_BY CHUBI EZE_<\/p>\n
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread like wildfire around the world, leaders
\nof several nations instituted emergency efforts to repatriate their
\ncitizens from foreign shores. For Nigerians in foreign lands, accustomed
\nto the usual incompetence of their officials, there was a sliver of
\noptimism that the Nigerian government would finally change its ways and
\nrespond to the pandemic in a professional manner.<\/p>\n
For Nigerians in South Africa harbouring such hopes, it\u2019s been a case
\nof deja vu, they have not only been faced with a familiar feeling of
\ndisappointment but an evolving nightmare in a country where xenophobic
\ntensions are still rife.\u00a0 They have been thrown out of their hotels, had
\nto seek refuge from strangers and are close to penury.<\/p>\n
After South African Airways abruptly cancelled all return tickets for
\nNigerians and other nationals in South Africa under a
\ngovernment-mandated lockdown, there was no way out of the country except
\non repatriation flights. However, while other African countries,
\nincluding Angola and even cash-strapped Zimbabwe have been evacuating
\ntheir citizens from South Africa, the official response from Nigerian
\ngovernment officials in South Africa is that they are unable to assist
\nNigerian citizens and have no authorization from the Geoffrey
\nOnyeama-led Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n
Rather, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs\u2019 sole focus seems to have been
\nin poorly-handled repatriation flights from more visible countries such
\nas the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates,
\nin efforts that basically seem like window dressing.<\/p>\n
In the same period while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
\nNigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), have remained unresponsive to
\ntheir citizens stranded in South Africa, Geoffrey Onyeama has penned
\nop-eds in the Nigerian news media while NIDCOM\u2019s chief Abike Dabiri,
\nusually, a tireless self-promoter has maintained a deafening silence.<\/p>\n
Nigeria is a country of two-hundred million, with a huge diaspora
\npopulation that remits $23 billion to its economy, a sum that is half of
\n$46 billion the entire continent receives in remittances, so one would
\nexpect that its government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would
\ndo a better job of assisting its citizens in a crisis situation.<\/p>\n
However, since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Nigeria has organized very
\nfew repatriation flights while countries like South Africa have
\nconducted over thirty flights to repatriate its nationals from places as
\nfar-flung as Brazil, Vietnam, Argentina, Russia and Australia.<\/p>\n
In despair, some Nigerians have resorted to panhandling on social media
\neven going as far as asking South African government officials to
\nfacilitate their return to their country. As if this isn\u2019t bad enough,
\ncertain prejudiced South Africans have upped the ante by openly mocking
\nNigerians over their helplessness in this situation.<\/p>\n
Some have even resorted to threatening a repeat of the xenophobic
\nattacks that have roiled the relationship between both countries in
\nrecent years, with some demagogues threatening to attack Nigerians still
\nin the country after June 16th.<\/p>\n
While diplomatic representatives of other nations are regularly seen at
\nNigerian airports regularly arranging the repatriation of their
\nnationals, the official message from the Nigerian government and its
\nMinistry of Foreign Affairs seems to be that ordinary Nigerians are on
\ntheir own.<\/p>\n
_BY CHUBI EZE_ As the COVID-19 pandemic spread like wildfire around the world, leaders of several nations instituted emergency efforts to repatriate their citizens from foreign shores. For Nigerians in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n