By Dan Amor
In 2005,
a new diplomatic law was introduced in South Africa which compelled travelers from Nigeria
and a few other countries to meet certain transit visa requirements before
stepping into that country. Those other countries include Democratic Republic
of Congo, Egypt , Cameroon , Ethiopia ,
Ghana , Bangladesh and Sierra Leone . Other countries
affected by the law were India ,
Sudan , Zimbabwe , Somalia ,
China , Russia , Ukraine ,
Pakistan and Kenya .
Principally, the anti-visitor law was targeting Nigeria . This shows that xenophobia
is an official state policy of the South African government.
There is indeed nothing wrong with
the idea of an independent country choosing who her visitors should be and who
should not. Yet, it is not only a diplomatic shortsightedness but also a
demonstration of chronic ingratitude for South Africa not to recognize her
benefactors. It also shows, to a large extent, the limpid docility in the
mindset of those at the commanding height of that country's diplomacy. Even
when one can safely argue that the prolonged period of apartheid in South Africa
virtually turned black natives of that country to psychopaths, it is a terrible
malaise for black South Africans not to remember those who fought relentlessly
for their freedom.
Of course, there is so much to say in the justification
for the proclaimed Afrocentric foreign policy thrust of Nigeria . With
about 180 million people, Nigeria 's
population is more than double of that of Egypt -
the second most populous country in Africa; twenty-five times that of Benin Republic
and thirty-five times that of Togo .
This demographic edge is matched by comparatively high economic endowments,
with Nigeria
being, for instance, the sixth largest exporter of crude in the world. In terms
of human capital development, there is no country in Africa that churns out the
magnitude of graduates from institutions of higher learning like Nigeria .
It is,
perhaps, in realization of this that the country has played a crucial role on
the African political stage. For example, Nigeria
helped in no small measure in dismantling apartheid in South Africa thereby earning the sobriquet of
"a distant frontline state" during the struggle against white
minority rule in the entire Southern Africa .
She also played a decisive role in the formation of the Organization of African
Unity (OAU), which metamorphosed into the African Union (AU) recently, and
later the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) of which she
continues to be a central player. More recently, Nigeria
was the chief architect of the ECOMOG, the military wing of ECOWAS, which has
successfully checked military aggression in some countries in the West African
sub-region, notably, Liberia
and Sierra Leone .
The truth, however, is that owing to some abiding
negative attributes known under the generic term of 'the Nigerian factor', the
country has not been able to reap the full benefits of her political and
economic investments in Africa. Prominent among these attributes are: a
consistently inept and retrogressive leadership, unbridled official corruption
(brought about and nurtured by that leadership), and an absence of political
consensus at home. Since the external relations of a country are ultimately
determined by the realities prevailing internally, Nigeria 's impact on the African
continental policy has been far below expectation, its proclaimed
Afrocentricism notwithstanding.
Geared, as it were, towards playing the
"Big Brother" without a commensurate effort to ensure that Nigeria retains
the goodwill of those nations that have benefited from her generosity, our
foreign policy needs re-examination. It would be recalled that in November
1997, barely three months after he was helped by Gen. Sani Abacha to win a
premeditated election as president of war-torn Liberia ,
for peace to reign, Charles Taylor suddenly expressed preference for United States
trainers of Liberian soldiers as against the initial arrangement that the
Nigerian-led ECOMOG would handle the exercise.
All this happened in a manner that suggested a flagrant
rejection of the August 19, 1995 Abuja Accord which incorporated a programme of
disarmament of the warring factions, training of Liberian soldiers and the
withdrawal of ECOMOG forces from Liberia, by the government of Charles Taylor.
This ugly scenario has had to be enacted in Zimbabwe ,
Angola , and South Africa .
For all her efforts, Nigeria
reaped hostility from African nations as soon as they attained full
independence. What is perhaps wrong with our management of 'successes' recorded
in these countries is that Nigeria
often acts as though she has sub-continental imperialist ambitions in these
countries. We also fail to comply with the age-long wisdom that an intelligent
actor leaves the stage when the ovation is loudest.
Our Liberian experience
testifies to this penchant for wanting to be humiliated out of countries where
we have made enormous sacrifices. It is probable that these countries are
usually disgusted with our domestic policy towards our citizens to such a point
that they often choose to dine with us with a long spoon. What would stop South
Africans from killing Nigerians in their own country when Nigerians are daily
being killed with impunity by other Nigerians in Southern
Kaduna , for example? Quite naturally, nobody will like to be
associated with a hypocritical physician who cannot even heal himself.
While it is important for African countries who are
beneficiaries of Nigeria 's
kind-heartedness to respect the natural law of reciprocity in dealing with
Nigerians in their external relations, the lesson that we must learn from the
above case studies is that there is no place like home. The duty of our
government, in concert with the social contract theory advocated by Rousseau,
is to make living worthwhile for our people here at home and to provide the enabling
environment within which Nigerians can achieve their aspirations without having
to emigrate to other people's land. Again, the moment the Nigerian government makes
it a very grievous offense punishable by death, the killing of a Nigerian
either by any Nigerian or even through extra-judicial killing by security
gents, the moment we start respecting the sanctity of the human life, other
nationals would stop molesting and killing Nigerians in their countries.
But
see what our rulers have done! Since the past eighteen years of the democratic
dispensation, the economy has gone prostrate with poverty parading the Nigerian
landscape in its true nakedness as prices of goods and services soar beyond the
reach of the average honest Nigerian. All social infrastructure have gone
comatose amidst an extremely polarized polity with a high prospect of a
possible breakdown of law and order. If Nigerian rulers will stop playing dice
with the collective destiny of the people and be firm-minded in their approach
to governance, if they would treat all Nigerians as one, and make the people's
survival their focal point, we would have sent the appropriate signals to the
rest of the world that Nigeria will no longer accept the dehumanization of its
citizens by any country.
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