From Saturday night till Monday morning there were attacks in different parts of South Africa against foreigners including Nigerians. The attacks left some dead, many injured and several properties torched. In fact there was a particular Nigerian man whose car selling lot was left in ruins. He had 51 vehicles. To worsen the issues, it appears that the attacks on foreigners in that country have some kind of official backing. What we see is probably an attempt by the ruling party in that country that has not found solutions to the myriad of social issues besetting the people to shirk responsibility.
The attackers are black South Africans. They are probably the lot left behind by the consequences of a pattern of economy that has failed them. It is also possible that the frustration they exert on foreigners especially Africans is a product of envy. Whatever it is, the fact is that the barbaric attacks are not justified. We have heard accounts of South Africans complain about drug peddling, fraud, etcetera against Nigerians being the reasons for their frustration. They also list how Nigerians have “cornered” their women and how large immigrants live as being responsible for their resentment of foreigners.
On the other hand, the deputy minister for Police Affairs at the weekend told the media that it is unacceptable for some communities in that country to be dominated by foreigners. He said that it is important to retrieve those communities from the foreigners otherwise time is coming when foreigners will seize power from their people. A government minister with such words in the midst of attacks on other people clearly shows why the attacks persist. But who will blame him? Having lost their lands by up to 80 percent to white supremacists, I can understand his sentiment. But it does not answer the questions. Nigerians or other foreigners are not in competition with his country men over land. They know who owns the lands.
The latest attacks have brought out the beast in Nigerians. With a combination of old videos of burning humans on the streets of South Africa and propaganda including true pictures of destroyed properties, it was easy to inflame passion around Nigeria. In Lagos, several businesses with South African affiliation were attacked. Shoprite a leading supermarket chain was looted in parts of the city, so were PEP a clothing line with a number of stalls. There were also attacks at Stanbic IBTC and MTN. For xenophobia that started eleven years ago in 2008, you can say Nigerians have largely held themselves together.
The reprisals of Tuesday were a direct consequence of emotions boiled over and an impression that nothing has been done to stem the attacks on Nigerians in South Africa. Truth is it appears nothing has been done about the attacks going by what the minister of police affairs of that country said this week. Secondly, going by some of the contents of the demands made by the Nigerian government on Tuesday; (especially) the part that has to do with compensation- clearly tells us that nothing has been done about the attacks in South Africa. It is a shame therefore that in 2019 we are still debating with South Africa whether to or not to pay compensation to folks eking out a living in their country but who get mobbed by their countrymen on video. It is a shame that Nigeria cannot do anything about this. What kind of friendship are we protecting if we nourish the friendship with the blood of our people?
Let it be made clear, our foreign policy is very poor. In fact it can be said that we do not have any foreign policy guidelines. We even don’t have a minister of Foreign Affairs. The one there has not discharged his functions properly. He is always on the side of our oppressors. Even if some Nigerians conduct criminal activities in that country, why can’t those people be taken to court and be charged properly? Why must South Africa unleash their touts on our people and we simply have no capacity to react.
We condemn the attacks on businesses in Lagos. We have come this far to not become like the barbarians of South Africa and we should not depart from it. But at the governmental level, the Nigerian authorities still has a lot to learn in functional diplomacy. Even if it is to rally other African countries to teach the barbarians a lesson, we have not done. We can block their goods from entering other African nations, we can isolate South Africa, we can expel their High Commissioner, we can stop attending scheduled events whether sports, economic or political in that country till they learn to deal with their madness.
