I understand your point about the Jews and Indians but the point that I am trying to make is that THEY ARE NOT COMPLAINING the NIGERIANS ARE!

I have read all the posts and I really believe that if BA were really that bad they would not be the company they are today, after all not everyone suffers bad service and goes back again for more. BA have plenty of competition too yet they are still able to remain in business in spite of all this 'bad service'

This was posted on another board by a fellow Nigerian



One of the comments to the story on NVS- by ILN TOO
-----------------------------------------------------

Villagers,

Before we start playing the race card, I think it is good for us to just look introspectively at ourselves and ask ourselves what is wrong. What happened to Ayo was clearly unacceptable and I will advise him to seek redress through the appropriate legal channels. From his account, Ayo seemed to have addressed the situation in a calm, dignified and mature manner. And we must commend him for that.

But I can tell you that the behaviour of many Nigerians on international flights leaves a lot to be desired and it is very difficult not to conclude that we deserve the sort of treatment we get from foreign airlines. I am saying this because of my personal experience on a flight to Abuja.

I was on a BA flight to Abuja from Heathrow last December on my trip to Nigeria for the Christmas holidays. And there was a cacophonous din in the cabin after passengers have boarded the aircraft. It was an unedifying spectacle: quite a number of passengers had boarded the aircraft with oversized hand baggage that would not just fit into the luggage rack and it was one hell of a job for the cabin crew who were desperately trying to sort out the mess to ensure that we left on time. There were serious altercations with a lot of passengers shouting and yelling and kicking and screaming without the least concern for other passengers including yours truly whose basic right to a comfortable and peaceful flight was being infringed on. It was absolutely embarrassing as many grown up people were behaving like ill-mannered children. And the cabin crew were very helpless; you’ve just got to pity them, I just couldn’t figure out what they would be thinking. But I would not expect them to suppose, going by that embarrassing spectacle, that Nigeria is bursting with cultured and civil citizens. And the noise continued throughout the pre-flight safety briefing. There was an attempt by the cabin crew to suppress the noise but that proved hopelessly futile and they just had to get on with it despite the noise.

I regularly take the BA flights from Heathrow to Seattle Tacoma and also from Heathrow to Munich but I have never experienced anything like the rowdy behaviour of the unruly and uncouth Nigerian passengers to Abuja. As a Nigerian that was always quick to leap into the defence of Nigeria and Nigerians, I can tell you that I was absolutely disappointed at the behaviour of my compatriots. I was later told that on Lagos flights, the situation is even worse.

I can therefore empathise with the BA cabin crew when they treat us with disdain. I honestly believe it will be too much to expect to be treated respectfully and courteously when we don’t accord the same respect and courtesy to others.

Despite all that happened on that flight, I believe that the cabin crew were a lot more courteous in their dealings with passengers than what I experienced in domestic Nigerian flights. My experience was that our domestic cabin crew were uncultured, arrogant and full of nasty surprises for passengers. No one is defending the attitude of BA but with all due respect to patriotic villagers, Nigeria cannot manage an indigenous carrier, a feat achieved by the likes of Kenya and Ethiopia.

The problem is that all the 'other airlines' treat nigerians with the same level of disdain. fundamentally, it is something wrong with us and not the airlines!!!
ILN TOO – calling on all villagers to exercise some level of self introspection.


As I said what was your cousin's issue? Did he object to the fact that he had to travel with a Deportee or did he really think that the man was being manhandled?

You actually quoted one of the obnoxious comments from that poster ILN TOO i hope it wasn't you you sort of sound the same.... language and tone of arguments anythings possible on the NET.....you obviously didn't post the replies to his post moreso hes one of those that give Continental Africans a bad name with their pseudo patronage or prepondering of everything European..Trust me hes my cousin we grew up together if he didn't have a leg to stand on you think he would be making this much noise about it..as i said being a UK citizen he actualy stood up for a Nigerian brotha that alone is commendable yet some what to sterotype him like they do a average nigerian!!..i wouldn't have bothered replying but for seeing that poster you quoted...think you trying to cause some sort of raucous here but you in the wrong place mate or posting to the wrong brotha....

