Reflections On Attacks Against Nigerians In South Africa By Tope Oriola | Sahara Reporters My perspective is captured by a Yoruba proverb “Ti iya nla ba gbeni sonle, kekere a ma gun ori eni”. This may be translated as “we suffer indignities... READ MORE:
Outrage on the latest round of attacks against Nigerians in South Africa continues to grow. Evidence from comments of at least two senior members of the South African government and the reticence of President Cyril Ramaphosa suggest that the disdain for Nigerians runs deep. The disdain for Nigerians and other black African immigrants seems to have become part of the oxygen of populist politics in South Africa with one notable exception — the Economic Freedom Fighters led by Julius Sello Malema.
Nigerians are morally justified to expect better from South Africa, particularly the leaders, who ought to know and act better. The internet is awash with documents purporting to demonstrate the degree of human and material resources Nigeria provided to the ANC and black South Africans to defeat apartheid. Twenty-five years later, it appears there is no room for immigrant black Africans in the rainbow nation.
The assassination of Nigerians in South Africa is a symptom of a larger problem: The leadership crisis in Nigeria and the erosion of our value system. The latter has manifested in a get-rich-at-all-cost mentality evident in the reputation of Nigerians in the fields of internet scam , human trafficking, drug peddling, and transnational prostitution. These have provided excuses for those behind the attacks.
Why are people running away from Nigeria? The answer to that question is the reason behind the lack of value on the lives of Nigerians both within and outside Nigeria. Some middle-class Nigerian families granted visitors’ visas to the US have been walking into Canada to apply for refugee status. People who were, in fact, doing well in their careers have been abandoning their relative comfort for an uncertain future.
The Nigerian government should have addressed this issue long ago. The attacks in South Africa cheapens the value of our collective citizenship — if “humanity” is too vague and ostensibly grandiose as an organizing principle.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Stop patronising MTN, DSTV, others- NANS - The Nation NewspaperFollowing xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa, the National Association of Nigerians (NANS) has called on Nigerians to...
Read more »
NANS holds protest in Ekiti, urges Nigerians to stop patronising MTN, DSTV, others - Daily Post NigeriaFollowing attacks being launched against Nigerians in South Africa, causing destruction and loss of lives, the National Association of Nigerians (NANS), ye
Read more »
Xenophobic attack: Unknown youths burnt down MTN office in IbadanIn what appears to be a protest against xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa, some yet-to-identified arsonist have set ablaze an MTN..
Read more »