Sanctions Urged against British Airways for leaving a 'Sultan' behind
 

"THE Action Congress (AC) has asked the Federal Government to immediately sanction British Airways over its recent disrespectful treatment of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Said Abubakar III, by the airline.

In a statement issued in Abuja Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it was inexcusable that the monarch and his entourage could be left behind by the airline, while they waited at the VIP lounge of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja.


"This recalcitrant airline can neither claim to be unaware of the fact that the Sultan and his entourage were waiting at the VIP lounge, nor pretend not to know they had not boarded as at the time the flight took off.

It said the reported apologies of the airline and the British High Commission is like medicine after death, as it will not reverse the shabby treatment meted out to the Monarch.

The party also said the fact that the airline is from a country where the Monarchy is held in high esteem means it cannot pretend not to know the importance of such a foremost Monarch like the Sultan of Sokoto.

AC said the British Airlines' action, coming on the heels of its recent maltreatment of several Nigerian passengers in London, has shown that the airline has nothing but absolute contempt for Nigeria and her citizens, no matter how lowly or highly placed.

"It is high time the Nigerian government signalled to the foreign airlines and missions in the country that it will no longer tolerate the shabby treatment of its citizens. If the British Airways had been heavily sanctioned after the recent London incident, it would have thought twice before daring to disrespect a highly-respected personality like the Sultan.

"In any case, it is also possible that the airline is taking a cue from the British High Commission in Nigeria which, like other foreign missions here, have made the humiliation of Nigerian citizens their past time, just because they dare to seek travel visas.

"If indeed the Nigerian citizen is of any importance to this administration, and if indeed the government is aware of its responsibilities to its citizens, then it must begin to show that the time to maltreat a Nigerian is long over," AC said."

:bored: Anyone like to answer this one?? :E

BA082/13 delayed 15 minutes to offload bag of no show pax? Possibly this flight? What do you expect an airline to do? Wait infinitum for a 'VIP' to show or to operate a scheduled flight for the other 200+ pax?.

A few people seem to think that the world revolves around them - it doesn't and it's time they learned that.

Who do they think they are? If they are that important then charter an aircraft - it will then do what they want. If they book on a scheduled flight, then turn up in time or :mad: off.

[Doesn't matter if you are from Nigeria or USA or UK - the same rules apply - it's not discrimination!]

Isn't there a t-shirt that says,

"Happiness is V1 out of Lagos" ?

Chips:ooh:

I suspect the Sultan of Sokoto was trying to demonstrate his high position by delaying the other 300 passengers. Might have worked at Nigerian airlines when that was running.

If the Nigerian government wants to run an airline why dont they? It went so well last time.

Well, I was once told that the definition of happiness was calling V1 at Lagos.

"that it will no longer tolerate the shabby treatment of its citizens."


Maybe if they stopped smuggling Cocaine or ripping off credit cards we wouldn't treat them so badly:=




S78

To say nothing of the daily (attempted) email scams.

What a cheek, all this from the land of the free, an armed escort to your hotel and dodgy radar. I say sultan of "who". When its time to push we go if you can't be botherd to get you're finger out then get the next flight .So Mr Sultan of the mini cab office.."F.O" and well done BA. That's better, moan over

I agree with the above posts. Often the local bigwig wil try to show his power by making everyone wait. As for Lagos and Nigeria the t--d world.

Indeed - sultan of WHERE??? Of all the places I've flown into, Nigeria is by far and away the place I dislike most - bunch of scamming, thieving crooks like you've never seen...
If the sultan's late, bye bye....

And people wonder why Africa has so many problems.

I guess the Sultan was sipping Cristal Champagne and wasting his country's wealth on himself again.

I wonder if he was travelling abroad to help the plight of his people in Nigeria , or as I suspect , to help himself and his tribe/family/cronies/ass kissers spend some of his hard earned money. Why go to London ? Shopping at Harrods ?...then there`s the Commonwealth ??... sometimes Britain has rampant double standards. As far as BA is concerned , well done. I`m sure they`ll be early next time. ..Would you like a towel to wipe that egg off your face ? What a shame.

Oh how I laughed!!!!

Just needed to agree wholeheartedly with the above... Abuja and Lagos are not the nicest places I've been to. People (on the whole) are scamming and arrogant. Good on BA I say, if you're not there then you don't fly...

As for their choice of BA, if they had such a problem with the ''Mistreatment'' of the Natives, why choose BA again?? Make your own :mad: airline (As said above, It worked so well last time!)
:ugh:

Oh dear, the SULTAN of hell knows where and his entourage was left behind because he couldn't be arsed to get up when the boarding call was made... He waited for the personal apt servant to fetch him to the aircraft, red carped and all. I guess MONEY can't buy everything, including a BA flight.

