Xenophobic Attacks: Where’s Bianca Ojukwu?

Many Nigerians were surprised recently when the presidential candidate National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2027 election, Mr. Peter Obi, visited Nigerians in South Africa and officials of South African government in the wake of renewed hostilities on immigrants, including Nigerians, by South African citizens.

The visit sought to address the current aggression against other Africans in South Africa sponsored by non-government actors who attack, kill, molest and destroy properties of immigrants.

During the visit, Obi also had the audience of several South African authorities and ministers to broker peace. Those he met specifically were: Mr. Leon Schreiber, the South African Minister of Home Affairs and a prominent figure in the Democratic Alliance; Mr. Velenkosini Hlabisa, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP); and Mr. Gayton McKenzie, the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture and leader of the Patriotic Alliance (PA).

At the end, he said they had “productive and candid conversations, focusing on the current challenges that affect both countries—particularly those related to migration, economic strains, youth unemployment, security issues, and the rising tensions faced by African foreigners in South Africa.”

The legitimate questions to ask are: Is Obi the President of Nigeria, Vice President or Minister of Foreign Affairs? Why is it that it is Obi that embarked on this mission?

Many would have thought that by now, the president or vice president, or at least the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu would have gone to South Africa to intervene on the crisis.

Instead, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an insensitivity statement saying that some persons interested in returning from South Africa would be responsible for the cost of their return trip to Nigeria.

The silence of the top political leaders on the attacks on Nigerians in South Africa has again vindicated those who claimed that the Nigerian government attaches the lowest value to the ordinary citizens of the country.

Is it not a shame that Ghana has successfully evacuated her citizens from South African and nothing has been heard from the Nigerian government?