Reacting to the current Xenophobic attacks going on in South Africa,
former External Affairs Minister, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi said South
Africans should be grateful to Nigerians & other Africans who fought
for them during apartheid. Speaking with Channels TV yesterday April
22nd, Professor Akinyemi said during the struggle to end apartheid,
Nigerian civil servants were compelled to donate some of their salaries
into a liberation fund meant for the fight against apartheid.
"I was involved in the anti-apartheid struggle as the Director General
of the Nigerian Institute of International affairs (NIIA); I was part of
those who came up with liberation fund. We forced civil servants to
donate monthly a percentage of their salary monthly and for some
reasons, secondary schools caved; university students made a donation.
What are they now talking about? Is it because Africans are now taking
jobs in South Africa. Do you know how many West Africans have jobs in
Nigeria? Do you know how many Nigerians have jobs in West African
countries.
We exchange population all the time and nobody has
claims that because of that you are entitled to pick up guns, stones
cudgels and go on a murdering spree. distasteful actions by South
Africans against fellow Africans especially those who helped them during
the apartheid struggle. I think that Nigeria, given the investment of
South African in this country, needs to sit the South Africans down and
tell them that there could be a cost to this kind of xenophobic
behaviour. It is unacceptable, it is intolerable. Our people should be
killed over there and we will not reply because 6, 000 people are
employed by one of their companies here; I don’t buy into that kind of
mentality. If they are going to hurt our people and hurt the interest of
our people, then they should be prepared for retaliation. I think
Nigerians should let these people know that this thing is a quid pro
quo; you treat me well, I treat you well. They really don’t tell South
African people how much South Africa owes Africa for that struggle”, he
said
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