Mind-boggling tales on Nigerianphobia in South Africa

Written by Kenneth Ehigiator
Tuesday, 04 December 2007


If you ask any Nigerian resident in any part of South Africa the major challenge he faces living in the country, his sure response is insipid hatred from the citizens of the country, white, coloured or black. Of course, that of the blacks is mostly noticeable because they are in majority in terms of population. The position of ordinary Nigerians on the streets of South Africa is not different from that of the Nigerian Consulate or High Commission in the country.

 
The inhibitions Nigerians are faced with as a result of the phobia South Africans have for them recently propelled Bellview Airlines to organise in Johannesburg a forum for South Africa-based Nigerian journalists, their South African counterparts and officials of Nigeria’s Consulate in that country, led by the Consul-General, Ambassador Sani Muhammad.

Convener of the parley and Bellview Airlines’ Country Manager in South Africa, Mrs. Kemi Ilori, said the forum had become necessary because the phobia of South Africans for Nigerians was preventing Nigerians involved in genuine businesses there from actualising their dreams.

She told the gathering that South African journalists were particularly invited to be part of the discussions because the South Africa media had been a veritable tool for perpetration of the hatred against Nigerians.

Revelations at the forum revealed that editors in South African media have made up their minds what to play up about Nigeria, to the extent that if it is not negative, it is not newsworthy. Tales were told by some South African journalists of how editors throw away scripts on the positive exploits of Nigerians resident in the country.

For instance, Nigerian journalists resident in South Africa lamented that not even a mention was made in the South African media of the Golden Eaglets’s victory in the just concluded FIFA Under-17 World Cup in South Korea.

Mention was also made of a Nigerian surgeon who led a team of physicians to perform the first separation of co-joined twins in South Africa. Vanguard learnt that while the names of the South African members of the team were celebrated in the media, mention was not made of the Nigerian that led the team.

Furthermore, a Nigerian scientist who recently invented a machine for eye operation was reportedly honoured by the South African government for the feat, but unfortunately, the feat was unreported in the South Africa media.

On the issue of crime and drug, Nigeria’s Consul-General in Johannesburg, Ambassador Sani Muhammad, regretted that South Africans and even their security agencies have labelled all Nigerians criminals and drug peddlers, though that is not the case.

According to him, recent statistics released by an agency of the South African government showed that 97% of the crimes committed in South Africa were perpetrated by South Africans themselves, while only a tiny fraction of the remaining 3% involved Nigerians.

Muhammad said several of the criminals who are mainly from Malawi, Zimbabwe and other Southern African countries immediately claim Nigeria whenever they are arrested, adding that they reveal their true nationalities only at the point of deportation.

The ambassador also told the gathering that the Consulate was currently pursuing the prosecution of a South African policeman who wilfully killed a Nigeria without any provocation or committal of offence. He charged South African journalists who were present at the forum thus: "The main issue is one of image. We, at the Consulate, are addressing them and we will continue to address them. I want to appeal to South African journalists who have visited Nigeria to tell the truth about the country."

The Consul, Nigerian Community Relations at the Consulate, Mr Chris Iroala, was not different in his submission. He attributed inferiority complex on the part of black South Africans for their aggression against Nigerians.

According to Iroala, black South Africans are aghast that Nigerians could stand and look at the whites in the face, and thus see them as people who have come to their country to dominate them. "We are really proud people who know what we want and how to go about it.

The immigration officers here go from house to house seeking Nigerians for repatriation, even those with genuine business, without notifying the Consulate. It is not the duty of immigration to tell who is the Nigerian, but that of the Consulate.

We have protested it and we are discussing with the authorities here on the matter, and the discussions have been fruitful," he said.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Bureau Chief in Central and Southern Africa, Mr. Kevin Osazuwa, confirmed the Consul-General’s disclosure that the South African High Commission in Lagos issues visas to Nigerians without means of survival in the country at the expense of those with genuine businesses to do there, just for the sake of collecting non-refundable repatriation fees, stressing that even though he had genuine intentions of coming to South Africa to represent his organisation, the high commission still slammed a repatriation fee of N83,000 on him and has refused to refund the money back to him about five months after.

Osazuwa said several South Africa-based Nigerians were doing well in the country, but was quick to add that their exploits, though celebrated by the South African government, are played down by the media.

