For years, South Africa was home. It was where many Nigerians built businesses, bought cars, rented homes, raised children and believed they had finally found the opportunities that had eluded them in Nigeria. Then the threats began. As anti-foreigner hostility spread, survival became more important than success. One after another, they abandoned their investments and boarded evacuation flights home, carrying little more than the hope of staying alive, OLASUNKANMI AKINLOTAN writes
For many Nigerians, South Africa once symbolised the promise of a better life—a place where hard work, resilience and determination could unlock opportunities that had become increasingly scarce at home. For years, thousands left Nigeria in search of economic stability, building businesses, raising families and supporting loved ones while contributing to their host communities.
But for many, that dream has come to a painful end. What took years—and in some cases more than a decade—to build was lost within weeks as renewed xenophobic tensions forced hundreds of Nigerians to flee for their lives, abandoning businesses, homes, vehicles and investments accumulated over a lifetime.
The latest wave of returnees arrived in Nigeria through an emergency evacuation programme coordinated by the Federal Government following renewed anti-immigrant campaigns and growing hostility towards foreign nationals in South Africa.
