British Airways has come under serious attack by a section of Nigerians after one of its hostesses filmed herself on SnapChat making some racially-motivated remarks about Nigerians.
In the short video, which has gone viral, the female flight attendant rants about her flight to Nigeria, even making a contemptuous comment about Nigerian men’s private parts.
She also tries to sarcastically speak in the Nigerian accent. It’s not clear when she recorded the video.
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Although the young hostess was fired immediately after the video emerged, the damage was already done.
“We expect the utmost professionalism from our staff when they are representing British Airways,” the Airline’s spokesperson said in a statement.
Here is an excerpt from the controversial video:
“And I’m here getting ready to go to work, put on a yellow life jacket, point out the exits, hand out chicken or beef, what sort of Friday night is this for me? The upside is I’m going to Nigeria and there’s gonna be bare BBC [referring to male genitals].”
She then adds,
“All the Nigerians are gonna be there like ‘gimme Coca Cola, gimme me beef, why you have no beef left? I want beef. And I’m just gonna be there like, ‘Sorry sir, we ran out of beef’. All the Nigerians are gonna be there asking for f****** upgrades because they haven’t got enough leg room because their BBCs are in their way,” accompanied by suggestive gestures.
Despite her attempts to make the racial remarks look like an ordinary joke, majority of Nigerians and Africans at large are having none of it.
@British_Airways I hope one of your air hostess who was so obsessed with people’s skin colour is fired from job if not then #shame
— Sam ? (@SamTheRipper471) September 26, 2017
Can all Nigerians agree to #BoycottBA @British_Airways until action is taken against their erring air hostess for her unpleasant utterances?
— Maims (@maimugirl) September 26, 2017
@British_Airways oh my gawd. Your racist air hostess video is outrageous. I cannot believe you employ people like that
— @nopelol (@nopelols) September 26, 2017
But not everyone is convinced that the flight attendant’s remarks were racist.
So I Watched This @British_Airways Hostess Racist Thing And There Was Nothing Racist About It.
Are We Overrating This Racist Stuff?
— Ben’Morot (@BernardOlumoro1) September 26, 2017
That British airways hostess actually spoke the truth about Nigerians onboard aircraft. I don’t think she’s racist pls.. @ClassicFM973 #NRA
— Simon Seyz (@simonwada) September 26, 2017
Some also say the video represents what majority of the airline’s attendants think about Africans. They allege that this sort of discrimination is something they are used to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsRIoDF9qdo
Just a few weeks ago, the airline was facing another reputation crisis after it published an article suggesting that Kenya’s Hollywood sensation Lupita Nyong’o is from the Wakanda Kingdom – a mythical kingdom in an American comic book Marvel Comics.
