Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has expressed concern over the worsening xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa, in which Nigerians have been major victims.<\/p>\n
A statement he personally signed on Tuesday said Nigeria has had enough of its citizens being targets of those attacks and will no longer tolerate hate crimes in any form against its citizens who are doing legitimate businesses in that country.<\/p>\n
\u201cXenophobic violence is most condemnable anywhere; more so in South Africa, a country whose citizens benefitted from the unwavered support and solidarity of Africans and freedom lovers across the world in their historic struggle against apartheid\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore disturbing, however, is that these attacks indicate the neglect of educating the younger generations on the sacrifices that Africans proudly made towards expunging the scourges of colonialism and apartheid from their continent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe enormous contributions of Nigeria to this historic struggle is underscored by its recognition as a frontline state in the prolonged confrontation against the powerful racist regime that had held generations of Southern Africans in bondage and subhuman conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis recognition is in spite of the fact that Nigeria does not share geographical borders with the subregion and was far removed from the direct consequences of apartheid.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe liberation of South Africa was rightly celebrated across the continent and the Black world as the final emancipation of Africans from colonialism and apartheid.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is therefore, an unacceptable irony that a section of South Africans would so soon, after now, choose other Africans in their country as the targets of mindless violent attacks over frustrations for which the innocent victims have no control.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be recalled that I had on July 15, this year, met with the South African High Commissioner, Bobby Moroe, in Abuja over the same issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the meeting, I had said: \u2018The South African Government must as a matter of urgency do whatever it takes to protect the lives and property of Nigerians living there, just as the Nigerian Government remain committed to the safety of South Africans residing here and their investments\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe we have faced enough, we will no longer take it anymore. The South African parliament must act fast to put a stop to this menace.<\/p>\n
\u201cI acknowledge the efforts the Federal Government is making to register the indignation of Nigerians on the cruel treatment of their compatriots in South Africa and to force an end to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs part of the efforts on Tuesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, summoned the South African High Commissioner to Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Muhammadu Buhari has also dispatched a special envoy to meet with the South African authorities, in addition to scheduling a presidential visit to South Africa for discussions with the government of that country on how to end the attacks and redress the current situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery step necessary must be taken in protecting law-abiding foreigners, including Nigerians, and their businesses from hate crimes in South Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is noteworthy that South Africans and their businesses are prospering from the clement environment that Nigeria offers to all without discrimination. We demand no less from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement added that the Senate was closely observing the situation and urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to accept nothing but the immediate cessation of hostility to Nigerians living in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has expressed concern over the worsening xenophobic attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa, in which Nigerians have been major victims. A statement he personally signed on Tuesday said Nigeria has had enough of its citizens being targets of those attacks and will no longer tolerate hate crimes in any form […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":8611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[648,556,642],"class_list":["post-15035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-lawan","tag-south-africa","tag-xenophobia"],"yoast_head":"\n