Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has reacted to the xenophobic attacks
\non Nigerians and other Africa citizens living in South Africa.<\/p>\n
In a letter to the President of the Inkatha Freedom Party, Prince
\nMangosuthu Buthelezi, the elder statesman urged countries whose citizens
\nwere affected to table appropriate motions at the African Union (AU) and
\nconsider other measures if the situation is allowed to continue.<\/p>\n
He condemned the situation where any African country encourages or fails
\nto seriously sanction xenophobia against Africans in their country.<\/p>\n
Obasanjo described such as a great disservice not only to the country
\nxenophobic attacks take place and the countries of the victims concerned
\nbut also to the whole of Africa and black race.<\/p>\n
He said there was a need for fence-mending, reconciliation and
\nwound-binding between South Africa and the countries whose citizens have
\nbeen victims of xenophobia in the country.<\/p>\n
The former president, therefore, asked South African authorities to send
\nemissaries to the countries concerned to explain, apologise and agree on
\nthe way forward for mutual understanding.<\/p>\n
He also noted that repatriation of Nigerians from South Africa was not a
\npermanent solution to the crisis, neither was revenge a desirable way
\nout.<\/p>\n
Obasanjo challenged Nigeria and South Africa to stand together to
\nchampion African cause and jointly shepherd African development, unity,
\ncooperation, security, and progress to make the 21st century Africa\u2019s
\ncentury.<\/p>\n
September 12, 2019<\/p>\n
Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP,<\/p>\n
President Emeritus: Inkatha Freedom Party,<\/p>\n
Office of the President Emeritus,<\/p>\n
2 Durban Club, Place,<\/p>\n
Durban 4001, South Africa.<\/p>\n
I thank you for your very kind and thoughtful letter of September 11,
\n2019, and I appreciate the honour done me by specially writing me a
\nletter on a very unfortunate and sad incident of xenophobia in South
\nAfrica. I also take note of your statements and other communications
\nmade in South Africa by you on the same issue.<\/p>\n
The xenophobia or Afrophobia going on in South Africa is an unfortunate
\nissue for South Africa and for the whole of Africa. It is unfortunate in
\nmany respects. There are only two countries in Africa that have \u2018Africa\u2019
\nas part of their names: Central Africa Republic and Republic of South
\nAfrica. For any of these two countries and, I dare say, for any African
\ncountry to encourage or allow or not seriously sanction xenophobia
\nagainst Africans in their country, it is a great disservice not only to
\nthe country where xenophobia takes place and the countries of the
\nvictims concerned, but also a great disservice to the whole of Africa
\nand black race.<\/p>\n
I want to thank you, my dear senior brother, for the statement you made
\nto alert leaders and ordinary people of South Africa to appreciate that
\nturning a blind eye and not making a very strong statement of
\ncondemnation or taking a very strong stand against xenophobia is
\nencouraging xenophobia or being an accomplice in xenophobia and\/or
\nAfrophobia.<\/p>\n
I also want to thank you for referring in the same statement to
\nNigeria\u2019s contribution and my own personal contribution to the struggle
\nagainst colonialism in Southern Africa and apartheid in South Africa. I
\nmust also commend others in South Africa who have taken a similar
\nposition in the overall interest of Africa.<\/p>\n
We, in Nigeria, if I may speak particularly for Nigeria, did all that we
\ndid for liberation in different parts of Africa, particularly in
\nSouthern Africa, including getting rid of apartheid in South Africa
\nbecause we believed it was our obligatory duty to do so as Africans.<\/p>\n
We, as black people, believed and still believe that we would be
\nsecond-class citizens in the world if we allowed any black people
\nanywhere in the world, not to talk of Africa, to be treated as
\nsecond-class citizens because of the colour of their skin without
\nfighting against it.<\/p>\n
It is because of our belief in human dignity generally and especially
\nafro dignity. We were motivated and goaded by principle and not by
\npossession, position or praises.\u00a0 We were not doing it to get any reward
\nor material benefit as such.<\/p>\n
We were doing it because we were convinced that it was our duty, our
\nresponsibility and our obligation to humanity and to the black race.
