South Africa, The Madness Called Xenophobia & Nigeria As A Big Brother

Xenophobia in South Africa dates back to decades before 1994, when immigrants from other countries faced discrimination and even violence in the nation.The word 'Xenophobia' is described as 'dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries'.

After democratization in 1994, contrary to what was expected, xenophobic attacks increased exponentially. Between 2000 and March 2008, at it was on record that nothing less than 67 people where brutally killed in what were identified in these attacks.

In May 2008, a series of attacks left 62 people dead; although 21 of those killed were South African citizens. The attacks were apparently motivated by xenophobia. In 2015, another nationwide spike in xenophobic attacks against immigrants in general prompted a number of foreign governments to begin repatriating their citizens.

How Xenophobia Came About

It was gathered that this menace ensured after series of sensational newspaper headlines and the dissemination of false information on social media.

"The failure of media houses to contextualize the violent occurrences sent shock-waves across the country and around the world,"some sources said.


Probe into the cause of these spate of xenophobic attacks also attributed the shortcomings on the part of the South African law enforcement agencies to be one of the causes of the rise in tensions between locals and foreigners.

Many argue that the trigger for the attacks was also linked to the fact that foreigners were changing the nature of South African society.

Between March and May, the violence spread to other parts of the province and to Johannesburg. Businesses were looted, homes wrecked, and thousands of foreigners were forced to flee and seek refuge in makeshift camps.
As at that time, most of those affected were from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Somalia and the DR Congo.Nigerians resident in South Africa and their business have also witnessed mass destruction as a result of these xenophobic attacks.

Protesters Vandalise MTN Office in Abuja

In a recent development, suspected vandals on Thursday attacked the regional head office of MTN, South African owned telecommunication company, situate in Abuja, Nigeria. The protesters reportedly made away with phones, cash and also destroyed vehicles and office equipments.

The vandals allegedly invaded the premises at 4 Madeira Street, Maitama armed with sticks and rods in retaliation for the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

According to eyewitness reports, MTN staff were scampered for their safety as the protesters stormed on rampage.

NANS Kick To Throw Nigerian-Based South African Businesses Away

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on Thursday in Abuja staged a peaceful protest against renewed xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.

The students, led by their President, Mr Aruna Kadiri, while addressing newsmen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja, urged the government to take concrete action to protect Nigerians in South Africa.

The students also demanded that Nigeria should severe ties with South Africa over the incessant attacks of its citizens in that country.

“We are demanding that they should break the ties between both countries if there’s any because the xenophobic attacks that had happened long time ago has come again.

“We have decided to clear the madness with madness,” he said.

He said they had burnt the South African flag at the High Commission to pass a message that “we don’t have a relationship with them any longer”.

The protesting students, who issued a 48-hour ultimatum to South African nationals to leave Nigeria, said they were earlier at MTN office in Maitama and Multi-Choice in the Central Business District of Abuja to express their grievances.

They also urged the High Commission officials to cancel the dinner organised in honour of Regina Tambo, the co-founder of ANC Youth League.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Clement Aduku, who addressed the protesting students, appealed for calmness, saying the federal government is constructively engaging the South African government over the issue.

Aduku also assured that all diplomatic means would be explored to stop the killings of Nigerian nationals in South Africa.

Maybe South Africa Will Need To Recall The Major Role  Nigeria Played In Stopping Apartheid In Their Country

In March 1960, 69 black people were massacred in their numbers in Sharpeville, South Africa, by the white apartheid police. Fortunately, it was in the same year, that Nigeria gained her Independence from the British colonization of 160 years.

It is on record that Nigeria's leader time, Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa unhesitatingly swung into action to help facilitate the stopping of Apartheid in South Africa.

Sir Balewa wrote a historic letter that changed everything!


Here is a copy of the letter that the then Nigeria’s Prime Minister dispatched to the African National Congress (ANC) militants on April 4, 1961.



The letter clearly emphasized Nigeria's commitment to the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Moments after sending the historic letter, Sir Balewa lobbied for the effective expulsion of South Africa from the Commonwealth in 1961.

