On 19th November 2023, I boarded Turkish Airlines from Lagos, Nigeria, heading to Houston, Texas. The initial flight I paid for had a 5-hour layover in Istanbul, but due to Turkish Airlines' technical faults, I missed my connecting flight to Houston. 

When I approached the Turkish Airlines customer service, they asked me to sit in the airport terminal and wait 24 hours for the next flight. I explained that such treatment was inhumane, arguing that sitting on a chair for 24 hours due to their fault was unreasonable. 

1. I asked for a change of flight, but they refused. 
2. I asked for a transfer to another airline, but they refused. 
3. I asked for at least a hotel to rest, but they refused. 
4. I even asked for access to a lounge to get a comfortable chair, but again, they refused. 
Their only offer was for me to sit on an uncomfortable airport chair and wait for the next 24 hours for the flight to Houston.

Adding insult to injury, as I was arguing with them about this inhumane service, a white man, whom I assume was European and faced the same issue as mine, approached the same staff. They immediately offered him a 5-star hotel and an apology for delaying his flight. This is when I became furious, feeling the way Rosa Parks must have felt on December 1, 1955, when she was asked to give up her seat on the bus for a white man.

When I inquired why I was treated like a dog and the white man with dignity, I was told it was because he had a European passport and I had a Nigerian passport, despite us paying the same price for the flight ticket and facing the same problem.

They were essentially admitting to racism, as racism is defined by treating people differently based on their race or ethnicity.

I am writing this petition to call for a 

1. Boycott Turkish Airlines: until an apology is issued and this racist policy is revised. 
2. Dismissal of the Nigerian Ambassador to Turkey: Mr. Ismail Abba YUSUF, due to his poor representation of our interests in Turkey. How can Turkish Airlines make billions of dollars annually from Africans yet treat us with such disdain?

It's incomprehensible to me. 

1. The dollars I paid were not treated any differently from those paid by the white man, yet we receive disparate treatment in service.
2. This self-identified racist company, Turkish Airlines, transports almost 500 Nigerians daily from Lagos and Abuja terminals, making an average of $1,000 per person per flight. This amounts to $500,000 daily from Nigerians in diaspora, and billions of Dollars from Africans, yet we are treated like second-class citizens, and our elected leaders turn a blind eye.

I call on you, For the sake of yourself, your family, and our future children, I implore you not to ignore this. If you do, one day it will be you. Let's stand together like Rosa Parks did. Click here to sign this petition.

 

Let's stand against injustice.

Let's fight for a fair world.

Let’s fight for Africans to be treated fairly.

Remember, freedom isn't free.

Let's hold Turkish Airlines accountable.

Let's hold our elected officials accountable.

Click here to add your voice to this petition.

Together we are Stronger and We can demand change

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