Well done BA and as for the so called Sultan... Set up your own :mad: airline and then no one would dare to leave you behind. Capisci?:ok:


Rgds,
ATS

Guys what a good thread, now whilst we are on this subject I have an excellent pakage. I can get you "very cheap" Rolex watch, how many would you like, please, no money I will take from your bank account, you're account details please...That's question 1 on "what makes you a perfect citizen of Nigeria" sorted. Oh yes "SULTAN OH WHO"....

There is a God after all!

SLF?
 

Which part of "Self-Loading" did they not understand? :E

kudos to the BA crew !

And yes, the Brits apologizing really ain't gonna make up for it but then there's no need to apologize either. God forbid !

I just dare to imagine how the folks waiting at the gate were going down on their knees when they heard "Last call for Mr Sultan - Would Mr Sultan of... sorry what was it again ? please move immediately to Gate 28..."

What I wonder:
17 JUN 2008 - Nigeria: World Bank approves $46.7m lifeline for aviation infrastructure

There wasn't enough cash for a private plane for such an important VIP in that bucket ??

Anyway, there's always the return flight... :E

Who the heck and what the heck is the sultan of sokoto anyway??...

"Who the heck and what the heck is the sultan of sokoto" anyway.Oh my god, you telling us you don't know......He is the "cxxk" who missed his flight. ps can I interest you in a watch....;

Who the heck???

The official title is Sultan of Sokoto and includes the style "Amir-ul-Momineen". The post has become increasingly ceremonial since British rule, but the Sultan, considered a spiritual leader in the Muslim community in Nigeria, can still carry a lot of weight with Fulani and Hausa people from northern Nigeria.
List of Sultans of Sokoto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, despite them ranting on about him being a king and should be treated as one, he is only a symbolic Sultan in a country that is a federal republic.

Obviously his many acolytes were too busy to notice the clock was ticking on departure. A pity that personal appeals to the pax in VIP suite on a silver tray to kindly join the aerie have gone out of daily use. He should be firing his staff and they are kicking up a ruckus to divert the blame. :=

One day someone will write a book about his/her experiences with Nigerian aviation. Not only will it be almost unbelievable, it will also spark off "I can better that" stories!
There is a biblical reference that I cannot remember, along the lines of "As it was yesterday......". Perhaps someone can fill in the dots?
(Expat Nigeria 1956-1966 and frequent visitor as 747 Capt 1990 -2002 -due lack of seniority!).

With a name like "sokoto" you would think one of the kronies would say SOGOTO the gate, Sultan of, er I can't remember.

I thought that the definition of happiness was a dry fart on the climb coming out of Lagos!

you'd think Nigeria wouldn't need World Bank handouts in a $100+/bbl world...

Just remembered. There's a G3 sittinging up at Signature Luton with "Federal Republic of Nigeria" painted on the side. Been sitting there for at least 5 years or so. Maybe they could have used that. Doh :ugh: What am I thinking?! He might have had to leave some of the entourage behind :eek:

I like the story of the Foreign Office chappie posted to a little known outpost of the Empire who intended to hold a dinner party, and not wanting to cause a diplomatic embarassment, signalled the Embassy in Cairo requesting the protocol to be observed for the the dining table seating plan.
The response came......
"To his believers and followers, the Emir of Wadi-Hal-Qatam is a direct descendant of God. (An Imperial Airways Captain takes precedence.)"

Please don't upset the Nigerian community - any day now I am expecting 10% my share of US $41,000,000,000,000,000 that I am helping smuggle out of the country. I have already spent $25,000 setting up the bank transfers and the money is due in my account any day now. If you guys keep upsetting the nice chaps form Lagos - I fear it may not arrive. Could we please stop posting on this thread until the money has been safely transferred !!! :\

And is it not high time the foreign Airlines and Missions of the world signalled that they will no longer tolerate the shouting at and abuse of their staff, not to mention the scamming and ripping off that they face on a daily basis by Nigerian Citizens ?.

Well done BA.

:D

One is thinking maybe Naomi Campell was part of the so called Sultan's entourage.... As "Lady" Naomi is well known for hating BA for well.... putting her back to her place!

