Xenophobic Attacks on Nigerians in South Africa and the Imperative for Nigeria to Fix Its Own House
By
Barr Kayode Omolayo, PhD, MCIArb(UK)
Principal Partner
Fairway Attorneys at Law
skomolayo@gmail.com
The recurring xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other African foreigners in South Africa are a tragic reflection of deep socioeconomic frustrations in the host country. These are worsened by governance and policy failures that continue to drive many talented and hardworking Nigerians to migrate abroad in search of better opportunities. These incidents carry a painful irony for those of us who have personally benefited from South Africa’s opportunities.
I studied for my PhD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban (UKZN), one of the foremost universities in South Africa, on a South African government scholarship. I remain ever grateful to the country for that life-changing support, which gave me access to quality education, world-class research facilities, exposure to advanced academic environments, opportunities for international networking, and personal and professional growth that have shaped my career. Many Nigerians and other Africans have similarly benefited from South African universities (such as the University of Cape Town, University of the Witwatersrand, University of Pretoria, and UKZN), government scholarships, businesses, healthcare training programmes, and professional spaces over the years. When some South Africans say they no longer want “us” in their country, it sends a clear and unmistakable message: go back and fix your own country so that fewer of your citizens are forced to leave home in desperation.
Nigeria’s Historical Support for South Africa
This message resonates even more deeply because Nigeria has a long and proud history of supporting South Africa during its darkest days. During the anti-apartheid struggle, Nigeria was one of the foremost global champions of South Africa’s liberation. Successive Nigerian governments and citizens made immense sacrifices:
– Nigeria chaired the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid for decades (until 1994) and led international diplomatic pressure, sanctions, and boycotts against the apartheid regime.
– It provided substantial financial and material support to the African National Congress (ANC) and other liberation movements, with estimates of Nigeria’s total contribution (government and citizen-led) reaching as high as $61 billion between 1960 and 1995. Ordinary Nigerians, including students and civil servants, contributed portions of their salaries through initiatives like the Southern Africa Relief Fund and the “Mandela Tax.”
– Nigeria issued over 300 passports to South African exiles, enabling them to travel, lobby, and operate internationally. It hosted many ANC and PAC members, offered scholarships to South African students, and provided secret military training and material support to freedom fighters.
– Cultural and symbolic support included Sunny Okosun’s hit song “Fire in Soweto” (1977), which rallied global awareness after the Soweto uprising. Nigeria also nationalised companies like Barclays Bank and British Petroleum for doing business with apartheid South Africa, forgoing economic gains to uphold principles.
– Nigerian leaders such as Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (who sent early messages of solidarity to the ANC), Generals Murtala Muhammed and Olusegun Obasanjo played pivotal roles through bold diplomatic and economic actions. Thabo Mbeki, for instance, lived in Nigeria from 1977–1984 during his exile.
These contributions helped isolate the apartheid regime and accelerated South Africa’s transition to democracy. Nelson Mandela and later South African leaders publicly acknowledged Nigeria’s role. This shared history of solidarity makes current xenophobic attacks particularly regrettable and underscores the need for mutual respect.
Xenophobic violence in post-apartheid South Africa has targeted Black African immigrants, often referred to as “amakwerekwere,” since the late 1990s. Nigerians are frequently singled out due to negative stereotypes linking them to crime, drug dealing, and aggressive business competition in townships and urban areas. South Africa itself grapples with extremely high youth unemployment (often exceeding 30-40%), deep inequality, widespread poverty, and frequent service delivery failures. These conditions lead frustrated locals to scapegoat foreigners for “stealing jobs,” committing crimes, and straining limited housing and social services.
Major waves of violence include: the deadly 2008 attacks that began in Alexandra township, Johannesburg, and spread nationwide, resulting in at least 62 deaths, hundreds injured, and over 100,000 people displaced; the 2015 attacks in Durban and Johannesburg where foreign-owned shops (many Nigerian) were looted and burned; the 2019 attacks in Johannesburg and Pretoria that killed dozens, destroyed hundreds of businesses, and forced the evacuation of over 500 Nigerians; and continued spikes in the 2020s, including incidents reported in 2026. These attacks are often characterised by slow or inadequate police response, widespread impunity for perpetrators, and occasional political rhetoric that fuels tensions. While legitimate concerns about illegal immigration and cross-border crime deserve serious attention, collective violence and mob justice against law-abiding individuals, entrepreneurs, students, and professionals remain completely unjustifiable and damaging to regional harmony.
