a good idea. Truth is that "racism" and "maltreatmet of a group(Nigerians)" have been thrown into the mix.These are two situations that are taken seriously worldwide and BA will not really be able to defend themselves. While you took a personal stance against BA since 1999, I feel that a lot of people will join up in the boycott for sentimental reasons. I actually do have several people around me who have never used BA but appear to be on the side of the boycott. I also know people who have only "heard stories". (continues)
A question to you; did you make a report to BA to give them an opportunity to apologise? I know someone who was mistaken charged for excess luggage. He complained and received an apology and also a check in the mail. If you go to my page, I posted BA's side of the story. It was a decision taken with accord from the British Police. In my experience, I have found the British Police to be quite reasonable. So bad judgement, maybe.......
Bottom line though, do we really want to drive another business out of Nigeria
BA has been informed and are have not responded as far as I know.
No Bobby we are not blaming "a fellow countryman". I just ask myself a few questions that include (1) Were they really trying to kill the deportee? (2) Why was he been deported in the first instance? (3) Was he aware that if he kicked up enough fuss, they will have to return him back to the UK and use "yuman rite violation(sic)" (4) Did BA remove everyone in economy cabin or only Nigerians? (5) Without BA's side of the story, how did NBA come up with idea of suing BA? (6) Is that thier brief?...........
Truth is, it sometimes appears like BA is experiencing "a lynching".
Well and so they should... Like I said an expat was upgraded to Business Class while all the Nigerian passengers 100+ of them taken of the plane. My own beef is that I am tired of all the shabby treatment Nigerians receive on a contant basis while travelling especially in Europe. I have been a victim of these harrassment on several occassions;
1. In 1992 at Schipol by two customs and immigration officials. The first set I complied with, the second I told them where to stick it and that contrary to their beliefs not all black people where criminals and this at the tender age of 18.
2. Another experience in Spain when flying to Tenerife (an Island stolen from the North Africans). I was made to wait for over an hour despite being the first out of the plane just because I had a green kpali. I also made myself heard on that occasion.
Its totally unacceptable and a message needs to be sent out; WE SHALL NOT STAND FOR THE SHABBY TREATMENT METED OUT TO NIGERIANS FULL STOP.
So, this is not about BA? LOL!
No its about the persistent maltreatment and disrespect of people of colour by Multinationals and the prejudice that exists in society that no doubt played a big role in this incident. For others to quickly learn and get the message examples must be made of some.
Interesting....
And you have always struck me as averagely intelligent; an appraisal which has to be reviewed solely on the basis that you have refused to acknowledge that all of the passengers sent off that plane could not have been mad at precisely the same time.
You have also refused to see that at least an investigation of what actually happened on that flight should have been carried out by an independent entity and a report made on it.
More to the point,you have matched totally unrelated events (the poor services we receive in our country) to grievances expressed by a large group of people and concluded that since they don't complain at home, they mustn't complain abroad.
I know you won't post this on your board because you won't want people to see the extent of your myopia. But at least you would see it and begin to look for ways to resolve your issues. Or... you could call my dare and post it! Afterall, your opening statement reflects your expectation of differing opinion.
Peace.
While I share the view that Nigerians anywhere will peculiarliarly be rowdy and perhaps unruly in making a point, I do not believe that all the over 100 Nigerians in that compartment were all so crazy that they had to be de-boarded. I share the opinion of those who aver that Nigerians are the most villified group of people anywhere in the world. (Some might be quick to addf that it is for a good reason) I hope the boycott succeeds for at least one day so that all these foreign businesses know exactly what they stand to lose if they stop doing business here. BA needs to be made to realize that they are not doing us a favour by flying this route. They are making a killing.
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