By Muyiwa Adetiba
I have read and watched with bemusement, the various comments on the xenophobic black on black attacks in South Africa. The righteous indignations of some commentators have been typical of those who prefer to be in denial, or worse, prefer the shallow ends of things. We forget that at the creation of new states in Nigeria, the old State often purged the government and the civil service of indigenes of the new State while the new State itself often went for indigenes.

And as recently as a couple of years ago, Abia State purged its government and civil service of Igbos who were non-Abians. As recently as a couple of years ago, Lagos state ‘deported’ fellow Nigerians on the grounds that they were destitute and drug addicts. We forget that the term ‘Ghana must go’ was coined after we forcibly ejected Ghanaians from our shores. And even in ‘civilised’ Western countries, xenophobia is no longer an alien word. UKIP, a new party, is gaining traction in ‘civilised’ Britain because of its tough anti-immigration stance.

The Jonathan government took diplomacy to a pedestrian level when it ordered the recall of its Envoy in South Africa on a whim and without due regard to the consequences. This is a country that had been responsible for the shoddy handling of the death of over 100 South Africans. A country that cannot protect its citizens from religious and political attacks. That the President was not aware of the recall was in itself not surprising but that is a subject for another day.

We may condemn the rather slow response of the South African government even when we suspect that there was ‘empathy’ in the sentiment and emotion behind the slow response. We may condemn the resort to violence and wanton destruction of lives and property only if we do not understand that many of these people were born and bred on violence.

For me, the first emotion was pity because to understand the DNA of South African blacks is to pity them. They were born into inequality and indignity. They had to fight a long and violent battle to gain a semblance of dignity and equality. They suffered many things believing that their lives would be transformed with independence.

And when this didn’t happen, they still had Madiba, their Icon who urged patience citing the disastrous examples of the neighbouring Zimbabwe and even Namibia on the dangers of grabbing both the economic and political powers abruptly from their white oppressors. However, 20 years down the road, the whites have been replaced by black elites while the economic and social lives of the rank and file are taking a downward turn. Meanwhile, they see immigrants coming in and prospering. They see corner shops owned by ‘foreigners’ springing up everywhere. (A friend told me that most mechanic workshops are owned by foreigners).

South Africans are largely people who have not been imbued with great entrepreneurial spirits having been raised to ‘serve’ government and big mining corporations. It was thus a case of ‘water, water everywhere but not enough to drink’ to quote the Ancient Mariner. They are also a people, much like the North African Arabs, who do not see themselves as Africans. So the resentment rises as it would and last month, reached a boiling point.

A more realistic view point would be to accept that nature abhors a vacuum and that the immigrants were filling a need which they as natives could also fill if they applied themselves. But reason takes flight in the face of emotion which is why UK poor are ‘fighting’ the eastern European immigrants; and black Americans are ‘fighting’ the Latinos. Even Russia is purging its sporting arena of immigrants. Which is why every country—except the poor ones—is tightening anti-immigration laws.

The first instinct in the face of dwindling supply is self-preservation. Which explains why animals will congregate where the grass is green and lush. And why the deeper the pool of water, the bigger the school of fish. Human beings are not different. With the exception of the romantic and the adventurous, many people migrate in search of a better life.Nigerians who migrate to the cold countries of Finland, Russia and Canada are not doing so for the love of those countries. Those who marry European and American citizens are not necessarily doing so for romance.

Neither are those who go to great lengths to get residency or have their babies in foreign countries. They have all tacitly accepted that they find Nigeria wanting in certain respects. But the countries where they are rushing to have a right to say ‘we don’t want you because you will lower the quality of life that we are used to’. Italy and France have had a battle on their hands for a while. The US has had a battle on its hands for a while. South Africa is now having a battle on its hands. Each country will resolve its battle according to the quality of its leadership and the severity of its battle. I blame the South African leadership for not doing enough for its people, not only in terms of job opportunities, but also working on their psyche which had been battered by years of apartheid.

But the greatest blame must belong to the African leaders who have failed to meet the basic aspirations of their people and have thus encouraged large scale migration. It is no accident that the African continent constitutes the largest pool of world migrants. It is no use blowing hot and cold when other countries ill treat your citizens when the solution lies in your hands. I feel embarrassed when I see Africans risk hunger, deprivation, dignity and in some cases, certain death in poorly designed boats, all in an effort to reach some Eldorado. I feel ashamed when I see the risk people take to cross the desert in search of a better life.

Or how people are hunted down and killed like dogs as they try to cut through electric wires. I wonder if our leaders who own castles and fat foreign accounts see these things and realise that with good governance and a more even distribution of wealth, African migration problem can be drastically reduced. Even those who move from North to South and East to West within the Nation State, do so mainly for economic reasons and would prefer to stay at home if their state governments could meet their aspirations. After all, there is nothing like home.