Opinion: Xenophobia – How not to honour the memory of Mandela

by Dominik Umosen

 

RSA_Anti-xenophobia-demonstration_MiriamMannak_0_0We need to know that as a country, we are sitting on a time bomb’. Soon after, hell broke loose, featuring mobs of bleary-eyed

In spite of my sympathy for Nigerians who believed in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially the added agony of having to contend with the sensational speed with which it was deconstructed by the All Progressives Congress (APC), I crave your indulgence to reserve that discussion for something more urgent like the red rag being waved by South Africans- the resurgence of xenophobia against economic refugees from African countries which has recorded casualties.

Unlike before when Nigerians and their interests were targeted in such attacks, in the latest instance, fellow Africans were assaulted by mobs of machete-wielding, bleary-eyed South Africans who obviously responded to incitement by a monarch to step up attacks against foreigners whom the sons and daughters of the soil accuse of hijacking economy opportunities that would otherwise been been theirs. Although the Police in that country have not provided latest casualty figures in the attacks which have spread beyond Durban to other cities, they say about 17 persons have so far been arrested even as a Somali shop keeper hacked in the xenophobic madness, lies critically ill. As the attacks against foreigners escalated, homes and businesses owned or run by them were vandalized, forcing hounded foreigners to huddle in groups, according to nationality, in open spaces like football fields, for instance.

Tempting, as it is, to condemn the provocation by South Africans as a classic defilement of the memory of the great Madiba, Dr Nelson Mandela, I concede, most reluctantly, that King Goodwill Zwelithimi, the Zulu king who incited the violence, might have been inspired by Oba Rilwanu Akiolu of Lagos’ threat to supernaturally order the lagoon-drowning of non-native residents of Lagos who refused to vote for Mr Akin Ambode, the gubernatorial candidate of the APC, now the governor-elect of the state. But as condemnable as the threat was, it nevertheless pales in significance compared to the Zulu monarch’s solidarity with the attackers. Later, he struggled to extricate himself by saying that he merely urged the government to repatriate foreigners without valid documentation from that country. In his inciting message, the king said: ‘Foreigners are taking over our country.

We need to know that as a country, we are sitting on a time bomb’. Soon after, hell broke loose, featuring mobs of bleary-eyed South Africans marching defiantly through the streets of major cities, attacking shops and businesses run by foreigners like the hapless Somali who now vacillates between life and death. Envy of the prosperity of foreigners, especially Nigerians, invariably transmogrified into deep-seated hatred, climaxing in the xenophobic attacks which defiles not only the memory of Mandela but also the African idiom which forbids you from assaulting your visitor in your house.

The Zulu king has committed transgression, along with Edward, President Jacob Zuma’s son, who heartily supports him. Another South African, Mr Gilgaba, is repulsed by the misguided actions of his compatriots. According to him, ‘Africa, in particular, must not think that we hate fellow Africans in South Africa’. But the despicable actions of his kith and kin leave other Africans with no alternative than to concede that South Africans are unhinged with envy, enough to confuse law-abiding foreigners with responsibility for economic frustrations which are not peculiar to South Africans.

Unlike the Lagos monarch who never invoked miscreants against businesses and homes of nonindigenes, King Zwelithimi stands condemned for his irresponsible incitement. He deserves being reminded that it is perfectly within the purview of other African countries hosting South African interests to exercise the right of reciprocity, depending on how outraged they feel. Even if out-going President Goodluck Jonathan is penciled for global honour as the next Mandela for his role in stabilizing the country after the electoral upset, nothing in this acknowledgement precludes Nigeria, as a country, from responding swiftly and in kind if any Nigerian economic refugee in South Africa suffers even the loss of his or her hair.

Asking Nigerians there to shut their businesses and restrict themselves to relative safety provided by the over-stretched South African Police, as the Federal Government has directed, is good first step in the right direction, even though Malawi, for instance, has gone further to repatriate her nationals. Why this episode of traditional provocation from South Africans comes with added agony is this scenario whereby MTN, a South African company, not only extorts Nigerians unmolested but is stepping up the disdain by spitting on a subsisting court order freezing increment in its tariffs. Doing that now as South Africans attack Nigerians should, at least, jolt the government into action.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija

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