“Raising the sword aloft is sometimes the only way to make the other side stand down,” Rehan Khan.
The recent xenophobic attacks on foreigners most especially Nigerians in South Africa by all accounts seem like state-sponsored terrorism. These dastardly concocted vigilantisms with the active connivance of the South African police and government under the disguise of eliminating criminals who sell drugs, proselytize prostitution to young girls as young as 10 years and internet fraudsters have been ongoing since 2010. It is estimated that over 1,000 foreigners have been killed within that time span, a large chunk of which are Nigerians. Between 2016 and 2019, 127 Nigerians have been maliciously and unjustifiably killed in South Africa, 13 by the police. And not a single person was tried and jailed for these killings.
It will be simply over repetitive to dabble into the myriad ways Nigeria and other Africa countries stepped on the plate to provide succour to South Africa and its people when the country was down on its knees. It is on record though, that Nigeria stood head and shoulder above all to help bring South Africa out of the woods.
President Muhammad Buhari of Nigeria and his South Africa counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa
South Africans over the years have grown intolerant of immigrants. A Pew Research poll conducted in 2018 showed that 62% of South Africans viewed immigrants as a burden on society by taking jobs and social benefits and that 61% of South Africans thought those immigrants were more responsible for the crime. Between 2010 and 2017 the immigrant community in South Africa increased from 2 million to 4 million people. Xenophobia in South Africa is perceived to have significantly increased after the election of a Black majority government in 1994. According to a 2004 study published by the Southern African Migration Project (SAMP)
To these South Africans, the sins of Nigerians are amplified because we are industrious, good looking and ingenious in many ways. Nigerians are accused of taking all their girls and jobs. Is it a crime that we are good looking, knows how to woo and wow women? Is Mother Nature wrong that we are blessed with the zeal to excel and entrepreneurial abilities? It’s a fact that a very minute number of Nigerians engaged in the drug trade, illicit acts and crime but that is not enough for a blanket attack on all Nigerians and businesses associated with Nigerians. The resort to jungle justice is abhorrent and barbaric. It’s an affirmation of the failure South African justice system as that of Nigeria.
The successive Nigerian governments have been lackluster in their responses to these unabated killings of Nigerians in South Africa. More often than not, the messages from Abuja have been lethargic and torpid, giving the South Africans more leeway to accentuate and elevate the carnage. In a half-hearted response to the attacks, President Cyril Ramaphosa condemned the violence and said he was calling in ministers with responsibility for security “to make sure that we keep a close eye on these acts of wanton violence and find ways of stopping them”. “The people of our country want to live in harmony; whatever concerns or grievances we may have, we need to handle them in a democratic way. There can be no justification for any South African to attack people from other countries,”
The actions taken so far by President Muhammad Buhari’s administration are a step in good direction but they are not far-reaching enough. Pretoria seems to lack the capacity to comprehend the lexicon of diplomacy that Nigeria and other African nations whose citizens are killed and properties destroyed in the incessant xenophobic malady that’s currently afflicting the people of South Africa. We need to put aside all the diplomatese and start hitting the South Africans below the belt where it will hurt the most.
Taking the South Africans head-on is not an endorsement or support for those who have committed a crime or ran afoul of the law. Such individuals must be made to face the full wrath of the law. The law must be applied in a transparent, just and fair manner. The South Africans must also eschew the simplification and generalization that every successful Nigerians residing in their country is a criminal. Many Nigerian professionals, workers, artisans, etc are contributing immensely to the growth and the development of the country. It shouldn’t be a case of one bad apple spoiling a bunch.
The United Nations has not deemed it fit to give a statement on this issue. If the reverse had been the case, the western media and governments would have shouted themselves hoarse by now. To disseminate bad news about Nigeria is a past time of most international media organizations but when our people are unjustly being killed, there’s no space in the media to give prominence to the stories.
Nigeria needs to reappraise its relationship with South Africa and several other countries who are wont of treating Nigeria and Nigerians with disdain and lack of respect. We must exemplify the saying of the British 19th-century statesman, Lord Palmerston: “We have no eternal allies and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and those interests it is our duty to follow”
Pretoria must be compelled to pay compensation for the lives lost and properties damaged. The government and security agencies are complicit in these attacks. Nigeria must start throwing its weight and get the respect that it deserves among the community of nations. One of the cardinal duties of a nation is the defense of its citizens home or abroad, Nigeria must be willing and ready to do anything to protect its people including going to war if need be.
