•South African protesters hold sticks and flags while chanting slogans, yesterday
The Nigerian government won’t accept the “humiliation” or damage to its interests amid the wave of xenophobic attacks and anti-immigration marches in South Africa.
According to the Presidential Adviser on Foreign Affairs, Demola Oshodi, who said this, the federal government has rolled out measures to ensure the safety of Nigerians and protect the country’s interests in South Africa.
“We will not accept any sort of humiliation or definitely any huge damages to our interests there. It’s just not possible,” Oshodi said last night on Channels Television.
“But I do assure you that we take the lives of Nigerians more seriously than even these investments that I’m talking about, and you can see that in the fact that the president has sent his ambassador there.”
According to him, the Nigerian government won’t go to the “extreme” to address the issue, explaining that both nations have deep ties, especially in business.
“The Tinubu government is really on top of things. I’ve said we’ve moved hundreds of the most vulnerable people out of South Africa,” he said.
“We’ve escalated this to the South African government, and we are taking steps to do more.”
“There’s a lot of vested interest in both countries. There’s a lot of investments in both countries. We also have a history together. We have been the two largest economies in Africa. So it’s important we take things incrementally,” he said when asked about what the Nigerian authorities are doing to address the issue.
“We don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, as they say. So it’s watch and see what is going to happen today, the June 30th deadline they’ve given, and see how much the South African government is taking steps to protect our nationals.”
Nigeria Pushes For Compensation
The renewed wave of xenophobic attacks in South Africa has seen countries like Ghana and Nigeria repatriate their citizens.
Another batch of Nigerians returned from the South African nation on Tuesday, the deadline set by some groups for undocumented immigrants to leave.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Acting Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa, Alexander Ajayi, says the federal government is exploring compensation for Nigerians forced to leave behind businesses and properties in the wake of the protests.
“So, this repatriation will not end with just taking people to Nigeria. We are going to systematically follow up on the information given to us, and I told them to be very accurate with what they are going to give because we are going to work with the South African government to get to the exact locations of all these businesses, shops and properties and present them to the South African government for possible compensation because we will not allow the labour people have suffered to build over the years to just go down the drain or be taken over by people,” Ajayi said yesterday.
Yesterday, thousands of people marched across South Africa to demand the departure of undocumented foreign nationals after a weeks-long campaign that has sent thousands fleeing and claimed four lives.
Police were out in force for nationwide protests, which capped building demonstrations led by citizen-led groups that set an unofficial June 30 deadline for foreigners without papers to leave the country.
There were isolated incidents of tension, including stone-throwing and confrontations near Johannesburg, where security forces escorted a handful of foreign nationals away from a mob.
Several people were arrested for looting, and soldiers were deployed in the cities of Johannesburg and Durban for the night, authorities said.
Crowds of demonstrators brandishing sticks and flags moved through central Johannesburg over the day while most shops stayed shuttered, workers stayed home, and transport hubs were quiet.
