Xenophobia, Tinubu And Ramaphosa

In the midst of the brazen, extra-judicial killings of Nigerians in South Africa, along with other Africans, on the grounds that these are illegal immigrants, the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has now sent South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, and a team, as envoys to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. They arrived in the country on Friday, July 24, but the Nigerian President declined to meet with them. They were kept waiting through-out the weekend. On Monday, that is yesterday, they were directed in-stead to meet with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, who would then brief the President later. The substantive Minister, Ambassador Bianca Odimegwu-Ojukwu is out of the country for a meeting in Addis Ababa. The explanation from the Nigerian side was also that the President of Nigeria was not given any prior notice. The South African delegation met with Enikanolaiye who lamented the fact that recurring attacks on Nigerians in South Africa have followed a disturbing pattern for more than two decades, and that Nigerians who supported South Africa’s liberation from apartheid have been treated unfairly. “…What we have found is that this xenophobic act has gone beyond the attack on criminals. We have records of Nigerians who have a legitimate purpose to remain in South Af-rica, yet they have been attacked”, he said.

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