The Senior Special
Assistant to the President on
Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Matters,
Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has called on the South African Government to educate
its citizens on the contributions of Nigeria to the former apartheid enclave.
She noted that Nigeria and South Africa had a long-standing
diplomatic relationship in which the former played a critical, if not a pivotal
role that culminated in ending apartheid, among so many of her positive
interventions.
The presidential aide in a statement on Sunday in Abuja
stated that the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other immigrants could not
be resolved by diplomatic niceties, stressing that the Federal Government would
not fold her arms while its citizens were being killed.
Her statement was in reaction to the position of South
Africa’s Home Affairs Minister, Malusi Gigaba, that there was no need for the
African Union intervention in the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other
immigrants.
Dabiri-Erewa described Gigaba’s statement as unfortunate and
unacceptable and restated her earlier call for AU intervention in the attacks
on foreigners in South Africa.
She said, “It appears that Mr. Gigaba would rather dwell on
and entertain himself with diplomatic niceties when the welfare of Nigerians
resident in South Africa are at stake now more than any time in recent history.
“Mr. Gigaba’s response to the mayhem that a segment of the
South African people perpetrated on law-abiding Nigerians in South Africa
smirks of insensitivity, and it’s therefore very reprehensible, if not
unacceptable.
“In view of this unfortunate statement, I am therefore
restating my earlier call on the African Union to take up the South Africa’s
xenophobic issue as a matter of urgency.”
The SSA noted that law-abiding Nigerians in the former
apartheid enclave had borne the major brunt of xenophobic attacks, noting that
the statement by Gigaba that his country was trying to get rid of criminals in
his country at this time was very suspicious.
“Even if this unguarded statement must be taken in its face
value, we wonder if wanton destruction and indiscriminate killing of their
African brothers is the most sensible excuse to give,” she said.
Also, a human rights group, the Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project, has urged the Southern African Development Community to
investigate and punish the people behind the persistent xenophobic attacks on
Nigerians and other foreign nationals living in South Africa.
The group made the call on Sunday in an open letter by its
Executive Director, Mr. Adetokunbo Mumuni, to the Chairperson, SADC, King
Mswati III of Swaziland.
It urged the SADC to convene an emergency summit of the SADC
heads of state and government to discuss the persistent xenophobic attacks in
South Africa.
SERAP urged the SADC to use its “organ on politics, defence
and security cooperation within SADC to immediately set up an independent and
impartial body to investigate all acts of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and
other foreign nationals.
“The investigation’s findings and recommendations should be
made public, suspected perpetrators brought to justice and victims must enjoy
the right to an effective remedy and reparation.”
The letter read in part, “SERAP is seriously concerned about
the apparent complicity of the South African authorities and officials in the
persistent and serious human rights violations and abuses against thousands of
Nigerians living in the country, and/or the failure of the authorities to
exercise due diligence to prevent those violations and abuses.”
0 Comments