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| Japhet Omojuwa |
First off, I will like to hail the tenacious and ‘never say die’ spirit displayed by Japheth J. Omojuwa in his just concluded battle of wits with Arik airline.
I logged on twitter one beautiful morning and most of what I saw was Omojuwa’s complaints concerning his missing Ipad aboard an Arik Air flight. I am sure you all know the rest of the story due to the publicity it garnered over the social network and the hordes of people who joined the fray, sustaining its impetus and duration.
I am writing about this particular issue because I admired the way Omojuwa went about the whole process of ensuring justice; taking into cognizance the element of danger to his person and brand during the ordeal. He fought undeterred and went on to bring the corporate giant to its knees. Several holes were punctured in his story–we were told he was offered a secret settlement bla bla bla. He was subsequently barred from flying the airline……but eventually, the spirit of “standing up for what is right” prevailed.
There is a lesson in this for us all.
During the rumble with Arik airline, so many persons castigated him for going public without exhausting all avenues there was to amicably resolve the issue. The case wouldn’t have generated the interest and goodwill it did if he didn’t take the bull by the horn, employing social media in a way that stoked interest in the whole saga and sent shock waves through the Aviation sector.
He is not the first person to misplace items on Arik. He definitely would not be the last. But the big question is, why was his case different? The answer is very simple: harnessing the power of social network – twitter in this case.
When the issue first found its way to twitter, almost all his followers bought into it one way or the other, to the point that Arik airline’s handle went off twitter. They were constantly barraged, bullied, insulted, reported and written against – it was an all out war.
Of particular interest in this case is the society / country we live in, where corporate organizations / business outfits / companies are the ones always on the right side of the law. They assume the role of kings and the customers are treated worse than subjects. A far cry from what is obtained in saner societies.
Ours is a country where the sitting president deploys soldiers and the police after his fellow citizens, disrupting their peaceful protests over fuel subsidy removal. Ours is a country where corporate organizations view customers’ complaints as favour currying, where customers are treated like nonentities despite the fact that the aim of most organizations is to build numerical strength in their customer base, translating to better profit making.
The biggest plus in Omojuwa’s case was the way he maximized the potential of social media/network. If it wasn’t for social network, I sincerely doubt that a reasonable conclusion would have come out of his crusade. There are so many people out there who have been wronged by these corporate organizations one way or the other but who had felt powerless to push on because they couldn’t find a platform to get their views and positions across. Many out there still do not realise the power inherent in the social media.
We resort to: “God will judge them” on matters like these. Our brains have been programmed to gladly accept their scandalous customer services. We move on, hoping on God to fight our cause.
Omojuwa opened a new chapter in the anals of Consumer rights in our country with the way he fought Arik to submission. I will always fight for my rights any time I feel wronged or short-changed by anybody or corporate organization. That much I have learnt from watching the saga unfold.
Twice I have had issues with Sterling Bank and First Bank. Social media was my saving grace, especially twitter. The issues were resolved amicably. A First bank ATM debited my account without letting me have the notes. I took my complaints to the appropriate quarters but the issue was still pending after 48hrs. I decided to contact them via their twitter handle and gave them all the required details including the branch name. My issue was fast-tracked when I got to the branch the next day – a probable case of “order from above”, and I left there smiling because my moneywas back in my account.
Finally, I believe that with people like Japheth J. Omojuwa, Dada Segun, Chinedu Ekeke, Jude Egbas, Debo Adejugbe, Ayourb, Tope Aigba, Ogunyemi Bukky and the rest of the now infamous “angry children of the twittering community” with their ‘never say die’ spirit, I am sure that Nigerian youths can and will soon wake up from their slumber to make this country work again, against the wishes of some of the political class / Corporate monsters who are hell bent on milking us dry.
Well done Japheth Omojuwa for blazing the trail and for treading a path others feared.
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