First of I am a woman.


I have never heard of ILN Too or know where he posts for that matter and so I was not able to read all the responses. As I said I saw the post on another Nigerian message board and kind of agreed with his sentiments about being on a
Nigerians flight to Lagos. I have been on several myself and I can relate fully.

You say your cousin stood up for a Nigerian brother and I am still at a lost as to what for? Did he have the power to stop the deportation? I have already stated that 'I go die' does not mean 'I am dying'. It means 'I will die' as in 'I will die if I am sent back to Nigeria! I have asked you what state your cousin found the deportee in yet you have conveniently dodged the question.

Since your cousin cannot state what the current condition of the deportee was, whether he had been beaten, suffocated or unduly restrained by more immigration officials than was necessary then it is my belief that he probably got up to speak because the Deportee was making too much noise and unfortunately, it backfired on him.


You should be asking yourself why the Deportee was so desperately against been sent back to Nigeria.

In any case, it will be interesting to see how this case pans out.

In the meantime I wish more Nigerians would focus their energy into protesting the Nigerian authorities about the number of plane crashes that happen within the country each year due to negligence.

plane crash Nigeria - Google Search

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/in...11nigeria.html

it is my belief that he probably got up to speak because the Deportee was making too much noise and unfortunately, it backfired on him.

True thats about what happened i'm not sure about the bit of it backfiring the man was on his way to hes bothas wedding not looking forward to any confrontation or anything that would delay him as a fee paying passenger you are well within your rights to let the crew know of any disturbances on a 6 hour flight i would have done the same all that screming and kicking off we didn't pay for that inconvenience the deportee should have been taken off the plane..
Yes the situation in Nigerian internally is lamentable and life is so cheap out there you and i know to effect change in Africa is not quite straightforward due to strong arms tactics by the govt but it would change...however this is about Africans in the Diaspora paying for a service with a reputable carrier and getting suckered in the process its clearly not a case of Nigerians misbehaving....136 booted off the plane was unprecedented.....

Asmartins,a couple of questions for you if you dont mind.You may not be able to answer them now but if you happen upon any info in the next couple of days,holla.


Firstly,what happened to the 136 passengers booted off? were they re-booked for a different BA flight?


Secondly,what kind of disciplinary action were the pilot and co-pilot subject to after this mass booting off.


I ask that second question coz I know pilots are subject to all kinds of fines up to £10,000 sometimes,which comes out of their own pockets,I only highlight this to say that a SERIOUS ruckus must have kicked off on that plane for the pilot to take that step,because he will now have to go in front of a board/panel etc,etc to explain his actions and knowing the grief that entails,I cant imagine he/she would have made that decision lightly.

And I am toally not being CRACKER ADVOCATE here but there is a certain amount of discipline that one must adhere to on a plane,this is not National Express or Greyhound bizznizz.Sometimes peeps and I mean peeps of all races get on a plane and swear they are in their effing living room,that shit aint on,ya feel me?

Have you ever been on a plane when its already airbourne and a fight has kicked off?? My Mum experienced that and she said it was of the scariest experiences of her life...this way before 9/11,,,this was like late 70's.

From the evidence presented I would say your cousin does deserve compensation,however if and it's a big IF coz I dont know for sure,only know what I have read,but IF mofo's are acting the fool on that route BA probably would be glad to be rid of those passengers,even if they lose 5 mill a year!

Did your cousin make his concerns known to the Police or to the crew? I wasn't sure about that.

Once the Police decide that they are going to arrest someone on a plane then it really has nothing to do with the airline

If the Pilot feels that the others 135 passengers were obviously too upset and riled up to fly then he had every right to order them off his plane.

I, however, do commend your cousin for being brave enough to speak out as it is not right that fare paying customer's be made to suffer a flight with someone who is obviously flying under duress.

As I said most Deportees are graceful when departing and there should be really no issue in having them travel with fare paying customers as long as they behave. Maybe your cousin should have lodged an official complaint against the airline after the flight but then again this case will probably highlight the need for the Home Office to pay out for special chartered flights instead.

Even though he was brave, I still your cousin made the wrong call on this one and I am sorry he missed his brother's wedding because of it.

