BY SUNDAY OLADEPO
You don’t cut your nose to spite your face. Blame your government as it deserves the largest ration of these blames. Nobody would make his country safe for you when he knows you’re even unsafe in your country. I’ve left my arms akimbo reading posts. Xenophobia is animalistic. Condemnable. Xenophobic attack should be regarded as an act of terrorism.
Don’t blame the migrants for seeking better havens. Like I’d seldom write: Nigeria may never get better. I don’t delude myself with senseless optimism. Individuals, however, may decide to better their lives through conscious actions. Everybody can’t sit back in a country that’s dubbed as the headquarters of the world poverty. People have always taken the courage to dash out of Nigeria, at every opportunity, not minding the uncertainties awaiting their new adventures. It just mustn’t be Nigeria.
To those vandalising companies belonging to South Africans: you’re the biggest losers of all time. Take a moment to imagine the pains of losing your brothers in xenophobic attacks in Johannesburg. Add that to the severe agonies of losing your jobs in Lagos. You’re the ones employed by MTN, MultiChoice, Stanbic IBTC, etcetera. Your brother, most likely the family’s breadwinner is gone. And, the only job you’ve got is gone. You’re liable to die of depression. Think about it. You don’t kick your testicles to get a stubborn ant removed. Learn the use of diplomacy to resolve conflicts.
Blame your government. Blame your government for everything. Your government don’t care about you. Expecting the citizens of other countries to value your welfares above them is a joke that isn’t tellable even to ourselves. I know of humanity. I know that an act of wickedness done to another human is bestial. It’s, however, also human that people get threatened by the influxes of other people to arguably compete the limited opportunities assumed not to be for all. This is the reprehensible envy of some South Africans — taking the competition of immigration to outright barbarity. To kill the incubus of xenophobia, tell your government to get Nigeria working like those countries Nigerians don’t mind to get killed to immigrate.
Oladepo is a journalist, PR consultant and socio-political critic.
