Nigeria will leave the final decision on any action against South Africa to its parliament if ongoing talks fail to halt attacks on Nigerian migrants, the Federal Government said late Wednesday.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, disclosed this during a TVC interview. She said Abuja is already in talks with Pretoria through diplomatic channels, but stressed that tougher measures would require approval from the Senate and House of Representatives. “The lawmakers have a role to play in this,” she noted.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu urged restraint, but said the situation was becoming worrying. Many of those affected have spent years in South Africa, built families with South African citizens, and raised children who have known no other country. Despite this, she said, those families and their children are now being asked to leave.
The minister contrasted how both nations treat foreign businesses. Over 120 South African companies operate in Nigeria, including MTN, MultiChoice, Stanbic and Protea. Their staff are not asked for proof of nationality, and their shops remain untouched, she said. The same courtesy is not extended to Nigerians in South Africa, where mobs have raided homes and shops, looted goods, and threatened lives.
She described the violence as a stain on South Africa’s image and a betrayal of Nelson Mandela’s vision of African unity. “Mandela spent 28 years in prison so South Africa could be a home for all Africans. Vigilante groups have destroyed that in one sweep,” she said. The damage is already showing, she added, with events cancelled as South Africa faces growing accusations of xenophobia.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu also criticized Pretoria’s handling of the crisis. She said police have done little to stop mobs moving through cities, breaking into houses and stores, and humiliating foreigners, with some killed in the process. Instead of acting, she said, the South African government keeps insisting that millions of migrants lack documents. The result, she noted, is that Ghana, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Nigeria have begun evacuating their nationals, as the attacks now target all black Africans.
The minister also spoke on 98 Nigerians serving jail terms in Ethiopia. After visiting the prisons, she said crime cuts across all regions, and the inmates come from the Southeast, Southsouth and Southwest. Based on an existing agreement, the prisoners will be brought back to Nigeria to complete their sentences.
For now, she said, Nigeria is hoping diplomacy will work. If it does not, the National Assembly will determine the next steps.