‘Xenophobic Attacks Eviden

The recent xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other foreign nationals in South fact that Nigeria committed enormous economic and financial resources towards apartheid regime, the general perception is that the 800,000 Nigerian nationals Anselm Odinkalu,

Before the general elections the National Human Rights Commission released a publication advising political parties against hate campaigns and electoral violence. What are your views on the conduct of the 2015 general elections? On the whole, Nigerians deserve congratulations for the outcome of the 2015 elections. A lot happened for which the country should be proud. There is evidence of incremental performance by INEC. For the first time in presidential politics since 1979, we will not have any presidential election petition. The losing candidate conceded in the presidential contest and in many of the state elections. Of course, the lawyers who thrive on election petitions could see this as bad news for their private economies but for the country it means less of the public purse will go to funding election petitions and the exponential fees of the senior lawyers involved in them. That’s not to say that everything has been perfect. The election campaigns were very divisive. A lot of hateful language was deployed. We lost many people to election violence, admittedly nowhere like we did in the post-election violence of 2011 but still in the hundreds. I continue to maintain that no Nigerian life should be lost to election violence and even one life lost is one too many. INEC also remains work in progress in many areas but by and large we have a lot to be proud of. Speaking personally, I’m proud of the work that Professor Attahiru Jega has done at INEC. He deserves tremendous credit and commendation. I’m also proud of the work the National Human Rights Commission did in connection with the specific issue of election-related violence. We don’t have and cannot wait for our people to be killed before we work against violence. It is always better and more fulfilling to prevent atrocity than to await its occurrence and then cry over mass killings.

In the past few weeks there have been violence against foreigners in South Africa, including Nigerians. Indeed many foreigners have lost their lives in these xenophobic attacks. This is not the first time, nationals of other African countries have been attacked in South Africa. What do you think is the basis for these recurrent attacks?

The targeting of foreigners in South Africa has been a long standing thing. Most South African refer to other Africans as “Makwerekwere”, that is, people of “Kwerekwere people” as in - those people whose language is unintelligible and comes out as “kwerekwere”. You’re right in pointing out this is not the first time that foreigners are being targeted for violence in South Africa by South Africans in different locations. It takes many forms: Whether it is the mass humiliation; or degradation of Africans applying for visas to denial of asylum to Africans who need it; or the hunting of Zimbabweans in South Africa; or the killing of Lucky Dube by someone who mistook him for a non-South African or the firebombing of Ethiopians in South Africa, the fact that these forms of violence are increasing not reducing over the years is evidence of leadership failure. People call it Xenophobia. I like to think of it as crass failure of leadership. For a country whose leadership was mostly formed and educated outside its borders on fees and scholarships provided mostly by foreigners, especially Africans, that’s what it is. South Africa’s leaders can do better by themselves, their country, their neighbours and the continent and they know it. African countries can also do better to educate South Africa.

How would you assess the South African Government's response to these attacks on African nationals living in the country?

It’s been less than not impressive. The South African government was initially reluctant to come out firmly in this latest set of attacks. Don’t forget the attacks appear to have been stoked by King Zwelithini who is himself the king of the Zulu from where President Zuma comes and where he has his ethnic base. The irony is that King Zwelithini has a very well known history of renting shamans, including religious seers, from West Africa and Nigeria in particular. It’s also the case that since the last episode of attacks against foreigners in the Gauteng Province about six years ago, the government in South Africa has not deployed any clear measures towards preventing a repeat of these attacks, precluding, deterring or punishing them. With no incentives against such attacks, it’s no surprise that they seem to have got worse and more callous.

What should the Nigerian Government do about the over 800,000 Nigerians in South Africa, many of whom have lost their businesses and source of livelihood? Rather than retaliatory action against South Africa or South African businesses how can the Nigerian Government make the necessary reconciliatory move towards the African brotherhood that former South African President Nelson Mandela encouraged?

Let’s be clear: There is no African brotherhood about having your people firebombed in a foreign country or having their businesses and livelihoods gratuitously destroyed by violence. The obligation that comes with citizenship of a state is diplomatic protection and Nigeria has a responsibility to protect its citizens wherever their rights may be endangered. I expect Nigeria to deploy all diplomatic assets for this purpose. The option of repatriation of Nigerians doesn’t appear feasible or practicable. We have a quite significant Nigerian population in South Africa. But that option is also not persuasive or sensible because it gives in to the bigoted arsonists who want to extirpate Africans on our own continent. That should not be allowed. The first thing we must do is put pressure on South Africa to fulfill its obligations to itself, to humanity and to Africa. One way is through our regional institutions, including the African Union. Incidentally, the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union is Dr. Nkosazana Zuma, a medical doctor, who is South Africa’s former Foreign Minister and former spouse of the current South African President. However, in my view, she has been sadly lacking in both presence and imagination in this present crisis.

How would you assess the diplomatic relationship between Nigeria and South Africa before and since these xenophobic attacks started? Some have suggested some retaliatory response against South African owned businesses in Nigeria.

On the issue of state of diplomatic relations between Nigeria and South Africa, both countries are somewhat competitors for leadership in Africa. In this sense, the relations have sometimes reflected a sense of competition. Nigeria was a leading voice against apartheid in South Africa. If you recall, Nigeria was even a leader in the frontline States. Following the end of Apartheid, South Africa was a leading voice form Africa during the Abacha years when human rights violations were serious in Nigeria. You will recall that Nigeria boycotted the