\nThat is why we, in Nigeria, in spite of our distance from the frontline
\nof the struggle against colonialism in Southern Africa and apartheid in
\nSouth Africa, we became, in terms of our participation, contribution,
\ncommitment and sacrifice, members of the frontline States.<\/p>\n
Whether that is recognised and appreciated or not, we really don\u2019t mind
\nas we believe we have done our duty as we ought to have done, and if
\noccasion occurs in future where we need to open our doors, out of our
\nhumanity and Africanity, for people in similar situation of need as
\nhappened to people in Southern Africa and South Africa, we will do it
\nagain as we did in the past.<\/p>\n
However, we believe that Africans living in any other part of Africa
\nmust be treated as brothers and friends. If they commit any crime, they
\nshould be treated like citizens of that country will be treated when
\nthey commit crime which will mean applying judicial process.<\/p>\n
Moreover, the South African police and other law enforcement agencies
\nmust uphold the letter and spirit of the Constitution of South Africa,
\nwhich stipulate that, \u201cThe South African Police Service has a
\nresponsibility to prevent, combat and investigate crime, maintain public
\norder, protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their
\nproperty, uphold and enforce the law, create a safe and secure
\nenvironment for all people in South Africa, prevent anything that may
\nthreaten the safety or security of any community, investigate any crimes
\nthat threaten the safety or security of any community, ensure criminals
\nare brought to justice and participate in efforts to address the causes
\nof crime.\u201d<\/p>\n
Where the Police would stand aloof watching miscreants and criminals
\ncommitting crimes against fellow human beings is condemnable and not
\nacceptable in any civilised society. This was experienced in South
\nAfrica in recent times and it shows either incompetence or collusion on
\nthe part of the Police.<\/p>\n
The best way to fight crime is to achieve close to full employment in a
\nsociety and not through xenophobia. Anybody who can deny xenophobia in
\nSouth Africa of today can deny that my mother is a woman. It should not
\nbe a game of denial but rather a game of accepting reality and working
\nat it, together with the rest of Africa where necessary.<\/p>\n
Countries in Africa are not just transit for drugs from sources in Latin
\nAmerica and Asia to consuming populations in North America and Europe,
\nbut these countries in Southern Africa and West Africa are also falling
\nvictims as consumers and producers.<\/p>\n
It requires collaboration of producing regions and countries working
\nwith transit regions and countries and consuming regions and countries
\nto deal effectively with the menace of drugs as established by West
\nAfrica Commission on Drugs, WACD.<\/p>\n
As it is being touted that xenophobia will give South Africans jobs, I
\ndare say, it is fallacy. Xenophobia will make investment in South Africa
\na little bit more difficult which will lead to lack of job creation and
\nloss of existing jobs.<\/p>\n
It should also be realised that most migrants did not migrate out of
\ntheir country to other countries with total emptiness. Some have
\neducation, skills, experience, expertise, entrepreneurship and sheer
\nguts which they can bring to bear on the economy of the country they
\nhave migrated to. What has helped most developed countries in the world
\nis openness and receiving migrants with open hands and open minds. In
\nany case, all of us in the world are migrants, no matter where we live,
\ndepending only on how far back you want to go.<\/p>\n
I, once again, thank you for the position you have taken and I hope that
\nyour statement will ring bells in the minds of leaders and ordinary
\nSouth Africans to know that they are living in Africa where rightly
\nSouth Africa should be one of the countries to play leadership role in
\nAfrica.<\/p>\n
But if xenophobia is encouraged, South Africa will not earn the role of
\nleadership which can only be granted and conferred by the rest of Africa
\nbecause leadership requires certain amount of sacrifice and attitude of
\nunderstanding, compassion, kindness, brotherhood and hospitality. These
\nare normal African virtues and attributes which South Africa must
\nimbibe.<\/p>\n
The lessons to be learned from all this is that our individual countries
\nin Africa must have programmes that will provide livelihoods for their
\nteeming youth population to discourage youths from embarking on
\nhazardous journeys to places where their lives will be in danger all in
\nsearch of greener pastures that may never be there. Our youth too must
\nlearn that when they are in any country, they must be law-abiding and be
\nactively productive members of their host country.<\/p>\n
At this juncture, there is need for fence-mending, reconciliation and
\nwound-binding between South Africa and the countries whose citizens have
\nbeen victims of xenophobia and Afrophobia in South Africa. As a
\nsuggestion, South Africa should send emissaries to the countries
\nconcerned to explain, apologise and agree on the way forward for mutual
\nunderstanding, accommodation, reconciliation, and binding the wound to
\npromote unity, concord, and brotherhood in Africa. Repatriation of
\nNigerians from South Africa is obviously not a permanent solution.<\/p>\n
At best it is palliative. But the hurt will still remain for some time.
\nNeither is revenge a desirable solution. Mutual understanding and
\nacknowledgement of what needs to be done on all sides are imperative and
\ngetting down to doing them is the solution that will serve Nigeria and
\nSouth Africa and indeed Africa well particularly in this era of Africa
\nContinental Free Trade Area opportunities.<\/p>\n
Nigeria and South Africa must stand together to champion African cause
\nand to jointly shepherd African development, unity, cooperation,
\nsecurity, and progress to make the 21st century Africa\u2019s century.<\/p>\n
In the final analysis, if South Africa fails to initiate appropriate and
\nsatisfactory steps to deal with the issues to pacify affected victims
\nand work for reconciliation with the countries concerned to put an end
\nto xenophobia, the concerned countries of the victims should come
\ntogether to table appropriate motions at the AU level first and consider
\nother measures if the situation is allowed to continue.<\/p>\n
Dear senior brother, please accept the assurances of my highest
\nconsideration for your good health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n
Olusegun Obasanjo.<\/p>\n
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has reacted to the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other Africa citizens living in South Africa. In a letter to the President of the Inkatha Freedom…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n