He also told a story of how a Nigerian who emerged best law graduate in the whole of South Africa two years ago was denied the opportunity of attending the South African equivalent of Nigeria Law School simply because she is a Nigerian.

Head, Southern African Bureau of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr. Tony Ekata, shared a similar thought on the matter, saying South Africans have labelled all Nigerians resident in their country criminals, irrespective of professional and social status.

He said more than 90% of crime committed in South Africa were by South Africans themselves, with people from other Southern African countries as Malawi, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, etc, dominating the remaining figure of not more than 3%.

He said South Africans’ hatred for Nigerians was deep-seated, wondering why this is so, considering the role played by Nigeria and Nigerians to liberate the blacks from the shackles of apartheid.

Alternate chairman of Nigerian Union in South Africa, Mr. Debo Sodeke, blamed the local people’s attitude towards Nigerians on ignorance and lack of exposure.

He said the long years of suppression the blacks were put through during the apartheid era has affected their psyche, to the extent that they have been brain-washed to see fellow blacks, especially Nigerians, as people who have come to take opportunities away from them.

Sodeke, however, said his union was working hard to change the perceived bad image of Nigeria in the country. Another Nigerian journalists based in South Africa, Segun Dipe, noted that there was an improvement in the relationships between black South Africans and the Nigerian community at the moment, adding that the situation was really bad for Nigerians within the first few years after the collapse of apartheid.

According to him, the hatred for Nigerians that subsists is foisted and promoted by the whites who control the economy, police force and the media. "Because the whites control the economy and those other institutions, they use them to rule the minds of the blacks to see other blacks as enemies," Dipe said.

He said Nigerian journalists in South Africa would continue to interface with the media in the country to change the perception they have of Nigeria and her people. Dipe equally suggested that Nigerian media organisations set up offices in South Africa to counter the negative reporting of the country by the South African media.

However, mention was immediately made of efforts made by ThisDay Newspapers and Daar Communications to set up in South Africa and how they were frustrated out by the South African authorities.

Other Nigerian journalists who spoke at the forum never stop highlighting the sacrifices Nigeria and her people made to liberate South Africa from apartheid; how Nigeria became a frontline state in the struggle against apartheid, even though she was located thousands of kilometers away.

A South African journalist, Gugu Sibiya, who spoke on behalf of other South African journalists at the forum, said after listening to stories of roles played by the Nigerian government and Nigerians to liberate blacks from white man’s domination in apartheid South Africa, that there was need for Nigeria to blow her trumpet over this.

According to her, not too many black South Africans of this generation are aware of the sacrifices made by Nigerians to give them freedom. Sibiya said much of the negative perception South Africans have of Nigeria was perpetrated by the media controlled by the whites.

She said editors in South African media organisations already have a mindset about Nigeria, that of a country where nothing good can come from. Sibiya said each time she submitted stories on positive things being done by Nigerians in South Africa, she was accused by her editors of either having an affair with a Nigerian and, therefore, duty bound to defend his country, or that she was paid to do so. She said South African newspapers use negative stories about Nigeria to sell their papers.

"The only stories they want to hear about Nigeria is that of crime, drug and such stories are played up boldly on front pages to sell the papers," said Sibiya, who said her frequent visit to Nigeria had since changed her perception of the country and its people.

Sibiya, who claimed to be a close friend of the Anyiam-Osigwes, stressed the need for such editors to be taken on trips to Nigeria. "Perhaps that may change their perception," she added.

Sibiya said her years of interactions with Nigerians have shown that they are very warm, hardworking and upwardly mobile people that South Africans could tap so much from, if all suspicions in the way of the relationships between them were removed.

She also said the previous dispensations at the Consulate or High Commission have not been forthcoming about participating in events that could educate South Africans about Nigeria and her people, but gave kudos to the current Consul-General for his efforts at engendering this.

Bellview Airlines’ Public Affairs Head, Mr. Habib Muhammad, said the time has come for black South Africans to take their destinies in their own hands, adding that Nigerians could help them to actualise this, if they interfaced with them.

According to him, apartheid may have been defeated in South Africa, but black South Africans are not yet free. Muhammad noted that with the way the South African economy is currently structured, blacks may not rise beyond certain level in realising their dreams, wondering why they are not working with Nigerians to improve their lots.