Below is an article about a failed deportation order of some Nigerians from Trinidad.

The Trinidad Guardian -Online Edition Ver 2.0

" This comes in the wake of a failed deportation exercise in early June, when six Nigerian prisoners were taken off a commercial flight from Venezuela, bound for Nigeria via Spain, because of misconduct."

http//www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14986012353

^^Facebook group^^

Nigerians boycott British Airways Petition : [ powered by iPetitions.com ]

^^Petition^^

Again, in case you missed it. BA flies regularly to Jamaica, Ghana and to a host of other Caribbean and African nations with planes full of Black people...or 'Africans' as you class every black person as.

Yet one never hears of shoddy service on these flights. Why do you think that is? I would also like to mention that I, as a frequent flier to Nigeria with either BA or Virgin have never ever had any issues with the staff or service and I am sure many others haven't either.

Nigerians are well known for being difficult to deal with and as I always say, if you want to be treated with respect then you should demand it by treating others accordingly.

If one were to go into a restaurant and constantly throw abuse and make extortionate demands of the waiters and waitresses just because they happened to be paying then they shouldn't be surprised when they receive sub-par service.

let m get this

a deportee is boarding a flight to nigeria, yet he shouted the equivalent i would rather die then go back to nigeria.......doesn't make sense......why would police want to arrest a guy deprtee that wants to go to nigeria!..........nah this is the police acting like cowboys........any excuse to distress the brother, if he shouted i am going to die, it means he did feel he is going to die.....

and bollocks about nigerians acting rowdy.......try seeing english club 18-30 board the plane, god forbid if it is for a football game!

i say jog on BA! i have heard worse cases of mistreatment of black people......not all reaches the media.

Word Sooofresh!!

When our own Airlines start kicking 140 white people off our planes (and beaches and hotels), then I'll consider this nonsense being something other than them acting as they always do with us - just because they can.


I've had family sent back to Jamaica on flight to London where near enough everybody else on board was sent back with them, during the 1990's.


Who knows how often this shit happens???

Nuff said!!!

You have obviously lost a bit of the plot.

The deportee was NOT being arrested but rather his deportation order was being executed. Is this a new concept to some??? Geesh!!

In case it is, I will explain. This means that Deportees case had already been heard and a higher court or other had decided that he did not have a right to stay in the UK. So he was forcibly been sent home. Why would anyone in their right mind think that that sort of decision could be overturned on a plane???

Anyway it has already been established that Asmartin's cousin spoke up because the man was making too much noise and not because he felt the deportee was dying.

But of course you and others are free to carry out your boycott.

Small world because i know someone who knows your cousins parents quite well through a church they used to attend.

I doubt that we have got the full story of events of what went on in the aeroplane that day. I suspect that more could have been said that we have been told of. Still even if more was said the police still acted completely OTT during this and after this event. I do hope that your cousin can get some kind of justice or recompense from all of this.

If i saw someone struggling with several police and screaming to i would also be concerned.

I have flown 3 times now to Nigeria and the flights have gone well. All of my flights out went without any event. On one return flight home somebody was a bit tipsy and were rude to the staff but that can happen on any flight.
I have seen a few people get heated whilst trying to get their luggage weighed but by the time they entered the plane they all seemed to have chilled out.

I would try my best to clear things up though i might need to get back to my cousin regarding specifics as you can understand hes a working family man and also has this to deal with if you looking for specifics feel free to reseeach on the web 'cso there sure is enough information out there

@JettBlack
Firstly,what happened to the 136 passengers booted off? were they re-booked for a different BA flight?

No idea...probably lodged in some hotel and put on some other flight they were booted off thats official and has @Breadfruit mentioned this wouldn't be the first time

Secondly,what kind of disciplinary action were the pilot and co-pilot subject to after this mass booting off.
This would be coming out in a couple of days with good litigation its the proverbial David vs Goliath...with such big organisations it takes a while to effect this things
Besides as i mentioned if the Alert was on level 5 whatever the Pilot says go..

@Black Pride
Thanks for the link much appreciated

@Backtaya
I couldn't have said it more eloquently with that kind of energy and passion...

