History and events have a way of repeating themselves. Some, a coincidence, and others, a shocking mystery. Still, some are ironical. After the most recent xenophobic attacks, I looked at myself in the mirror of shock, startled, that yet again my predictions about the execrable event proved to be prescient. But then, irrespective of how or what we take from the issue, one thing is undeniably true: South Africans are possessed with an incurable disease which is xenophobia!
Like most diseases, xenophobia has proved to be a huge encumbrance on South Africans. I can’t recall, in recent times, a country with such animosity against foreigners. The fact that Nigerians have been victims of the attacks (ignore the accounts of the High Commissioner stating that there isn’t any Nigerian victim recorded), leaves me pondering as to where have South Africans ditched their senses? The very thought of it is terrible, not least the sight of vandalism meted out on them. What could be more cruel?
History has a way of toiling with our lives. Still, it is not something we should ignore or jettison to the cesspit. It is a prima facie case that Nigeria as a country had a significant contribution to South Africa’s freedom from apartheid. A country that took her off the clutches of the evil called colonialism is undeserving of such inhumane treatment of its citizens. Such xenophobic attack is condemnable. Do they expect us to sit back, raise our hands to give them a round of applause? Or respect their decisions? Certainly not. Our stand remains the same. Enough of all these because we are not finding it bemusing.
You are tired of foreigners owning businesses in your country, getting employment and generally pocketing the greener pastures that took them there. It puzzles me beyond imagination the rationale behind these heinous tendencies. After all, it is their country’s economy that benefits the most. No country survives without securing its economy and foreign investment is a key facet of such.
By: Suhailat Abdullahi|| The Punch