The Bellview spokesman said if white South Africans could come to Nigeria to make so much money, the blacks were better placed to make more if they eliminate their hatred against Nigerians and work with them because, according to him, Nigeria is a land of opportunities.

"The average Nigerian could look at the whiteman in the face, but the blacks cannot. I sincerely think the blacks can tap into this courage of Nigerians to empower themselves," he said.

One important message guests took away was the need for the Nigerian government to make noise about the role it played in the struggle against apartheid, as this, according to the people who spoke at the forum, will go a long way in reshaping the attitudes of South Africans towards the country and Nigerians, especially those resident there.

In this regard, the High Commission in South Africa was asked to be more proactive in championing the enlightenment of South Africans about the virtues, culture and exploits of Nigeria in the international community, especially with regards to her peace-keeping roles in Africa and beyond.


Story source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2531&Itemid=49

na wa o, we cant even be first class citizen on our continent giant of west Africa will do just fine

@ G-reycells . Thanks for the informations.

its not the fault of the black south africans, after centuries of mental and physical slavery they are simply looking for the next available scapegoat on whom to vent their frustrations.

And they can't vent it on those who mentally and physically enslaved them?

Hmmmmmh, tell me what perpetrated the hatred? Black on Black racism. This is a laugh.

@Davidlan

Must they vent it on Nigerians only? Considering the leading role Nigeria played in the emancipation of black South Africans from the shackles of slavery.

davidylan:

its not the fault of the black south africans, after centuries of mental and physical slavery they are simply looking for the next available scapegoat on whom to vent their frustrations.

WHAT AN EXCUSE!!!!!!
it was always my belief that opinions on people or persons
are usually formed by virtue of EXPERIENCE

davidylan:

its not the fault of the black south africans, after centuries of mental and physical slavery they are simply looking for the next available scapegoat on whom to vent their frustrations.

People, I think davidylan was just sarcastic.

If only the Nigerian government can put its citizens first before their pot bellies we would not be taking these insults from ordinary South Africa.

I no blame the safa people, they are suffering from major ignorance. I once had a south african friend whose mother told her to have nothing to do with blacks despite the fact that she is quadroon herself, anyway, the poor girl dated my sharp naija friend and has been in love with black men from then on! let them try to mix with naija people first, and they will never love anybody else.

I cant blame anybody , If our country is good enough, then there would not be massive emigration ,
I also have this strong feeling that it would soon shift cos with time with the influx of southern africans (ppl from zimbabwe n others) would be the new scape goat ,

A clear example is australia where b4 now there is always tension btw whites n aborigines later shifted to whites n eastern europeans n asians (turks, lebanese, indians, chinese) now its whites vs blacks (sudanese), cos they are new ppl coming to australia n need time to integrate with the system ,


My own cent
Cheers


Season's Greetings to all nairalanders

my dear,i hate saying what am not sure of.and i love to call a spade a spade.south africa is next door to me.and i can categorically tell you,that 40% of the crimes in south africa is been pepetrated by nigerians,quote me any where,and pls try and do your findings properly.and if you so wish to no the guys on board,they are our igbo brothers,from anambra to be presice,just a hand full are the yorubas,which are into drug pedlling,for asasination and big time drug pushers,they are the igbo maffias,now they are shitting to malawi,its cost just 250k to get into S/A as it is fondly called.when you enter,some one picks you up and seize your pasport,then you have to serve just like they do with tra their trading here in 9ja,but just that this time is shorter, 1 - 2yrs.then you are sett free.the hatred in S/A is small check out libia,where a whole governor of abia had to go dupe gardaffi the president,do you no what nigerians do their,that the even go to the extreme of raping their young girls knowing fully well they are virgins.kill and murdered the arabs.my brother do your investigation very well before you talk.am surprise gardaffi has not ordered all nigerians in libia to be killed and thrown into the mediterenian sea.take a ride to libia ,we have over a 100,000 thousand nigerians in their underground prison.we need prayers.

Wany,

You are such a big let down! How dis you collate the fact that 40% of the criminals in S/A are Nigerians. It is people like you that keep supplying the outside world with wrong information about us. Everyone knows South Africa has the highest crime rate in Africa. Is Nigerians account for most of them how come we witness fewer crimes back home?

Nigerians like you make me cry. Why continue to justify the tag that we are criminals?