@all
Thanks for the encouragement it just tells me that whatever struggle people of African descent have our own people would cast doubt and aspersion upon you..we are always presumed guilty even by some of our own ....our prejudice clouds our judgement...the fact that it was a Nigerian involved conjured up all sorts of emotions in people particularly Nigerians .You can start to see why the country is the way it is...despite having everything to sustain itself without trading with Europe the people just cannot get along
I'm not comparing my cousin to our heroes but every single one of our heroes suffered the most backlash from their own but they soon came round

@SooFreash
As @think mentioned the Deportee was a forgone case and was not taken off the plane was deported to the letter it was my cousin who was arrested for daring to mention not to kill him considering this has happened before and the rest also got booted off for daring to question my cousins arrest ...

@Think
do you think if my cousin had behaved inappropriately you think Nigerians would want to miss their flight??..you of all people being a Nigerian know you wouldn't trade in BA talk less of missing your flight 'cos of your fellow Nigerian daring to speak...I'm not into not saying whats on my mind just to please YT we so caught up in oh!!..we better behave and be quiet so YT wouldn't think we some sort of ferocious animal(the stereotype) whereas YT is allowed to run amock at away football matches and 18-30 as @soofresh mentioned....I'm not condoning bad behaviour but we always have t be the subservient ones see how far thats gotten us in the UK..
As @Backatya said...why should we continually be culpable for the actions of a few??
And i keep telling you YTs-Indians and Jewish do not act any different than your average Nigerian does...just becsue they don't fly to Nigeria check them out on their frequient flyer trips to New York-Delhi and the Greek or spanish Islands ...yet its us Africans who are presumed to be the worst behaved??...
And if i'm being honest the only flaw with Nigerians is the luggage especially hand luggage but once seated only a few make a nuisance of themselves

@rachie
I know the Nigerian community is large but quite small because of the extended family...so and so.Well glad to know now you see why one has to behave and conduct oneself appropriately..lol!!
Sure would speak to him again as promised 'cos i want people to know that the Police can go OTT i experienced this a a youth and many can testify too..remember once had a bus stopped and they police brought their Big White Van everyone ordered out because we were having some harmless fun 4 African youths and all this Big Policemen

Honestly i was writing when you posted and i just mentioned the same thing like you read my mind about the luggage stuff..but as someone said if you paying more than £800.00 for a 6 hour flight they feel they have to pack the whole of UK but thats Nigerians for you but after seated its like nothing ever happened...some of us can be too prude sometimes

@blackpride
Seems facebook has taken the link off...funny though they allow people to set up Groups talking excitedly about their daily cocaine binges..priorities man priorities

http//www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14986012353

@Astmartins

Here are a couple of postings taken from another blog. People are talking and as you know in the Nigerian community, before we finally get the whole truth everyone needs to add their own salt and pepper first. We will get there in the end, I suppose.

Was your cousin actually charged and does he have a court date?

I also don't understand the reasoning behind bringing white football yobs into the equation. As much as I criticize my own people, I do not equate them with yobs and I think that anyone doing so is being extremely infantile...i.e. 'They do it so we should be allowed to behave that way to!'

Besides, many of those football louts have life ban from matches anyway....don't see the relevance at all.


https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=35104533&postID=69112552616449971 83

comment on same topic @ Funmi Iyanda's Blog

Bisola said,
Don't believe everything you read. Or at least, try and verify the story first.

I felt the same level of indignation while reading the story but something rang false. It just didn't seem possible that all the guy said was 'please don't kill him' and yet he was arrested and treated in that way. Why him and not the other passengers? And let's be honest, how many naijas in such a situation would have just said 'please don't kill him' without aggression? I'm sorry but it's just not in our nature to do so. In such situations, we become quite aggressive, especially if we feel our rights are being trampled upon.

Anyhoo, just this evening, i decided to give my sis the jist and her hubby was there. He immediately asked me where i'd heard the story and then told me that his brother and a friend were both at the airport that day and had had their flights delayed as a result of this incident. It was while waiting for their flight that the economy passengers on mr. omotade's flight came out and told them what had happened.

