Lawyer and human rights activist, Chidi Odinkalu has revealed one of the ways, the Transcorp Hilton hotel, Abuja discriminates against female guests a
Lawyer and human rights activist, Chidi Odinkalu has revealed one of the ways, the Transcorp Hilton hotel, Abuja discriminates against female guests and customers. In a post on his twitter page, the activist opened up on how a relative of his was denied service at the bar of the highbrow hotel.
He said, “So, at this time in the 21st century, @HiltonAbuja infantilises hardworking #Nigerian women & smears them at the same time with claims of a “company policy” that precludes women from being served at its establishment unless they are accompanied by a man?! Yesterday evening, on #HumanRightsDay of all days, my sister, @IerJonathan, goes into a bar on the ground floor of @HiltonAbuja at the end of a long day of travel, settles in to request modest refreshment.
“She also has business to transact. This is at the Lobby Bar. So, she calls the attention of a waitress for a menu. The waitress approaches & quietly disqualifies her from service. According to this waitress, “company policy” of @HiltonAbuja precludes her from serving females who are unaccompanied by a man. The waitress then goes away & returns thereafter bearing her supervisor who affirms her.
“At this, @IerJonathan asks to speak to the duty manager, who confirmed that it was
@HiltonAbuja‘s policy indeed not to serve women who are unaccompanied by men. The unstated premise of this so-called “policy” is 2-fold. 1st, the woman, no matter how old she may be, is an infant. 2nd, @HiltonAbuja sets up a “policy” that effectively smears every woman who shows up in the place as a #sexworker. That’s crazy!
“This “policy” of @HiltonAbuja is backward, discriminatory & unlawful. In 1992, the High Court of Zambia ruled in the case of Sara Hlupekile Longwe v. Intercontinental Hotel, when the hotel excluded Ms. Longer from service because she was female. Subsequently, Intercontinental Hotel reviewed its policies, practice & staff orientation to bring them in line with law. In Nigeria, @HiltonAbuja chooses to make money from being offensively antiquarian. There have to be costs…
Meanwhile, @TranscorpCEO, who looks to run for governorship of Anambra State has to sort this stuff before he saunters off on his political expedition. This kind of practice under his watch can’t be exactly very pleasing to the hardworking women of Anambra when they hear it. The company frowns on discrimination and decisively addresses such. The alleged incident of gender-based discrimination is being investigated with a view to establishing the facts and dealing with the same, in line with our earlier stated zero-tolerance policy.
The hotel reacting to Odinkalu’s post said it had zero tolerance policy on discrimination of any kind.
“Transcorp Hilton Abuja wishes to state that it has a zero-tolerance policy on discrimination of any kind. We welcome everyone to our facilities and remain committed to providing a safe, secure and welcoming environment to all.”
