Showing posts with label Sandra Ijeoma Okoye. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sandra Ijeoma Okoye. Show all posts

Saturday, June 25, 2022

South Africans Continue To Pay Nigeria’s Good Deeds With Evil

 By Sandra Ijeoma Okoye

There is no denying the fact that South African youths and some elders that may in this context be considered to be accomplices have for the umpteenth time been seen to have marched along the streets with banners and placards demanding that Nigerians, Zimbabweans, and other foreigners of African origin leave their country. The protesters were at each time in their xenophobic display cried out that foreigners are taking away their jobs and committing crimes such as doing drugs and trafficking; the same narratives they often use to attack foreigners and their properties.

Without any iota of exaggeration, there have over the years been growing tension among Nigerians living in South Africa as they are needlessly attacked by riotous South African youths at any point in time. Surprisingly, on the trail of every attack, they would be calmed by high ranking diplomatic officials, such as the South African High Commissioner, and in the same vein urged to dismiss such fears, and assured that the issues will be addressed. But never! The deadly scenario has continued to play out like a vicious cycle.

At this juncture, it is expedient to ask, “How long will the vicious cycle of fears and denials continue to haunt Nigerians seeking the proverbial greener pasture in South Africa?

Permit me to disclose in this context that I was on the night of June 12, Saturday, 2022, through a telephone call from South Africa woken up by a friend. In our tele-conversation, he said, South African authorities on Saturday (the same day he phoned) locked up all Nigerian Shops in Yeoville Market.