Apparently, Mr. omotade DID try to intervene, but rather than ask the officials not to kill the deportee, he got quite aggressive and insulting. Now air traffic rules are clear. Assault on airline staff is not tolerated on any level, and assault is not only defined as physical assault. Raising your voice or issuing threats against an airline official is deemed as an assault. Long and short, not only was mr. omotade aggressive, he also started to whip up sentiments, such that the other passengers got involved. It was at that point that the officials decided to remove the deportee from the plane and report mr. omotade's behaviour to the police and the laws being what they were, he was immediately arrested.

Now, according to all the passengers on that flight, when they attempted to arrest mr. omotade, he actually STRIPPED DOWN TO HIS BOXERS while resisting arrest, insisting that he had done nothing wrong, since he hadn't physically assaulted any of the airline staff. Still, he was bundled off the plane and then the pilot decided he couldn't fly any of the economy passengers because they too had joined in the fray. He said he didn't feel safe, so they were all evacuated and the deportee was taken back on to the plane. The plane flew to lagos with only first and business class passengers (and of course, the deportee).

This story was corroborated by 2 different people at 2 different times, so i'm quite sure it's true. Mr. omotade needs to apologise for speaking half truths. In the first place, what was his business with the deportee? Did he know him from anywhere? Did he know why he was being deported? Of course, anybody in such a situation, resisting deportation would try to whip up sentiment and unfortunately, mr. omotade himself got caught up in the 'we have our rights' thing. He should have simply minded his business.

Friday, April 11, 2008 11:27:00 PM


Derin said...

I flew BA for the first time since childhood this year. I had braced myself for a fight because of all the stories I'd heard about their treatment of Nigerians. I was also desperate to prove to my sister that these stories were true (she's a BA frequent flier and always seems bemused when i tell about the complaints. She's never experienced anything other than the occasional curt hostess).

Anyway, Naija style, i was prepared!!! And to my surprise..... NOTHING! I checked in early, they were polite and courteous. Mind you, not overly so, but not rude either. I couldn't find any reason to pick a fight, so i settled down to observe them, quite sure I would eventually be proven right. And this is what I observed:

The BA staff and crew were not overly friendly, unlike some other crew members i've encountered. I checked in early and hung around the check-in area to while away the time and what I saw was a nightmare! Frankly, i cannot handle that job. I would be terribly rude. I saw some naija 'big boys' with the usual arrogance speak quite rudely to the people at the counters. I saw people who surely knew that their luggage was severely overweight argue with the staff, one of them saying he was helping a friend who was moving back (like who cares??). I know we like to carry load in naija, i carry my fair share but I ALWAYS weigh my luggage before i leave because i know i'd rather spend money on duty free goods than on excess luggage. Infact, that particular trip, i left several of my clothes behind because i knew i was overweight. I saw people refusing to pay, trying to be sly, arguing that it's only 1kg above the limit so why not let me through!! It was a mess! People refused to queue, there were people trying to get other people to carry their excess luggage for them! The staff were exasperated to say the least.

The flight wasn't much better. This our big mannism is just very irritating. From people who tried to sneak suitcases that would not have been allowed in the cargo onto the plain, to the guy who had to be told SEVERAL times to switch off his mobile phone, to the people who switched theirs on as soon as the plane touched down (even though the cabin crew had announced that mobile phones were to remain off!!).... Ha!!! I could go on. Tempers were high and I was ashamed. The guy behind me kept grabbing the air hostess each time he wanted to get her attention until she told him (with a note of real exasperation) he didn't have to touch her. Of course he got offended and out came the 'who are yous'. Ah. it was too much.

Of course, it's not only on BA flights that we see this sort of behaviour. It happens all the time, but this was the first time i actually took time out to observe, and to see things from another person's point of view. At the check in area, i asked one of the ladies if she enjoyed her job, and she said yes but that she found Nigerians in particular could be quite obnoxious and she wondered why we always traveled with so much luggage, especially if we were so unwilling to pay the price.

