Nce of Failure of Leadership’

Africa has been a subject of global condemnations. Given the the emancipation of South Africans from the grip of the then ving in South Africa have received a raw deal. Professor Chidi with May Agbamuche-Mbu, Jude Igbanoi and Tobi Soniyi ndonesia for drug

African Cup of Nations in South Africa in 1996. Following the re-basing of Nigeria’s GDP figures, Nigeria overtook South Africa last year as the biggest economy in Africa. But South Africa has much higher GDP per capita ratios and beats Nigeria in many other indices including energy generation. That said, Africa needs both Nigeria and South Africa powering at full capacity. It is in the interest of Africa that South African and Nigeria work together collaboratively to advance the development and advancement of the continent. Therefore, the option of retaliatory action against South African businesses or citizens in Nigeria must be off the table. We can’t allow that. This is not about South Africans in Nigeria or elsewhere in Africa. It has to be about asking South Africa’s government to rise up to the responsibilities of government. That is the important thing. The fact that they have citizens who run businesses outside South Africa should be an added reason for them to act decisively to protect nationals of other African countries in their territory because that is the best way to guarantee the safety of their citizens elsewhere. We must understand that South Africans who are in our countries doing business contribute to our economies, inter-marry with our people, employ our brothers and sisters and buy and sell our goods. We owe them a duty of protection. But we can exert both bilateral and multi-lateral pressure. We can also reserve a right of legal or judicial redress for compensation or other remedies by way of inter-state action exercising the prerogative of diplomatic protection in favour of our nationals who are affected. There are clear precedents here. I would very much be in support of legal action against South Africa were we to contemplate that.

Has the response of the Nigerian Government been appropriate in these circumstances, beyond the recall of the ambassador which the Presidency has denied?

I’ve addressed earlier some responses that I think Nigeria can deploy or mobilize in this situation. The nature of our response has been somewhat confusing to be perfectly honest. First there was the story about the recall of Nigeria’s High Commissioner from South Africa for consultations. The Presidency issued a clarification saying this wasn’t the case. Then I have seen another statement saying the Permanent Secretary Foreign Affairs has been suspended in the aftermath of the issue of recall or not of the High Commissioner. All this sounds both confusing and diversionary at a time when we need to conserve all our diplomatic assets optimally against a situation that affects the rights of our nationals overseas. To that extent, I find the situation somewhat disappointing. We can afford to be a lot more professional and diligent in this circumstance. The focus appears to be on what we have not done rather than on what we have done or can do!

Are nationals of other countries living in South Africa protected by domestic, regional and international instruments? What are these legal instruments? What remedies are available under international law for victims of these attacks?

Human rights generally, especially the rights to life and to physical security, appertain to individuals irrespective of race, nationality, creed, religion, sex, gender or other difference. So yes, Africans in South Africa are entitled to the same protections as to their lives and livelihoods as any other persons in South Africa. That’s why I say this is also even more about failure of government.

Would you say Nigerians are generally racially or ethnically profiled, as we have also witnessed such developments in other African countries like Algeria, Morocco and Equatorial Guinea, resulting in some cases massive deportations?

It’s the case that Nigeria does have something of an international reputation for being sub-optimal on law and order. You have to remember that this could also be an issue of scale. Nigeria accounts for about 25% of Africa’s entire population. So, the likelihood is that wherever you have significant African populations, you will find a significant proportion of Nigerians among them. So there could be a cognitive element to this reputation. That said, it’s a reputation that we can do something about. Whenever you hear an unduly loud voice or undue boisterousness in a foreign airport terminal or location, the likelihood is that there is a gathering of Nigerians. We can indulge in fancy or colorful immodesty sometimes. Yet, by and large, most Nigerians are peace loving and want to live in peace with our neighbours. Things like the recent elections have helped the Nigerian brand positively internationally. The elections have dented the image or parody of a country that can’t get anything right. I cannot say whether or not we are profiled as a people but I do know that we can help to redress the negative reputation by ensuring that we get things right in our country because when we do it advances the image of our country and our people all over the world.

Recently, four Nigerians were executed in Indonesia for drugs related offences. This is not the first time we are witnessing these executions for drug-related offences in these Asian countries. Given that various treaties exist between these countries, shouldn’t there have been mitigation?

To my knowledge, treaties don’t regulate mitigation. Treaties address the rights and entitlements of foreigners to consular support when they are in legal or related difficulty in foreign countries. But when the legal process has run its course, then it’s diplomatic assets you spend or deploy, including public diplomacy. I don’t think we had a lot of public diplomacy in this case. And I don’t know what other diplomatic assets we deployed. In this particular case, we also had nationals of other countries affected, so it would have made sense to co-ordinate with the other countries whose nationals were involved. From the point of view of Indonesia, it wouldn’t be justice to differentiate between people convicted of the same crimes on the basis of their nationality, would it? That said, I still don’t think capital punishment is justified or proportionate for narcotic-related offence. But that is Indonesia’s law. We must encourage our citizens to respect the laws of foreign countries in which they find themselves. Many countries have more effective law enforcement than we do and the consequences of being caught breaching those laws can often be quite serious.

Did the Nigerian government do enough to save these four citizens from being executed?

I don’t yet have the details of what government did or didn’t do so, I cannot say whether or not we did enough. However, I’d have preferred to be in a situation in which whatever we did would also be in the public domain. I’m worried that as a country, we appear comfortable with a reputation of not doing enough to protect our people beyond our shores.