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Ajibade Tunji
South Africans and their government are smart. They have a product that sells well and they market it for visibility between nations. Nelson Mandela. His people have his venerated image for them. Last week, South Africans celebrated Nelson Mandela's centenary, even in Lagos, Nigeria. Their consul general was at the event where he said that everyone should imbibe the values that Mandela defended. Good. Except that same week, another South African visited Nigeria, President Cyril Ramaphosa, and I thought he was stealing the show. He said a few things that Nigerians remembered more, and he gained his admiration and respect in the process.
There are several reasons why Ramaphosa's visit to Nigeria deserves to be noted. One, the things that he said; they threw it into a different light from what we know about former South African leaders. The things he said at the political level showed that he was a wise, humble and sensitive personality. Because there is this thing that weighs in the minds of Nigerians that he is attending. We concluded here that some South African leaders continue as if Nigeria meant nothing with respect to this country's struggle against the defunct white apartheid government. Nigerians believe that President Nelson Mandela to Jacob Zuma, they have not received the recognition that they deserve with regard to how the government of apartheid White was forced to leave this country. I think that Mandela in particular has despised Nigeria (and this has nothing to do with his role in suspending Nigeria from the Commonwealth), yet, our country was the first African country to have hosted after his release.
noticed that in his book, Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela barely noticed Nigeria. His only reference to Nigeria by the way was how he was in Ghana, but did not come to Lagos for an event before being jailed in the 1960s. Nigeria was a front line state in the fight against apartheid, but Mandela, the chief, did not say a word in gratitude. He listed other aid fighters from the ANC in the diaspora but he maintained an electricity blackout with regard to Nigeria. Ramaphosa, however, came to Abuja and said what the former South African leaders deliberately refused to say.
It is instructive to place my observation in the context of the other countries of southern Africa that Nigeria has helped. When the current president of Namibia, Hage Gottfried Geingob, arrived in Abuja on July 7, 2018, he thanked the Nigerians for helping his country's liberation organization, SWAPO, as well as the struggle against white apartheid in South Africa. He said he knew at least two different opportunities when the Nigerian government budgeted a million dollars for SWAPO during the fight. He also appreciated Professor Adebayo Adedeji of Nigeria, former head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, for his contribution to the development of the African continent. As the Namibian leader said at the time, I tried to remind myself that no South African leader had ever spoken of Nigeria in this way. Never. Yet Nigerians have never asked for much. We simply think that if Nigerians have in any way helped their black African brethren, it is very African if it is publicly recognized with a simple "thank you". It turned out that a few days after the departure of the Namibian leader, Ramaphosa arrived in Abuja and uttered the words that the Nigerians had been waiting for; these are words that would make it unforgettable among millions of Nigerians, including badysts, academics and historians. The same applies to me. I had already stated on this page that I am the first beloved of Ramaphosa outside of South Africa
While speaking, the South African leader said that he had took advantage of the visit to thank the Nigerian people. and Nigeria's leadership for many years in support of the South African struggle against apartheid. This South African leader is humble. He is intelligent. He knows what can heal an injury quickly, and he delivered it at a time when Nigerians worry about the treatment their compatriots receive in South Africa. "Today, we are a free and independent country," added Ramaphosa, "and this is largely due to the support we have received from many countries around the world, but especially from the African continent." Had not finished yet. "Nigeria, which is six hours from South Africa," he added, "was proudly considered a front-line state because it was really at the forefront of our titanic struggle Against Apartheid Nigeria and Nigerians have never hesitated for a minute to support our struggle, in fact Nigerians have even taken it a step further, President Buhari said that Nigerians, through their households, have contributed to the Organization of African Unity Fund to support the fight against apartheid, so I took the time (during his face-to-face meeting with Buhari) to thank President Buhari and the Nigerians for the support we received during our struggle ". I am sure that with these humble comments, he put an end to the dissatisfaction of Nigerians about the case.
But the South African leader had other problems that he wanted to ask to rest. There were regular attacks against Nigerians in his country. What he said about it was another good song in the ear. He said the murders (which he described as criminal) were not limited to Nigerians alone, but also to other foreign nationals. For him, South Africans have no form of negative disposition or hatred towards Nigerians. He further explains that Nigerians and South Africans live side by side, that they cooperate very well, that some are in the corporate structures of South African companies, and that while some Nigerians are traders, many are in a number of other companies. It dispels the idea that when a Nigerian loses his life in South Africa, it is as a result of intentional action by South Africans against Nigerians. He states that the poverty rate is high in his country, which leads to crime, responsible for attacks against foreigners. However, his government has done its best to fight crime in the country, he promised.
Apart from this, he wants to deepen relations between Nigeria and South Africa. He wants this to be done not only at the individual level but also through the respective economies. The usual mechanism between countries, the Bi-National Commission, is not lacking either. That for Nigeria and South Africa has been elevated to the presidential level, and as Ramaphosa said, it is "where the action should occur."
The South African leader addressed other issues that interested me. The links between Nigeria and South Africa to lead the continent are part of it. He said that he was interested in sending a signal that his government was intending to pursue a foreign policy focused on Africa. This sounds like the goal of Nigeria's foreign policy too, is not it? Now, I've always stated on this page that if Nigeria and South Africa are working closely together, they can lead the way and help the rest of the continent. I have also noted that it is unimaginable that irresponsible leaders anywhere on the continent do not listen every time Nigeria and South Africa talk about it. the same voice on a question. Why? They have the resources, the human capital and the liver to add the responsibilities of others to theirs for the good of all on the continent.
I admit to having this feeling of exhilaration regarding the visit of the South African leader to Nigeria. He came close, and I'm sure Nigerians love what they see and hear. I know from experience that when we love a person, we would like the place where he comes from and those related to him. Ramaphosa is the face of South Africa as we know it. I feel that the Nigerian authorities feel good with him, and I think that with him in power, officials of both countries will work better together on mutually beneficial issues. As his party and his nation also consider it as a plan to save them from the moral, political and economic slump, I wish Ramaphosa the maximum number of mandates. Our two countries and the continent in general need their kind of personality as long as the South African constitution allows
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