Lastly, while i do not support the inhuman treatment of deportees, i can sometimes understand why some of them are treated so badly. I once witnessed two people being deported at Heathrow. The first guy was quite calm and he actually said it was just his bad luck, he was going to ensure that the next time he wouldn't be caught. The 2nd guy was screaming and causing a scene, saying the oyinbo man was going to kill him o! That he didn't do anything o! What would you do in that case? Of course they had to restrain him and quite forcibly too! Afterall, would he have been deported if he had done nothing wrong? I tire for nigerians o!

Monday, April 14, 2008 11:21:00 AM

@Astmartins,

I am also hearing the not all of the 135 passengers kicked off were Nigerians, Black or even Africans. What do you have to say about that?

@Think
See you doing a bit of Research....you know there are infiltrators everywhere he did mention the stuff about his clothes before they attacked him for concelaing anything suspicious on him remember this people have power to kill under new laws...
I have forwarded the email to him and would see what he has to say...hopefully tomorrow would get some feedback

The fact that the pilot claimed to feel unsafe to fly with the economy passengers because they partook in the fracas that day does say alot.
Why did so many people take part in this?
That does say more to me than the what few people had to say who came out and spoke of their complaints about the OP's cousin.
I also think that it was a pretty bad to fly deportees back on these planes but what is the alternative? You are asking for trouble like this when you fly deportees back in situations like this.

I think that this thing was overblown. Questioning where your cousin got the money he was given to the extent that it went to was also pretty bad.

@Think
Yes i posted the English louts that go abroad causing mayhem since you decided to bring up the irrational behaviour of Nigerians what i'm saying is its not exclusive to Nigerians...period!!!

I am also hearing the not all of the 135 passengers kicked off were Nigerians, Black or even Africans

Thats very irrelevant the majority were black Africans and you know that whenever you go to Nigeria during the festive season...booting 136 off irrespective of colour is deplorable this ain't no Terrorists

Something i dug up as well

1st timer here.
before i continue, i'll declare the following facts:

i was a senior staff of BA for a few years (left for pastures new about 7 years ago)
Ayo Omotade is a good friend and ex neighbor
I read the daily mirror story after ayo sent me a text


to clarify some facts
7 years ago, lagos was the 3rd most lucrative route for BA, new york was 1st; abuja was in the top 10 - statement of FACT.
BA made minimum GBP70m from sales out of nigeria only 7 years ago - excluding cargo, this was minimum 30% market share - FACT
BA has reduced the number of economy seats, increased the number of business class as a proportion of total passengers - maximized profitability on the route - all in the past 7 year - FACT.
insight into senior managers (both nigerians and britons) thinking - the economy passengers can go away, we are ok as long as the business and 1st class passengers continue to fly us - FACT
despite the arrival of virgin atlantic and virgin nigeria on the scene - BA has maintained its market share - FACT
BA's treatment of nigerian staff is abysmal and appalling & when you add the typical nigerian attitude of 'chopping' their own brothers leg, you can magnify the effect - BA recently, for the 1st time appointed a nigerian as its commercial manager in nigeria - overall boss for nigeria, he barely lasted 2 months and made to resign following trumped up charges - FACT
BA is not a key player in the nigerian media - they do not advertise massively like the banks and other active economic players - the media will not be averse to taking them to the cleaners as there is some perceived arrogance to the media on BA's part as well - FACT

segun adeniyi has a not too positive view of BA and is an ideal contact to drive this forward as he is idealistic and a fighter for causes he believes in - i have his old mobile numbers and can release this to VOR / appropriate person
a good contact for this is Segun Adeniyi's successor in Thisday - Simon Kolawole - i have his email address as well

opinions with a bit of fact
post 911 - you ought to be extremely careful what you say near or in airports especially in western europe & us - the new laws give airport / airline staff opportunity to ride roughshod over passengers - might later be proven in court to be the wrong course of action but the deed already done. Naomi campbell & snoop at heathrow - not the best of examples, imo the authorities went overboard in the treatment of these 2, cat stevens / yusuf islam in the US - his aircraft was diverted and he was deported - no proven crimes yet, but converted to islam and his lyrics can be construed as anti - US policy on islam. and to a lot of cases that are yet to come to our attention.

