Ogebe writes Keyamo, seeks sanction on Lufthansa, cites example in US of sanction on Lufthansa for discrimination against Jews passangers
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
International human rights activist Emmanuel Ogebe, a Nigerian-American living in the United States, has written to Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo expressing support for his directive for foreign airlines to patronise Nigerian caterers in preparing dishes, both Nigerian and continental couisine, for outbound flights based on airlines’ specifications.
Keyamo gave the directive in a statement last week and later clarified on X (Twitter) that “directing foreign airlines on out-bound flights to patronise our local caterers is not the same thing as directing them to serve local dishes.
“Our local caterers can also prepare continental dishes or anyone for that matter ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN SPECIFICATION.”
Keyamo condemned the long-standing practice of airlines bringing frozen meals from other countries and reheating them for Nigerian passengers on outbound flights, stressing that the method is no longer acceptable.
He gave an assurance to the airlines that Nigeria has quality control agencies to monitor the hygiene and safety standards of meals prepared by local caterers.
“On the flip side, if they want us to trust the quality of the food they bring into our country to serve our own citizens, then they also should trust our own process of vetting those meals made by our local caterers.
“The bottom line is that we must support our local businesses with our huge population and traffic.”
Ogebe weighed in by citing the example how the US imposed a $4 million levy on Lufthansa for discriminating against American-Jew passengers in 2022, which the airline apoligised for and agreed to pay the fine on 15 October 2024 after it was announced.
Copies of Ogebe’s letter and other correspondence, which he sent to TheNiche, narrate how Lufthansa has failed to compensate him and his team over a flight delay as well as its “racist” policy of refusing to take “African water” on board for passengers to drink.
The correspondence are published below:
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Dear learned Hon Minister of Aviation Keyamo SAN,
$4 million sanction: Hold Lufthansa liable for discrimination like USA for mistreatment of Nigerians, racist “African water” policy
I was gratified to learn of your push for international airlines to source meals from Nigeria on their return flights.
In fact, it was my understanding that this was an international aviation law requirement. I thought it was only their beverages that they were allowed to import.
On domestic flights here in the US, even some of the leftover foods they serve on domestic flights are disposed of upon landing and replaced.
The implication seems to be degradation that ensued in the decompression processes of takeoff and landing.
Therefore, apart from economic reasons, there are legal and health reasons too.
Indeed on a flight, a European flight attendant admitted to me that the fruits served by them were not as tasty as the natural fruits in Nigeria so even from a quality standpoint ours is competitive!
Your activist concern over this issue prompted me to bring to your urgent attention an obnoxious airline experience in Nigeria. The Hon. Minister and the Nigerian public would be shocked to note that even water, Lufthansa does not take from Nigeria!
Last year we had an unfortunate incident of discrimination aboard a Lufthansa flight where our pilot announced that there will be no water for tea aboard the entire flight because the airline doesn’t use “water from Africa.”
Just this week, the US government announced a $4 million sanction on Lufthansa following discrimination against Jewish passengers. Yet nothing has been done about this clear discrimination against African and especially Nigerian passengers. This is unacceptable! https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/15/business/lufthansa-fine-jewish-passengers-civil-rights/index.html?Date=20241016&Profile=CNN&utm_content=1729038660&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook
Secondly, the airline stranded over two hundred passengers in Abuja for days but refused, failed and neglected to reimburse my team’s flight disruption expenses for one year now despite their correspondence promising same.
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See below from November 14, 2023
“Dear Atty. Ogebe,
“We apologize that your flight to Abuja on October 31, 2023 did not operate as scheduled.
“Every change to your journey can be stressful. We understand your frustration with this occurrence and sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this caused you.
“The reason for the flight irregularity was Bird strike. Unfortunately, we have no influence over circumstances, which are the responsibility of third parties. Such a flight irregularity does not warrant a claim for damages against Lufthansa.
“Please understand that we do not assume any liability for situations for which we are not responsible, therefore, we will not comply with your demand for compensation of the additional costs incurred by you.
“We will be requesting you to Kindly provide us with the Clear Full Receipts and also We will be paying you cost of care. We kindly requested you to please provide us the following details
“We look forward to hearing from you soon at your earliest convenience.
“Sincerely,
“Seema”
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This year, I finally filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Transportation for both the discriminatory and racist remarks and policy of the Lufthansa pilot and the non-reimbursement of almost N2 million in expenses for my stranded five-member team.
On May 21, 2024, at 11:23 AM, Lufthansa Customer Relations <customer.relations@lufthansa.com> wrote:
“U.S. Department of Transportation Reference: TV2024042097
“Dear Emmanuel Ogebe,
“Thank you for your correspondence forwarded by the Department of Transportation. We appreciate the opportunity to respond.
“We sincerely regret that you were not satisfied with our service and explanation. You are right to expect more from Lufthansa.
“We have already informed our department that is responsible for service development and cabin crew training about the comments mentioned and have forwarded your feedback to them for a further investigation.
“The actual reason for the flight irregularity was a bird strike. This problem is rare and was not foreseeable or avoidable for us. Even though we rectified the problem as quickly as possible, we were not able to avoid the flight irregularity.
“For Lufthansa, the safety of passengers is our top priority. We service our aircraft regularly and according to the manufacturer´s specifications. However, even with the highest standard of maintenance, technical problems cannot be fully ruled out.
“We value your patronage and want to make sure that you continue to enjoy traveling with Lufthansa.
“We therefore hope that you will soon give us the opportunity to offer you a service on board that fully meets your expectations.
“Sincerely,
“Christopher Whitty”
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From the above you will note that in May Lufthansa stated in response to my U.S. Department of Transportation petition that they will investigate the racist comments of the crew but till this date like the expense reimbursements nothing has been forthcoming.
Below is the original incident report made to Lufthansa directly last year November 7th which was similarly ignored:
“Dear Lufthansa CS,
“On October 31st, Lufthansa cancelled my flight delaying me for three days abroad incurring hotel, transportation and feeding expenses. I only departed for USA on November 3rd.
“However colleagues that I was traveling with left on Nov 1 and 2. You were responsible for delayed departure as you didn’t immediately rebook for an earlier flight. Also you didn’t rectify the situation immediately.
“Secondly, before the issues that led to the flight cancellation, Lufthansa had announced to us that there was no water for washing hands in the plane’s toilets or tea service inflight because they didn’t have enough water. In other words, your aircraft already had problems before the bird strike.
“Just to be clear, human bodies are comprised of 80% water. Water and sanitation are critical for hygiene. The pilot’s statement was essentially a declaration of a major health and biohazard concern 40,000 feet above sea level!
“To make matters worse, the pilot said that they didn’t have water because they couldn’t fill the plane’s tanks with water from the entire African continent!
“Passengers were still in shock from this racist remark when the mishap occurred. In other words, we were already having a bad flight before it got worse! How could Lufthansa have sent a plane with inadequate supply of water to Nigeria and why didn’t you have a contingency plan for such an important and crucial resource???
“Aircraft have systems for mitigating bird strikes but it appears yours was not deployed or malfunctioned. Kindly review your decision on this issue.
“Emmanuel”
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Hon Minister, it is now incumbent on you as the top aviation executive of your nation to advocate for justice for air travelers in your airspace. If your U.S. counterpart who is a retired soldier could obtain $4 million over his passengers what more a Senior Advocate of Nigeria?
I look forward to working with you to achieve justice similarly for victims of Lufthansa’s overtly racist policies in Nigeria.
Sincerely,
Emmanuel Ogebe, Esq.
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