On Tuesday, The Lagos State Government cleared the Chinese restaurant accused by some Nigerians of racism even as yet another Nigerian, who was stoped from entering the restaurant.
The government’s position which was made known via a press statement issued by the Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Steve Ayorinde, said that investigations by its officers sent to “investigate the veracity of the claim” the allegations were false as showed.
“Two officers, who went there on Monday did so incognito and found the allegations to be false. The officers were served without any questions or discrimination. They also took photographs without being noticed.
“Our officers also observed that the restaurant had a number of Nigerians working inside there and did similarly observe that pepper soup, a Nigerian delicacy is also on the menu. More, importantly, the restaurant has been registered with the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture since 2016 as required by law.”
The ministry which regulates restaurants, eateries, hotels, and other hospitality facilities in Lagos vowed to conduct further investigations.
However, standing by its reports, showed that the restaurant relaxed its obnoxious racist policy after the initial outrage on social media on Sunday. The restaurant threw open its doors to the public.
According to Adegbite, director of the company also refuted the allegations “The restaurant is divided into two sections. There is one open to the public and there is one called Hot Pot strictly for Chinese. The Hot Pot is where you enter and cook on your own. All the ingredients are made available. But it’s only for Chinese nationals. Maybe it’s this one that some people tried entering and were disallowed and is now causing the outcry.”
One of the workers of the company who spoke to a reporter after he was turned back had admitted that the restaurant took notice of the outrage on social media on Sunday.
Gidin, who is a journalist with in Lagos, said, “When we got to the gate, we saw some pretty Chinese girls going inside and we even laughed with them. When we attempted to go in, they refused to allow us in because we were black. I first thought it was a joke but when the guards repeated it almost five times, I knew they were serious, in order not to cause a scene, we left the place
