The All Progressives Congress APC on Thursday came hard on the South African government, accusing it of backing the wave of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians and other Africans in the rainbow nation, and asked the president Muhammadu Buhari administration to take steps to immediately nationalize telecommunications giant, MTN.
The party which equally advocated stringent measures against Multichoice (DSTV), Standard Chartered Bank and Stanbic Bank as well as other South African business interests in Nigeria, declared that Africa can no longer be the centerpiece of Nigeria’s foreign policy.
Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the APC, stated the position of the party late Thursday evening at the end of a meeting of the national working committee NWC of the party in Abuja. Oshiomhole who was flanked by members of the NWC said the party has now given the needed support base for President Buhari to go on the offensive in order to sound a note of warning to other African countries who may want to copy the antics of the South Africans.
While the party asked Nigerians to boycott all South African goods and businesses, APC accused the African National Congress ANC administration in South Africa of backing the killings of Nigerians, querying why it has been so difficult to arrest and sentence perpetrators of xenophobic attacks in the country.
“Having listened to all the explanations from the authorities in South Africa, these people (Nigerians) are neither being accused of being irregular migrants nor are they involved in any illegal activities. Those who have business permits to setup businesses whether they are petty traders or small manufacturers, they are operating within the letters of the laws of the South African nation.
“Over the past few years and virtually every other week, Nigerians are being wasted in one part of South Africa or the other. We know that the federal government has had conversations with the South African authorities drawing their attention to these abuses but the escalation of the attacks on foreigners many of who are Nigerians has reached a level that is no longer tolerable.
