Do Me I Do You Back God No Go Vex: Angry Nigeria deports 56 more South Africans in Retaliation
Wednesday, March 07, 2012Omoba
The diplomatic face-off between the Federal Government of
Nigeria and South Africa following the deportation from South Africa of 125
Nigerians, including a Senator has now taken another turn. The face-off has
caused issues for South African owned companies in Nigeria, and Nigerians with
business and personal ties with South Africa. Last Friday, 125 Nigerians who
travelled to South Africa aboard Arik Air and South African Airlines flights
were deported on arrival in Johannesburg allegedly because they were carrying
fake yellow fever vaccine cards.
This action which was described as a “harsh
and unfriendly treatment” by most Nigerians has sparked off some retaliatory
actions by Nigerian government. In apparent retaliation to the treatment, 28
South Africans who arrived Nigeria on Monday night were deported back to South
Africa and the Federal Government has threatened to go tough on South African
companies operating in Nigeria.
The ongoing Arise Magazine Fashion Week in Lagos has also
been distrupted as SA designers scheduled to show are caught up in the
diplomatic row.
Yesterday, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Olugbenga
Ashiru, who is also the former High Commissioner to South Africa said the South
Africans were deported from Lagos because of irregular travel documents, adding
that this was only the beginnng of retaliatory moves. He said this while
addressig the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, noting that the Federal
Government would soon sanction South African firms for bringing half-baked
graduates to occupy positions that could be occupied by Nigerians. He added
that Nigeria has asked the South African government to apologise and pay
compensation to the affected travellers and Arik Air.
Also in response to the deportation, the Minister of
Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said at a press briefing in Abuja yesterday
that none of the deported Nigerians is in possession of fake yellow fever cards
as alleged by the South African authorities. Classification by the World Health
Organisation indicates that Nigeria is one of the 44 countries with a risk of
exposure to the yellow fever virus. However, the Health Minister added that the
last confirmed case of yellow fever in Nigeria was in 1995 and that Nigeria is
not at risk of a yellow fever outbreak. According to him, the Port Health
Services of the Ministry issue Yellow Fever cards and vaccines at all local and
international airports, land borders and sea ports in the country. The vaccine
is given free but fee of N500 is charged
for the card.
He called on South Africa to stop politicizing health
issues, saying that so far, no country, individual or group has made any report
to the Ministry on the possession of fake yellow fever card by any Nigerian. He
noted that the entry visas were given to the travellers after the presentation
of their valid yellow fever cards, therefore it was wrong for South Africa to
say they were in posession of fake yellow fever cards after they had been
issued valid visas. The action by the South African immigration towards
Nigerian travellers he said, was an embarrasment and was against the IHR 2005
Article 32.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on
Diaspora Affairs, Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, also condemned the deportation which
she termed as “illegal”, saying it was done in an “inhuman manner”. In a
statement issued in Abuja yesterday
Dabiri-Erewa described the act as “continuous unwarranted hostilities
against Nigerians by the South Africa government’’. She lamented that the 125
Nigerians, including women and children, were delayed for 24 hours without
water and food in an inhuman condition and then bundled back to Nigeria. She
added that Nigerians do not ask South Africans to fill Yellow Fever Cards when
coming in to Nigeria even though passengers must have passed through this
process while applying for the visa in the Embassy. Mrs Dabiri-Erewa also said
that Nigerians, including women and children joined in the fight against
apartheid in South Africa and it was an unfair and unAfrican way to pay
Nigerians back for their kind gesture.
The Senate Committee in response to Mr Ashiru’s
presentation, told him to go and close the Nigerian Embassy in South Africa and
close the South African Embassy in Nigeria adding that any of their companies
handling projects in Nigeria should be stopped.
Nigeria and South Africa are Africa’s economic giants and
as this face-off deepens, there are worries over the survival and operations of
South African companies in Nigeria.
The biggest mobile telecommunication company in Nigeria
is MTN, a South African company. Stanbic-IBTC Bank, supermarket chain Shoprite,
Multichoice DSTV are some major South African companies in Nigeria whose stakes
in Nigeria could be threatened if a quick resolve is not brought to the
face-off. Also, there are a good number of Nigerians studying, working or
living in South Africa and vice-versa, whose activities could be hampered if a
resolve doesn’t happen soon.
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