despite this, making a comment to law enforcement agents to treat someone fairly/decently/appropriately in a country where the magna carta originated from and prides itself on the principles of this document is not too much, the reaction was over the top and deserving of a reaction.

its within the pilot's powers to clear the plane based on the obvious lies the cabin crew will have passed onto him, whether this power was judiciously used is another thing - but remember the uk and modern business is about covering your backside (cva), if he took off and there was a full scale disturbance on board 1 hour into the flight, he might lose his licence.

deportation - why should anybody be happy to be deported, it’s all well and good telling people not to overstay abroad or stay in nigeria and rough it out, but he who lives it feels it, we do not know the exact circumstances of this deportee and to give the british authorities the benefit of the doubt is been too generous - anybody remembers the stories of the 2 brothers in forest gate, east london - police even shot one of them, if this had happened to one of us, i have a feeling some will want us to believe the police version rather than defend the rights of their fellowman. even the police manage to turn on its own with their dirty tricks - case of chief superintendent Ali dizaei comes to mind . so sorry no benefit of the doubt for big business or these people - the burden is on them to prove that ayo was in the wrong not the other way round.

boycott - one of the consequences of free markets is our economic right to boycott any good /service / company of our choice , any group of people can come together for this purpose - you can give us advice to the contrary but ultimately we reserve the right, if it works, great, if it doesn't we tried our best. there are alternatives to BA, Virgin and other european carriers - we'll take them on one after the other, establish our voice as consumers and our right to be treated as customers.

alternatives - emirates to lagos / london via dubai
qatar to lagos / london via doha
iberia via madrid
turkish via ankara (cheap and nasty)
afriqiyah via tripoli
bellview direct
egypt air via cairo

apart from the 1st 2 - not on anybody's top 10 but there is always a price to pay to ensure our actions yield the desired result


to those who think the world of BA - u are holding on to straw - BA was worst airline for baggage in europe and 5th best for long haul punctuality - FACT


conclusion
best way - work this through contacts high up in the presidency and to people who know mrs alison maduekwe - minister of transport and mr felix hyatt - minister of aviation, get them to summon BA local managers and possibly impose a ban for any length of time – several instances where nigerian air traffic control have notified BA not to take off from heathrow as aircraft will not be given permission to land - this can be done in nigeria if a big man is sufficiently grieved to see it through. send details to md bellview, virgin nigeria, virgin atlantic and all BA competition on the nigerian routes, to travel agents, senate and house of rep members, senior officials in the ministry - BA will get the message

Did you forward that post to your cousin?

I still don't see how football hooligans compare to Nigerians..besides football hooligans are not the issue here, Nigerians are as they are the ones complaining. Football hooligans have been well vilified in the press anyway and banned from many public places. If you are saying that the typical Nigerian behaviour compares to these louts then in a sense you are also saying that they also deserve the same punishments ...???

As I said, not all of the passengers were black or Nigerian. During the deportation ruckus, reportedly, several passengers got involved but none of the BA staff were exactly sure of who, so instead of trying to play the guessing game, the Pilot decided it was best to to clear the economy class cabin. Apparently the plane took off with just business and first class passengers and the Deportee on board with the immigration officers.

Now can tell me that you know for sure that all the business and first class passengers were white and did not include any Nigerian citizens? What about the cabin crew... were they all white Brits and no black Africans/Nigerians? What if it comes out that the Pilot, who made the decision to clear the plane was also a Black Nigerian?

Also, this incident took place in late March, the festive season was three months ago.

Also, this incident took place in late March, the festive season was three months ago

what do you mean doesn't Easter count anymore

As for the English Louts okay what about the 18-30 Club??..and i have mentioned the Jewish and Indians enought times you exasperate me with what you chose to see...
And you know what I'm not bothered about the specifics we leave that to the Law..all we want is a redress of this injustice this cannot carry on a precedent has to be set...
I did forward teh email but as you can imagine he is pretty ties up but would find the ideal time to have a chat with him

If i were yhe minister of Aviation in Nigeria i would have sent that plane back to the UK...but they too wrapped around the British apron string...kolo-mentality at its very worst