Once again, well done BA:D:D:D:D

Rgds,
ATS

Point8Six:

Hebrews 13 verse 8... after you have looked it up you have my permission to use the reference as often as you like, usually at mealtimes....But you have to make people look it up! :ok:

O how I love these stories! Just dont envy the crew on the next flight out!!
I assume the Sultan still needed to get to Harrods:}

I think the Nigerian G3 at Signature has been inpounded for many years! But dont know for fact! Maybe the crew left the Sultan behind and havent dared to return to Nigeria since :ok:

Didn't his picture appear on Robertson's Silver Shred Jars? ;)

One of my fave moments in African aviation was when I flew Budgies for Air Malawi back in the 80s and was fed up with a certain minister who used to send his flunky / chauffeur to the strip in Mzuzu to ' Check-in ' ( the local Airline Staff could never dare to refuse this abuse ) and then carry on carousing and keeping all the decent punters waiting on board.
One Friday I was operating the last flight back to Blantyre for 48 hours ( ie no other way to get home for the weekend ), the usual happened , I waited until I could see his Merc coming back down the airport road ( this time with him in it ) , then I started #2 knowing that he would see this , the Merc picked up speed , then we were all treated to the sight of said ' Fat Controller ' attempting to propel his Size 12 bod at warp speed across the tarmac without bursting his M & S top of the range suit , crawling up the wobbly steps by the forward cargo/ crew door as we started #1 2 seconds later !! Great applause from various punters . The highlight for me was the appearance of a flunkey on the F Deck in the cruise ( good old days ) and rather than forcing the expected notice - of - execution on me , thanked me profusely on behalf of now half -dead minister for ' delaying' flight etc !!!!
Needless to say , he was never late again .
Still wondering why my contract was never renewed though.

Perhaps for an encore BA could deliver him to T5 and lose all his bags?

Been based here for almost three years now - feel sorry for me !!

Just wish I had had the chance to do something similar but can't afford to lose the business....

These so-called Sultans, Rulers, State Governors, Government Officials and Advisors, State Officials, City Management, etc, etc, etc are just about the lowest form of life imaginable - arrogant, useless, incompetent and almost without exception totally dishonest by European standards....Let's just say that the item in our Expenses Column with the second highest cost after fuel is ' Facilitation Fees '.....

Many stories / anecdotes, etc, but try Googling for the the report into Governor Daniel of Ogun State and his expenses, etc, etc.... And the State Governor whose name I have forgotten who a couple of years ago managed to legally claim $60k per diem when travelling on State business...

And still the World Bank provides cheap loans and debt write-offs to Nigeria which almost without exception end up in bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechenstein while those of us trying do business here are screwed left, right and centre...

I shouldn't imagine that BA will not worry for one second about an embargo / boycott / sanctions from these people or Nigerians in general - watch their passenger numbers skyrocket if non-Nigerians know that they won't have to share and suffer the aggravation of sharing a flight with 300+ of them....

Won't be long before the other foreign carriers engineer a similar boycott for themselves when they see the ex-pat traffic flocking to BA...

Sorry if all this sounds offensive or racist, but simply true....

It is the fault of the ground handling agent and executive staff of the VVIP. That the UK High Commission is obliged to intervene is a travesty.

Some years ago I was operating a scheduled service from one of the more pleasant West African countries and was informed that the President of that country was travelling to London on our flight.

We waited 45 minutes for him to emerge from the VIP lounge. I would dearly have loved to depart on time and without him but the poilitical consequences of doing so, assuming ATC would have let us go anyway, did not bear thinking about.

It is interesting that any member of royalty in the UK would never dream of keeping a flight waiting. I suppose it all comes down to manners and courtesy and a certain cultural difference where those that live high of the hog in Africa treat those they consider beneath them with utter contempt.

Well done B.A. :ok: After leaving B.A. my next airline Traffic Despatcher once asked for a 15 mins. Tech Crew delay to accommodate Wife of Eastern Potentate (known as the Sultana of XXXXX ) still in Duty Free. I refused and suggested that he call it a Traffic delay, then he would have to explain to Mgmt. not me.

15 mins. later, same request, same answer, told him to get off and close door, he triumphantly reminded me that Sultana's bag was on board and so I couldn't depart, told him that Sultana not considered a security risk so get off and close door and I would take responsibility for not offloading bag as locally required . Unfortunately at that point black Mercedes appeared and parked under the nose wheel and so I lost another 10 mins as they pushed her upstairs ( no common boarding ramp for Madam ) 400 pax. delayed 30 mins by this prickess, I dearly wished I could have gone without her - I was near the end of my contract anyway !

death treats...
 

As cabin crew, we tolerate behaviour on Nigeria routes that we WOULD NOT entertain on other routes...treats of death and kidnapping when T4 baggage problems led to many bags to LOS being delayed.

Remember telling a woman that we had run out of chicken whilst working in traveller---her response "You BRING me chicken OR I KILL YOU..."; now on any other flight this would have been handled as a disruptive passenger by flying into LOS what can one do?? Left her a beef lasagne only to pass by 10 minutes late to see this salad dodger of a woman licking the bottom of the foil container!!!

Whilst LOS/ABV are profitable routes, so are JFK/IAH/JNB and the customers don't behave the way they do on flights to Nigeria. Glad BA has treated the Sultan the way any other customer who delayed a flight would have been treated as his party was costing the airline £1,000's a minute for the delay.:D