|
26-04-08, 11:21 AM
This a funny article I found on a Nigerian website concerning BA.
In Defence Of Mantu
By Reuben Abati
I was at a dinner on Friday evening (one of the perks of this job is that you get to eat a lot of free food, drink free beer, and grow a massive pot belly in the process) when someone brought up the reported case between Deputy Senate President, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu and the British Airways. The story as outlined in the Nigerian Tribune of Friday July 2, is as follows: Alhaji Mantu wanted to travel out of Nigeria on a British Airways (BA) flight the other Tuesday, but because he had an unconfirmed First Class ticket, the BA officials could not get him a seat in the First Class category.
They then offered him a Business Class seat which he declined. "The Deputy Senate President caused a stir by delaying the take off of the flight for more than five hours. Angered by this arrogant display of power, British Airways management through the Home Office, petitioned the Presidency demanding for compensation. Nigerian Tribune gathered on Thursday that the Presidency in a bid to get to the root of the matter, summoned the airport commandant, Group Captain A. B. Chizhe to Abuja..."
This was the story that riled some of the persons at dinner that evening. One man thumped the table, protesting that what Mantu has done is a national embarrassment and that he owes all Nigerians an apology. Another fiery commentator opined that Mantu is clearly guilty of "gross misconduct" and as soon as possible, he should be impeached as Deputy Senate President. From another side of the table came the opinion that holding an unconfirmed ticket of any category is as bad as not being on the flight at all, and that the BA officials were even too kind to Mantu to have offered him a Business class seat.
One fellow, who used to have Marxist inclinations before he too began to enjoy the "dividends of democracy" asked a rhetorical question seeking to know why anybody would consider a Business Class seat infra dig. I did not quite express an opinion on that occasion, but I have since taken a second look at the story. My conclusion is that Mantu is not to blame. I propose to defend him against the sadistic protests of those who are trying to politicise what is clearly a straightforward matter.
I think the editor of the Nigerian Tribune put his fingers on the matter by titling his paper's report, with an undisguised opinion: "British Airways maltreats Mantu", even if this does not quite agree with the somewhat ambivalent reference to "arrogant display of power" in the body of the story. What arrogance is British Airways talking about
*One basic principle in business is that a company has to be environment-friendly and this clearly involves an understanding of the culture, habits and values of the people that you are serving. British Airways officials through the British Home Office, are said to have petitioned the Nigerian Presidency. Do these people know who Mantu is
* Please let us not be ridiculous. British Airways is handling this matter inappropriately. Those officials who denied Mantu a First Class seat do not understand Nigeria and they should be given tutorials about the Nigerian way of life.
Mantu is what in Nigeria we call, a "big man". The rule in this country is that a big man gets whatever he wants. He is not bound by rules, conventions or values. His "bigmanism" means that he can open all doors and do as he wishes. And nobody must challenge him, not even the law courts or government. He is a sacred cow. He is above the law. BA officials are complaining that Mantu had an unconfirmed ticket. Well, they need to be told that Mantu is not just a big man, he is Nigeria's No 5 or No 6 citizen. To be No 5 or No 6 in a country of over 120 million people
* Come on, a man like that in the understanding of the average Nigerian does not have to worry himself about confirming tickets before he travels. Once he gets to the airport, he expects any airline at all to obey his commands. By complaining about an unconfirmed ticket, the BA officials were challenging the authority of the Deputy Senate President of Nigeria.
They did not stop at that. They went on to commit the blunder of offering him a business class seat. Even Mantu's dog will not sit in the Business Class cabin. In this country, high office confers certain privileges. The Distinguished Deputy Senate President, the Rt. Honourable Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu to take a business Class seat
* If the British Airways people had done their home work very well, they would have known that such a lawmaker of high repute would not want to mix with business people. They were going to expose him to the risk of sitting next to contractors and all kinds of persons looking for government favours.
He would not have been allowed to enjoy his flight. Business people would have been coming to him with requests. And this is at a time when some banks are floating their shares in the capital market, and others are looking desperately for deposits. What if Mantu runs into one of those types from the banks and he is berated with details that can distract his attention from state business
* I even understand that those who travel in Business Class are always going about with proposals for contracts, and that any important government official who finds himself there could be exposed to a lot of harassment. Besides, Mantu is the Deputy Senate President. Even ordinary Senators do not travel Business Class. Why subject him to the indignity of a Business Class
* We have to understand that Mantu is not alone in this regard. Big men in Nigeria do not joke with that thing called "class". And this extends to their wives, children and countless concubines. They do not do all the things that we, ordinary people do. They always try to differentiate themselves. And the more uppity ones are those who came from very poor backgrounds. They will do everything to forget their own roots. I am not moralizing, but it just occurred to me that Mantu could not have sat in the Business cabin because again, it is too close to the economy class, that section of the aircraft reserved for the poor pretending to be rich and all sorts of wannabes. I am a veteran of the economy section. When you are there, people are coughing, sneezing, and rubbing their bodies off you. In fact, you share the section with all kinds, including deported illegal immigrants from Europe, drug couriers and drunkards. The economy section actually smells, and that is why now and then, the cabin staff fumigate the section with air fresheners.
A big man in Nigeria does not want to stay close to that kind of reality. The First Class cabin takes him far away, putting a distance between him and the people. And this reinforces the myth of his personality. I know that Prime Minister Blair sometimes travels economy with his family. Even the Queen once boarded a commercial flight to Asia. But that is Britain. We are talking about Nigeria, please. In this country, the leaders run away from the people. They keep us at an arms length. Again, asking Mantu to travel Business Class would have amounted to asking him to help the Nigerian Government, which bought the ticket for him in the first place, to save some money. Public officials in Nigeria do not help government to save money. They love to spend. After all, Nigeria is an oil producing country and the cost of crude oil in the international market is rising and the country is having problems determining how best to spend its excess crude oil revenue. So, why blame Mantu
*British Airways is also complaining that Mantu held up the flight for more than five hours. Please, let us be reasonable. There is something in Nigeria called VIP Movement. When a VIP is moving, it does not matter where or in what direction, the standard practice is that everything else is held up. Other human beings are stopped from moving. Their right to freedom of movement is temporarily suspended. I once spent five hours at the local airport because of VIP movement. Our plane could not move because a big man or may be his child or mistress was going to travel on that same flight. When a VIP in Nigeria wants to travel, he simply calls the airport and asks that any available flight to his destination should be delayed. After making this call, he then begins to prepare for the journey. Other passengers are kept waiting until he arrives some four hours later. They don't behave in this manner in neighbouring Ghana. But that is Ghana. This is Nigeria. Whoever wants to do business here should respect our culture. Mantu even did well. He came to the airport. The flight was delayed only because he did not get the seat he wanted. What if he had phoned at take-off time that he was still in the bathroom and the BA flight should be delayed for him
*Would British Airways have defied the Deputy Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
*How should British Airways have handled the situation
* Instead of accusing Mantu of "arrogance" (who is being arrogant here by the way), they should have asked one of those 419 people who also like to travel First Class to give up his or her seat for the Deputy Senate President of Nigeria. This does not require much effort. All they needed to do was to announce specially that the Deputy Senate president of Nigeria would like to travel First Class, would someone be kind enough to give up his seat.......................
Read more at the link below.
Strange ways of the third world. [Archive] - The Nigerian Village Square
Last edited by Think!; 26-04-08 at 11:23 AM.
|