BRUTISH AIRWAYS, AGAIN!!!!

Brutish Airways is having a hard time. The Brutes now have a 5% drop in passenger numbers according to Business Week. These numbers were even higher when travel to the African continent was considered. Passenger numbers to Africa fell by 7.9%. The Airline is blaming tough economic times for its woes.

Well, instead of dealing with its dwindling economic numbers, the Brutes have now sued Mr. Ayodeji Omotade, the man at the center of the Brutish Airways incident that led to the Nigerian boycott of the airline. Omotade who at one point was accused of doing 'something illicit' for attempting to travel with approximately £1600 (a wedding gift for his brother and sister in law), is now accused of "threatening, abusing, insulting and disorderly behavior towards a member of the crew of the aircraft."

And what is the Nigerian government doing about all this? Your guess is as good as mine. Yardy's administration took a full month to react to the initial incident and then threatened that it "would not tolerate the inhuman treatment of any Nigerian for any reason, even when there are allegations of criminal activities." Yardy even went as far as promising Nigerians in South Africa that his administration would place sanctions on the airline.

Instead, Yardy recently went on an official visit to the United Kingdom. This was despite the very controversial fact that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, offered military intervention to 'help' in the Niger Delta. This offer of 'assistance' has now been seen as an attempt to infringe on the national sovereignty and potentially transform Nigeria into a war zone. If that in itself was not reason enough to cancel the President's trip, then a little lawsuit against a Nigerian citizen whose maltreatment sparked heated debate, diplomatic talks, lawsuits by the Nigerian Bar Association, and the outrage of Nigerians and other sympathetic non-Nigerians around the world is never going to be enough to get Nigeria's leadership to truly protect national pride and interests. Thankfully, a group of organized Nigerians, the Liberty Forum, protested Yardy's visit and forced many of his events in London to be changed or cancelled. If that trip is Yardy's way of working for the Nigerian public and the interests of the people, then the average Nigerian cannot be criticized for continuing to believe that Nigerians cannot wait for their government to protect them.

What is even more unfortunate than the reality that the Nigerian government is unwilling to take any real steps in protecting Omotade and/or Nigerians in general is the saddening reality that Nigerians are not doing enough damage to Brutish Airways. I commend all those who continue to do their part, no matter how small to stand up against discrimination against Nigerians. In Nigerians, 'Brutish Airways & Respect Pt. 1', I specifically pointed to a few strategic options that could show Brutish Airways and any other organization that Nigerians must be respected because our money is just as good as any other consumer. This, if ever, is the time for Nigerians to hit the Brutes where it hurts. The company is already suffering financially and the current state of the global economy does not suggest that things will improve for the airline. Now imagine if every Nigerian and sympathetic supporter travelling with a competitor of the Brutes specifically called competitors and said "I am buying a ticket from you because I am boycotting Brutish Airways." Just that simple act alone, in large numbers would be significant.

Once again, I insist that the current administration ban Brutish Airways from Nigeria's airspace. In addition to this and the other suggestions I have made, I believe that Lagosians should shut down the streets around BA's Victoria island offices via peaceful protest. Residents of Abuja should do the same. BA's headquarters, wherever they may be in the United Kingdom should also be visited by peaceful protesters. And, since the Nigerian government is clearly 'ill-equiped' to protect the interests of its citizens, they should suffer the consequences as well. And as for Omotade, I wish him the best in defending himself against BA. I also hope that someone recorded the incident that happened on that flight from Heathrow that resulted in 136 Nigerian passengers being removed from the flight. Video footage would help to show the world what exactly happened and it would hopefully, put this case to rest.



Further Reading:
1 - Nigerians, 'Brutish' Airways & Respect Pt. 1
2 - Nigerians, 'Brutish' Airways & Respect Pt 2
3 - Finally, Some Concrete Nigerian 'Action' on Brutish Airways
4 - "Casual Racism" at Brutish Airways?
5 - A Brutish Airways 'Apology'?
6 - More on Brutish Airways
7 - Brutish Airways Calls Police on Nigerians
8 - Possible Sanctions Against Brutish Airways