The desperation driving mass Nigerian migration — popularly known as “Japa” — stems primarily from our internal failures at home. When South Africans push back against large inflows, they are indirectly holding up a mirror to Nigeria: build a functional, prosperous, and secure country where your citizens have strong reasons to stay, thrive, and contribute positively.
Nigeria’s core problems are deep and structural. Endemic corruption diverts billions through inflated contracts (e.g., road projects abandoned after huge payments), oil theft (“bunkering”) estimated at hundreds of thousands of barrels per day, and “ghost projects” like uncompleted hospitals or schools. Widespread insecurity includes Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgency in the Northeast (destroying communities and schools, such as the Chibok girls’ abduction), banditry and mass kidnappings in the Northwest (affecting farmers and travellers on Abuja-Kaduna highway), farmer-herder clashes in the Middle Belt (displacing thousands of farmers in Benue and Plateau states), separatist agitations in the Southeast (leading to sit-at-home orders that paralyse commerce), and urban crime nationwide. Economic mismanagement features heavy oil dependency (despite abundant arable land and minerals), policy inconsistency (multiple exchange rates and sudden subsidy removals causing inflation spikes), chronic power shortages (factories operating at 30-40% capacity or relocating to Ghana), dilapidated transportation infrastructure (e.g., collapsed bridges, pothole-ridden federal roads increasing accident rates and logistics costs), runaway inflation, and youth unemployment often above 40%. Chronically underfunded education leads to frequent ASUU strikes and half-baked graduates, while healthcare drives medical tourism by elites and high maternal/infant mortality. Governance failures rooted in ethnic and religious politics rather than merit result in appointments that prioritise loyalty over competence. These interconnected crises create a vicious cycle of poverty, instability, and emigration.
Practical Solutions:
A Brand New Constitution as the Foundation for Nigeria’s Greatness
The time has come for Nigerians — across ethnic, religious, regional, and generational lines — to rise together with one strong voice. We must completely discard the 1999 Constitution, which was a military decree imposed without true popular participation, throw it into the dustbin of history, and birth a fresh, people-owned constitution that reflects our diverse realities, aspirations, and collective will. This should be achieved through a truly sovereign national conference or constituent assembly composed of credible representatives chosen directly by the people through transparent processes, not handpicked by the current political elite.
This new constitution must lay a solid, enduring foundation for Nigeria’s greatness by fundamentally restructuring the federation. Practical examples of needed changes include entrenching true fiscal federalism where states control a larger share of resources they generate (e.g., allowing Niger Delta states greater control over oil revenues for local development, or enabling Northern states to harness solid minerals and agriculture fully). It should grant resource control, land rights reforms, equitable power sharing (rotational presidency with clear criteria), merit-based appointments across the federation, and decentralised governance that empowers states and regions to innovate and compete — just as the United Arab Emirates or India’s federal states have done successfully. Most crucially, the new constitution must include an explicit **separation clause** — a constitutional provision that allows for peaceful and democratic exit if the Nigerian union becomes toxic, irredeemable, or consistently fails to serve the best interests of its constituent peoples. After clearly defined processes such as wide consultations, regional referendums with supermajority thresholds, negotiated asset/liability sharing, and transitional arrangements, any component part (e.g., a region feeling perpetually marginalised) should have the legal right to exit the federation and pursue its own destiny. This safety valve, successfully applied in countries like Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Divorce or provisions in the Ethiopian constitution, would eliminate forced unity, reduce resentment and agitation (such as IPOB or other separatist movements), encourage genuine negotiation, mutual respect, and cooperative governance, and prevent violent disintegration.
True Independence of Government Arms Under the New Constitution
The new constitution must also entrench full, operational independence of the three arms of government to ensure effective checks and balances and eliminate the current overwhelming executive dominance.