Balewa eventually became the first leader to provide a direct financial aid to the ANC from the early 1960s. At the height of the liberation movement in the 1970s, Nigeria alone provided $5-million annual subvention to the ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) annually.

The Giant Of Africa also took step to set up what was then known as the Southern Africa Relief Fund (SAFR) in 1976, designed to bring relief to the victims of the apartheid regime in South Africa, provide educational opportunities to them and promote general welfare.

It is worthy of note, that General Olesugen Obasanjo who was the then military Head of State through his proactive administration also donated $3.7 million to the fund. Moreover, General Obasanjo made a personal donation of $3,000, while each member of his cabinet also made personal contributions of $1,500 each. All Nigeria’s civil servants and public officers made a 2% donation from their monthly salary to the SAFR. Students skipped their lunch to make donations, and just in 6 months, in June 1977, the popular contribution to the fund reached $10.5 million.

The donations to the SAFR were widely known in Nigeria as the “Mandela tax”.

As a result of the fund’s work, a first group of 86 South African students arrived in Nigeria in 1976, following the disruption of the education system in South Africa. It happened after the massacre of 700 students by the white police while the former were protesting against the decision by the apartheid regime to change their education language to Afrikaans.

Hundreds of South African students have benefited from the fund’s activity having come to study in Nigeria for free.

Beyond welcoming students and exiles, Nigeria had also welcomed many renowned South Africans like Thabo Mbeki (former South African president from 1999 to 2008). He had spent 7 years in Nigeria, from 1977 to 1984, before he left to the ANC headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia.

For South Africans, who could not travel abroad because the apartheid regime had withdrawn their passports, Nigeria’s government issued more than 300 passports.

Along with fellow African countries Nigeria lobbied for the creation of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid and chaired it for 30 years, longer than any other country.

Between 1973 and 1978, Nigeria contributed $39,040 to the UN Educational and Training Programme for Southern Africa, a voluntary trust fund promoting education of the black South African elite.

As for trade, Nigeria had refused to sell oil to South Africa for decades in protest against the white minority rule. Nigeria had lost approximately $41 billion during that period.

Above all, Nigeria was the only nation worldwide to set up the National Committee Against Apartheid (NACAP) as early as in 1960. The committee’s mission was to disseminate the evils of the apartheid regime to all Nigerians from primary schools to universities, in public media and in markets, through posters and billboards messages.

The NACAP was also responsible for the coordination of Nigeria’s government and civil society joint anti-apartheid actions and advising of policy makers on anti-apartheid decisions. For over three decades the NACAP had successfully built alliances with labor movement, student groups, progressive elements and other international grassroots organizations within Nigeria for effective anti-apartheid activities.

In fact, until 1960s, the ANC fight against the apartheid regime in South Africa was yielding very small results. The whole world was quite indifferent to the suffering of the black South Africans. Moreover, western countries strongly supported the apartheid regime providing it with technologies, intelligence and favorable trade agreements.

Things started changing dramatically only after African countries became independent in the 1960s. Nigeria unequivocally took over leadership of the anti-apartheid movement worldwide.

Despite the volatile nature of Nigeria’s politics and the passage of numerous military and civil leaders, Nigeria has never abandoned its unwavering commitment to the freedom of our brothers and sisters in South Africa.

From 1960 to 1995, Nigeria has alone spent over $61 billion to support the end of apartheid, more than any other country in the world, according to the South African Institute of International Affairs. The country has never let go of any opportunity to denounce apartheid, from the boycott of Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games to the nationalization of British Petroleum assets in 1979.

Unfortunately, our brothers and sisters in South Africa have not been grateful to Nigeria. When Mandela passed away in 2013, Nigeria’s president was not even given the opportunity to speak. At the same time, the representatives of the US and the UK, two countries supporting the apartheid regime, were in the spotlight. Nigerians still need visas to travel to South Africa, while the French, who used to back the apartheid regime, can just buy a ticket and go wherever they want.

Maybe, apartheid has not yet ended in South Africa. Just maybe South Africa need to take a look back at how Nigeria provided a brotherly succor in most astounding ways.

Let love lead. #SayNoToXenophobia