September 5, 2019

EDITORIAL The best way to protect Nigerians from all kinds of oppression abroad is to give them a life within Nigeria that is better or equal to what they can have abroad. As long as we have in Nigeria every manner of hardship, misery, poverty, persecution and injustice, Nigerians will be forced to leave Nigeria in large number. As millions of Nigerians flee the country in search of refuge in countries better managed than ours, they will put pressure on the resources of those countries who gradually begin to resent our people's growing presence in their land. South Africans know that Nigerians coming to live in South Africa were mostly those escaping oppression and injustice and unemployment, while South Africans coming to Nigeria are coming with their investment capital. It is not the same. If you kill a Nigerian family in South Africa, no South African suffers. But if you burn down Shoprite stores in Nigeria, many Nigerians will lose their employment, which forces more of them to migrate to South Africa where they will be killed. As we fight xenophobia in South Africa, we must not forget the root cause of it. Let those who rule Nigeria create a country that millions of South Africans will like to come and live in. Let them create a country that many Nigerians will not need to run away from. And xenophobia against Nigerians will stop. It is indeed naive to assume that the presence of Shoprite in Nigeria is the same as the presence of a Nigerian worker in South Africa. When you set your house on fire and force your family to run to the house of your neighbor for shelter, time shall come when your neighbor will ask your family to leave. Countries who make their citizens unsafe are putting pressure on other countries. We must address that too. I will not like to be a neighbor to Nigeria without building a tall fence. I can tell that sooner or later, Nigerian government will drive their citizens across the border into my space and that will cause me trouble. When your neighbor refuses to feed his children, that may cause you to use food meant for your children to feed your neighbor's neglected children, thereby depriving and impoverishing your own children. Who does that?

Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, though a clever and experienced politician and the leader of the second biggest African country, will not have much respect for the President of Nigeria. Just like in all situations, when you deal with a group, you have to look at the internal dynamics within the group to assess its strength and weakness. A president could be powerful as a person, while his country is weak. A president is powerful as a person, if he is above the laws of his country. A country is powerful as a country if its president is subject to the laws of the country. The more personally powerful a leader is, the weaker his country is. President Buhari is above the law of Nigeria, so Nigeria will remain a weak country as long as there is a human being within the country that is above the law of the country. In South Africa, their president is not above their law. Last two years, they forced their president (President Zuma) to resign. This year, President Buhari presumably rigged himself back to power. Look at Nigeria! (1) President and his men are above the law. (2) Opponents of the president have no protection under the law. Even the Chief Justice of Nigeria could be persecuted. (3) There is no separation of powers and no supremacy of the constitution. The head of judiciary could be removed by the president without recourse to the constitution. (4) For six months after becoming the president in 2015,  President Buhari refused to appoint ministers. During that time an Irish company was getting free judgment that ended up costing Nigeria 9 billion dollars. (5) Nigeria is the only country to lose 9 billion dollars in a phony judgment (6) Nigerian President is too old. He knows nothing about the internet or information technology. (7) Nigeria has a president whose school certificate may have been fake. (8) Nigeria has a president whose electoral victory is still disputed in court. (9) Nigeria is a country where judges are arrested, detained and released on the order of the President. (10) Nigeria is a country where herdsmen keep killing people without them getting arrested. (11) Nigeria is a country where soldiers shoot and kill policemen on duty and set suspects free. (12) Nigeria is a country whose soldiers run from insurgents. So, if you are the President of South Africa and you are to deal with Nigerian President, what will you think of him? Honestly speaking, I won't take Nigeria and their President seriously.  There is nothing they can do even if their citizens get killed in our country. After all, aren't they killing more of them in Nigeria. Nigerians should bear this in mind when dealing with South Africa. Nigeria has no muscle to flex against South Africa. Nigeria should just beg.