Reactions have continued to trail the recent killings and destruction of properties belonging to Nigerians and other migrants from Africa to South Africa.

It is no longer news that countless Nigerians and other African migrants have continued to count their losses in the xenophobic attack unleashed on them by their supposed African brothers, insisting they must leave their country.

The CEO of Air Peace donated one of his airplanes which conveyed back to the country over 400 Nigerians who were stranded in South Africa following the xenophobic attack.

It also heart-warming to note, that it was a free evacuation/rescue flight which conveyed the victims to Murtala Muhammed International Airport Cargo and Hajj Terminal in Lagos state.

However, South Africa Government seems less concerned to address the attack unleashed by her people on African Migrants.

The government must have as well seen the video clip of September 1, 2019, incident, where migrants were allegedly attacked, and along side properties worth millions of naira destroyed and catered away by South Africans.

Since the incident, the internet has been awash with thousands of reactions from Nigerians including political stakeholders and entertainers concerning the barbaric attack of Nigerians by South Africans, especially as Nigeria was among the country that through her foreign policy fought for the independence of South Africa from the apartheid government by her colonial master in the 90’s.

Although we cannot continue to beckon on the past glory but the past cannot be swept under the carpet, as the past redefined the present and the future.

Worst still, is the video clip that has gone viral where one of the South African officials through his speech was inciting xenophobic attack against migrants.

The continuous streaming of inciting videos online ignited the Nigerian youths who took to the streets to protest the killings of their people in South Africa. While in some areas like Lagos, properties owned by South Africans in Nigeria were destroyed and looted.

While the reprisal in that manner it went needs to be condemned, as the destroyed goods were owed by Nigerians, and the staff were Nigerian, this newspaper condemned in totality the attitude of South Africans towards migrants especially Nigerian migrants.

South Africans should no that nobody has monopoly of violence, and man is an island. It is a fact that Nigeria is one of the African countries with the highest level of migrants in other countries. These migrants don’t take government employments belonging to citizens of their host countries but have contributed to the economic growth of the country where they reside through their private businesses.

Although Nigeria government has reacted through the ministry of Foreign Affairs and over 600 Nigerians indicated interest to return home, more is still need to be done.
This newspaper believes that the federal government need to do more to protect her citizens abroad.

Indeed, using persistent references to sub-Saharan African commonality and solidarity as a result of shared history, race and geography is not an effective foreign policy tool.

The idea of one Africa is a farce taken too far, and successive Nigerian elites have played to this fantasy to the detriment of national interests. The legacy of this pan-African misadventure is a geopolitical weakness for Nigeria that cannot stand up to for itself and for its citizens.

This very much has to do with mismanagement of the economy. Therefore, this newspaper makes bold to say that the redemption Nigeria needs is one that moves the country away from dependence on oil exports, foreign imports and interventions to diversification and industrialisation. We cannot afford to glorify the idea of producing pencils in the age of artificial intelligence any more.

Only if the country becomes materially secure and industrially productive, will it be able to regain its soft power and international clout and stand up to the old bullies in its neighbourhood.

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