Hope Eghagha

By Hope Eghagha

It was the inimitable, iconic Nelson Mandela who once expressed profound disappointment with how Nigeria had turned out while berating its political leaders on the corruption scourge that became our country in the post-independence years. If he were alive today, Mandela would congratulate the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari on the way it is currently confronting the fatal scourge head on. But sadly, if the fiery General Murtala Mohammed and his urbane, charismatic External Affairs Minister General Joseph Garba, were alive, they would be bitterly disappointed with the way the current generation of South Africans have turned on their Nigerian counterparts who are in their country as part of the global practice of labour and capital migration. There is no reason whatsoever to defend the aggressive and crude attacks on young migrant Nigerians who are in South Africa to genuinely and legally make a living.

For historical reasons, the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa ought to be better than it is now, whether at interpersonal level or government to government level. In the fight against apartheid, the Nigerian government stuck out its neck in bold defiance of Western and superpower interests to back the ANC, offering both moral and financial support for the African National Congress. Time and space will not allow me to chronicle details of how the Nigerian government assisted the peoples of South Africa in the fight against the obnoxious apartheid policy of the white minority government.

In recognition of the vibrant role of Nigeria, this country was named a ‘Frontline State’ in spite of the geographical distance between the two countries. In grateful appreciation, when Mandela was finally released, one of the first African countries he visited was Nigeria. And we gave him a heroic reception too. During this epoch, the fate of every South African was vigorously defended by every Nigerian government. In the same spirit, the Nigerian government gave scholarships to a good number of South Africans to study in Nigerian universities. In their time of distress, we provided a strong shoulder for both Government and Citizen.

Fast-forward to some twenty-five odd years after the abolition of apartheid and the emergence of a black-governed South Africa. On two different occasions, Nigerians have become victims and targets of xenophobic attacks by frustrated South African youths. They accuse Nigerians of taking their jobs and their economy, of taking their women (not overtly stated). In a very barbaric manner, many hapless Nigerians were violently and physically abused; some lost their precious lives. Their businesses were destroyed. This happened in a country which has an efficient police and security system, rated as one of the best in Africa.

The point must be made that any Nigerian who runs afoul of the law in any country should be brought to justice within the provisions of the extant laws in the host country. In that spirit, some Nigerians have been deported and others sent to serve jail terms or sent to the gallows as it has happened in Indonesia. However, no Nigerian should be persecuted because of a successful business enterprise in any part of the world. It is my humble view that the host nation has the obligation to protect the lives of all migrants in its space. Also, the Nigerian government is obliged to vigorously defend the rights and lives of Nigerians anywhere in the world. If our citizens rights and lives are violated anywhere and we cry like withered old women, that country would not feel obliged to live up to its obligations.

Some analysts have also blamed Nigerians for being too ‘loud and bossy’ when they are outside the shores of the country. There is nothing we can do about it. Nor is there anything we can do about South African girls falling in love with the spare cash of the Nigerian boys who reside there. Their men should compete. The South African government should be encouraged to bring the average young South African into the economic life of that rich country. Too many of them live outside the comfort of the beauty of South Africa. Cape Town, for example, remains a white man’s territory. I shuddered when I first encountered those shanties in the outskirts of Cape Town. The wealth of South Africa is still controlled by the white minority in spite of the abolition of apartheid. This is not the fault of Nigerians or other black migrant labourers!

Some people have made the asinine argument that here at home the Nigerian government does not respect life and so has no right to complain when others violate the lives of its citizens abroad. I beg to disagree. The image of the country is involved. The lives of Nigerians are at stake. In our view of the cosmos based on our understanding of intergroup and personal relations, ‘beat my child does not mean you should kill my child’. Chinua Achebe tells us, in the words of our elders, ‘that you must first chase away the fox before you ask the hen not to wander into the forest’.

No matter how prosperous a country is, a percentage of its citizens could prefer to live abroad. There are Americans living in the United Kingdom or Germany; there are some who have made Nigeria their home. The Diaspora has been home to many successful Lebanese businessmen, including home here in Nigeria. Migration is a way of life and it is protected by international conventions. To assert that if Nigeria were stable and prosperous, its youths would not migrate. That is not correct. The level of migration from Nigeria, indeed from Africa generally, is frightening. But it is not enough reason to persecute our citizens like the proverbial orphan in foreign countries.

In my view the Nigerian government should send a strong signal to the South African government that the life of every Nigerian living in South Africa is sacrosanct. If the South African government cannot guarantee the lives of Nigerians and looks the other way when lives are violated, we ought to as a nation sanction South African business concerns here in Nigeria.

In my view the Nigerian government should send a strong signal to the South African government that the life of every Nigerian living in South Africa is sacrosanct. If the South African government cannot guarantee the lives of Nigerians and looks the other way when lives are violated, we ought to as a nation sanction South African business concerns here in Nigeria. Some have argued that the MTNs and the DSTVs of this world have Nigerian investments as well and that any sanction against such big businesses would only hurt Nigerians working for the multinationals. The then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Iron Lady) vigorously opposed sanctions against the apartheid regime for years with the same argument. When Murtala Mohammed nationalised Shell BP, a very strong message was sent to the British government and what followed is now history. Indeed, if the Nigerian government targets the Southern Suns, the MTNs and the DSTVs, the big business names in South Africa would run to their government for the appropriate actions to be taken. A clear example was when MTN was slammed with a huge fine when it was found in violation of the laws of the land! The mood of the ordinary citizen is one of reciprocity in diplomatic parlance. And our popularly-elected, people-oriented government should please listen to the cries of the citizens!

•Professor Eghagha is Head of English Department, University of Lagos

Credit: The Nation