A Bond That Must Never Be Broken (6)

The relationship between Nigeria and South Africa is strained by escalating hostility and violence against Nigerian nationals in South Africa, despite Nigeria's historical contributions to the anti-apartheid struggle. The author argues that while some South Africans may be perceived as hostile, they remain African brothers and sisters who deserve compassion, not anger.

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The South African people, as hostile, violent, aggressive and annoying as some of them may be, are our African brothers and sisters, and given all they have been through they do not deserve our anger and hate but rather our compassion, sympathy, love, care, support, concern and pity… Regardless of all, we must offer them all these things, re-build the bridge and work closely with them for the sake of our collective future.

Recent events underscore this tension. On June 28, two Nigerian nationals, Musa Yunana Joe and Charles Iroegbu, were killed. Joe was allegedly killed by South African police officers, while Iroegbu's attackers remain unidentified. These deaths occurred shortly before an unofficial deadline set by anti-immigrant vigilante groups for foreigners to leave the country. This is not an isolated incident; in April, Amaramiro Emmanuel was reportedly beaten to death by members of the South African National Defence Force, the very military that Nigeria's financial support helped establish.

Ekpenyong Andrew, another Nigerian, was arrested in Pretoria and later found dead in a mortuary. Mobs associated with groups like Operation Dudula have marched through major cities, carrying traditional weapons and issuing threats to African migrants, telling them to leave or face death. By early July, nearly 600 Nigerians had been evacuated on emergency flights, with about 1,000 more registered to flee, abandoning businesses, homes, and life savings accumulated over decades. Across all nationalities, over 13,000 African migrants have been forced out in recent weeks, marking the fourth major wave of such expulsions.

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In 1990 when Mandela came to thank Nigeria for its support to the ANC and the Pan African Congress he was given 10 ten million USD by the Nigerian Government as our further contribution to the ANC when he was leaving. 61 billion dollars was the total figure that Nigeria donated to the ANC and the Pan African Congress by 1994. Adjusted for three decades of inflation, and with even a conservative rate of interest applied, as any court applies to any unpaid debt, the true present value of Nigeria’s sacrifice runs into the hundreds of billions of dollars.

The article draws a stark contrast with Nigeria's past generosity. In 1990, Nelson Mandela visited Nigeria to thank the nation for its support to the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan African Congress. The Nigerian government provided $10 million USD at that time, and by 1994, Nigeria's total donations to these movements had reached $61 billion USD. Adjusted for inflation and conservative interest rates, the present value of Nigeria's sacrifice is in the hundreds of billions of dollars. This occurred while Nigeria itself faced crushing debt, collapsing infrastructure, and widespread poverty affecting 130 million citizens.

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this was money that Nigeria, with its own crushing debt burden, collapsing infrastructure and 130 million of its own citizens living in multidimensional poverty, needs desperately at home.

Despite this history, South Africa's current actions are seen as a betrayal. The author urges a rebuilding of bridges and closer cooperation for the sake of a collective future, emphasizing that compassion, sympathy, love, care, support, and concern are what South Africans need, rather than Nigeria's anger and hate.

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By early July, nearly 600 Nigerians had been evacuated on emergency flights, with roughly 1000 registered to flee, abandoning shops, cars, homes and life savings built over decades.