I feel like invoking the gods of Nigeria to strike you down.

before you invoke sango and amadioha to stike wany, invoke them to strike the politicians who have looted our land for over 40yrs and still counting. our country is sick. very very sick. if we had a good society, why will we be rigmaroling the globe looking for a home?

this is the sh-t you get for trying to live outside your country. insults upon injury. and it will continue untill we put our home in order. then the western press will have nothing negative to write, then nigerians wont be moving out of thier country in a desperarte search for a home, then visas wont be a 250k issue but an issue of just going to the embassy and spending a few hrs to get it . . . . travel to the destination for business or pleasure and come back home. then insults will stop.

wherever there is immigration from poor country to rich country there is always insult. the eastern europeans are seeing it in the UK, mexicans see it in the states, so it is. u'll never have US insulting canadians in their country.

put our country in order, then every other thing shall be added unto us. but e be like say that one go hard, b/c we cant even arrange election. na wa o.

@Wany

your comments are a great disservice to Nigerians. I am sure u will soon tell us that Nigerians are to blame for apartheid in South Africa. Nigerians are not as criminal as South Africans.

your statistics about Nigerians and crime in South Africa is spurious and conjured from a deeply prejudiced mind.

Am sure u are South African

wany u No lie, na the day we see ourself as true ambassadors of our country na that time levels go change.Compliments

The most annoying part of the whole thing is that when ever Nigeria's image is tainted the culprits are always the Ibos and the Edo's

I think Wany may not be right in his assertion but some of you who have not lived in South Africa might not be objective in your your crtiticism.The only thing I do know as a SA resident is that most Nigerians of 'East' extractions are into various nefarious criminal activities and top on the list is DRUGS.Every Nigerian is labelled a peddler and dont forget one of the SA journalists dubbed OBJ as drud peddler in one his visits to SA.In as much as I dont concur with the feelings that most crimes in SA are being committed by Nigerians then one should not lose sight of 'these' bad elements that have eaten deep into Nigeria regalia.Let these people know that 'what is striking and beautiful is not always good but what is good is always beautiful'

Its easier for SA's to say Nigerians are the problem rather than point fingers at themselves

Why not pick Nigerians abi--- do u think they will say their own people are the problem

How unpatriotic can Nigerrians be

haba did u read the article?

Even when Nigerians acheived feats they did not report it

Should that alone not make u livid

Yet they come to Nigeria and set up companies and make incredible profit

How many times must we say this BE PROUDLY NIGERIAN
evry country has crime and criminals its as old as sin its not new

This is a good move by the High Commission. We hope to see more of these articles.
We are happy our embassy is doing something about the xenophobia.
Well i dont blame South africans to an extend, they just beefing us, We nigerians are taking over there countries
are Doctors ,engineers are everywhere,we have some Nigerians at top govt levels
they scared we might take over there country one day.
But at the same time, white South Africans are taking over Nija economy, look at MTN,shoprite,Game,AA, name it all,
If south africa isnt careful. the next apartheid will be run By Nigerians against Southy, cos they cant stand us any day.

@dejia



I tot d story says Bellview Airlines is the convener, not the Nigerian High Commission in South Africa!

It is funny how living in America we get the same thing here, anyone that is guilty of fraud is automatically Nigerian, yes we did not help ourselves by promoting 419 and just watching it spread through our cyber cafes, its so bad now that people from other countries have started sending the fraudulent emails and they claim to be Nigerians. We as a people need to take a stand against the many yahoozees out there. If we took a stand and enforced some kind of serious penaly for cyber cafe owners who do not monitor what the touts they serve are doing then the situation would get better.

I was in lagos in august and i went to about 10 cyber cafes between yaba and VI, and in all but 2 of the there were alot of guys actively sending out fraudulent emails trying to scam people. it was so bad that they didnt even hide it, whenever they would get a response they would all gather around that one computer and suggest the things that the guys should say. if only the police or someone would do 2 weeks worth of raids we would be alot better off.

With all that said, we are not that bad a nation, we should still be proud to be from Nigeria, and we should let that pride govern our lives, if you have a benz that you love you will not use it to carry spoilt fish because it will leave a bad smell in it. thats the same way that we should view our nigerian image.

south africa is bleeped up, the crime rate is too bad, please do not plan of comeing here