Daniel Mumbere
An embarrassment for the continent
Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari said
on Friday that a wave of deadly violence against Nigerians and other foreign
nationals in South Africa last month was an embarrassment to the continent.
In September, rioting and attacks on
foreigners led to at least 10 deaths, dozens of injuries and hundreds of
arrests, triggering anger at home and abroad.
“The recent acts of xenophobic attacks on
our compatriots and other Africans in South Africa are shocking to me,
Nigerians and indeed Africa. It was an embarrassment to the continent,” Buhari
told a town hall meeting with Nigerians living in South Africa, according to
details of his speech on the Nigeria presidency Twitter page.
As the government of South Africa, we have
expressed our deep regret at the attacks directed at foreign nationals.
“As a government, we are quite disturbed by
these very unfortunate events and have taken actions and measures to address
this issue and prevent their reoccurrence with the South African government,”
he added.
Following the attacks, Buhari ordered the
immediate voluntary evacuation of all Nigerians wanting to return home and
around 600 people were repatriated.
Buhari met South African President Cyril
Ramaphosa on Thursday. They both regretted the violence and subsequent
retaliation in Nigeria against South African businesses, pledging instead to
deepen trade ties.
Buhari called for peace at the town hall
meeting.
“The authorities have expressed their
apologies over the incidents and have resolved to take necessary steps to end
this ugly trend in the interest of our relationship,” he said.
“Let us therefore give peace a chance and
pray we have seen the last of this ugly violence.”
Recalling the xenophobic fallout
In September, mobs armed with makeshift
weapons attacked businesses and homes owned by foreigners, leading to at least
10 deaths, dozens of injuries and up to 400 arrests.
In response Nigeria repatriated around 600
of its citizens living in South Africa.
The local units of South African telecoms
company MTN and supermarket chain Shoprite
closed all stores and service centres in Nigeria after their premises were
attacked by Nigerians protesting against attacks on their compatriots in South
Africa.
#PMBinSA significant
for a number of reasons:
- 2019 marks 20 years since establishment of SA-Nig BNC
- First State Visit to SA since new administration kicked off in May
- First Meeting of the “elevated” BNC (first
time ever both Heads of State are co-chairing the BNC) pic.twitter.com/dpej9Mi9Vh
South Africa, Nigeria trade deals
South Africa and Nigeria signed 32
bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding covering trade and
industry, science and technology, defence, agriculture and energy.
One of key items on Nigerian Agenda here is
the push for large® Nigerian companies to have more opportunities to
invest/establish in South Africa. At the moment the reality is of an imbalance:
while SA Cos in Nigeria are large Corporations, Nigerian Cos in SA tend to
be SMEs.
Nigeria accounts for 64 percent of South
Africa’s total trade with the West African Region and is one of its largest
trading partners on the continent.
Buhari, Ramaphosa address xenophobia
Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa and Muhammadu
Buhari, at the conclusion of a two-day visit by the Nigerian leader, said they
regretted the violence and subsequent retaliation in Nigeria against South
African businesses, pledging instead to deepen trade ties.
“As the government of South Africa, we have
expressed our deep regret at the attacks directed at foreign nationals and our
condemnation of all forms of intolerance and acts of violence,” Ramaphosa told
journalists.
Buhari said beyond the economic partnership
the anti-foreigner violence had to be addressed quickly.
“We decided to take concrete measures to
prevent the recurrence of such unacceptable incidents in the future,” Buhari
said.
Both countries have agreed to establish an
Early Warning System / Mechanism to ensure that future potential outbreaks of
violence are nipped in the bud before they degenerate. Identify tensions as
soon as they emerge, alert each other, take steps to de-escalate. #PMBinSA pic.twitter.com/uh7rKWpPpV
Buhari leaves for South Africa
Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari on
Wednesday travelled to South Africa, to resolve the issue of the welfare of
Nigerians.
In a statement posted by the Nigerian
presidency on Tuesday, it was announced that Buhari would meet Nigerians living
in South Africa, preside over the South Africa-Nigeria bi-National Commission
and participate at a South Africa-Nigeria Business Forum.
Buhari’s visit follows a spate of
xenophobic attacks in South Africans cities that targeted foreign nationals
including Nigerians.
Both governments sent special envoys to
manage the diplomatic fallouts from the attacks, even as Nigeria’s government
organised evacuations of its nationals that were no longer at ease in South
Africa.
‘‘Buhari will hold a town hall meeting with
Nigerians living in the country, with a view to sharing in their experiences
and reassuring them of Nigerian government’s commitment to working for the
protection of their lives and property and promoting peaceful co-existence,’‘
read part of the statement.
The violence in South Africa had stoked
concerns about relations between Africa’s two biggest economies.
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