Legislative Independence:
The legislature must be liberated to perform its core roles of law-making, budgeting, and robust oversight. For instance, it should receive direct, automatic funding as a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, preventing situations where the executive withholds funds to force compliance, as has happened repeatedly in budget cycles. The National Assembly and state assemblies must maintain their own dedicated security apparatus or legislative police unit to protect lawmakers, staff, and parliamentary facilities from intimidation or attacks (such as the past invasions or threats against National Assembly members). Lawmakers must have absolute freedom to elect their leaders — Senate President, Speaker, and principal officers — based on internal democratic processes without external financial inducement or executive interference, unlike cases where anointed candidates emerge through “lobbying.” Oversight mechanisms such as public hearings (e.g., on fuel subsidy or COVID-19 funds), summons of ministers and public officials, and investigative powers must be strongly protected constitutionally, with clear immunity for members while performing official duties. Substantial investment in research capacity, legislative aides, training programmes, and modern technology (e.g., data analytics for budget scrutiny) will dramatically improve the quality and relevance of laws passed, moving away from poorly drafted bills that create implementation loopholes.
Judicial Independence:
A fearless and independent judiciary remains the ultimate guardian of the rule of law, fundamental rights, and accountability. In practice today, executive influence appears in delayed salaries, politicised appointments, and pressure on election petition tribunals or high-profile corruption cases. Under the new constitution, appointments and promotions of judges must be managed by a fully autonomous and strengthened National Judicial Council, based strictly on merit, proven integrity, and professional competence. Executive involvement should be reduced to a purely ceremonial level, with legislative confirmation where necessary. Judicial funding must be automatic, protected, and released directly without negotiation or delay, enabling courts to clear huge case backlogs. The judiciary should control its own dedicated security apparatus or judicial police to safeguard judges, court staff, and premises from threats or harassment (as seen in attacks on judges or “unknown gunmen” incidents). Strong constitutional safeguards must protect judicial tenure, with transparent, fair, and independent disciplinary and removal processes. Competitive remuneration, continuous professional training, full digitalisation of court processes (e.g., e-filing and virtual hearings to speed up justice), and modern infrastructure will boost efficiency, restore public confidence, and minimise opportunities for corruption.
These bold constitutional reforms, anchored on true federalism and institutional autonomy, will create a new Nigeria where power is decentralised, accountable, transparent, and responsive to the needs of citizens.
I have previously written in detail on targeted solutions to some of our most pressing challenges. On **insecurity**, I proposed a holistic mix of intelligence-led operations, community policing, socioeconomic interventions, and border control. On **transportation**, I focused on modern mass transit systems, road and rail rehabilitation via public-private partnerships, and a strong maintenance culture. On **electricity**, I advocated aggressive sector reforms, massive investments in gas, renewables, and transmission infrastructure, plus stable policies to attract genuine private capital.
Complementary actions under the new constitutional framework should include granting real autonomy to anti-corruption agencies (EFCC, ICPC and others) backed by digital transparency tools (e.g., blockchain for public procurement) and severe penalties, aggressive economic diversification into agriculture (mechanised farming in the Middle Belt), manufacturing (special economic zones), solid minerals (licensing reforms), technology, and creative industries (Nollywood and music exports), massive increases in funding for education and healthcare coupled with measures to reverse brain drain (such as diaspora return incentives), and widespread public-private partnerships for critical infrastructure development like the Lagos-Calabar rail or rural electrification.
Successful implementation will require urgent political will, broad-based national mobilisation, sustained citizen vigilance through civil society and media, and active participation from Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora. We can no longer afford to patch a fundamentally flawed system.
In conclusion, my deep gratitude to South Africa — particularly the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the government scholarship that made my PhD possible — does not blind me to the painful realities of xenophobia. Instead, it reinforces a powerful and constructive truth: when South Africans say they do not want more of us, they are indirectly urging Nigeria to become a country truly worth staying in and building. Given Nigeria’s immense historical contributions to South Africa’s freedom, the path forward lies in reciprocity and mutual progress. By decisively discarding the failed 1999 Constitution, birthing a new, people-driven constitution that lays a strong foundation for our greatness — complete with a separation clause for any toxic union, full institutional independence, and genuine federalism — and vigorously implementing practical solutions for insecurity, transportation, electricity, immediate economic relief, corruption, and overall development as detailed in my earlier writings, we can drastically reduce migration pressures, restore dignity to Nigerians at home and abroad, strengthen our international standing, and finally unlock our enormous God-given potential as a nation. The time for collective action, courage, and bold constitutional rebirth is now.
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