Johannesburg - The recall of a top diplomat after a
spate of xenophobic attacks in South Africa follows
several similar spats that expose the two countries'
deep rivalry for economic and political dominance
in Africa. Acting High Commissioner to South Africa Martin
Cobham said on Saturday he had been "invited" to
Abuja to discuss this month's anti-immigrant
attacks in South Africa, which have killed at least
seven people.
Televised images of armed gangs attacking
immigrants and looting foreign-owned stores in
Johannesburg have sparked a backlash in Nigeria,
where hundreds protested in front of shops owned
by South African brands like MTN and Shoprite. South Africa's foreign ministry on Sunday called
Cobham's recall an "unfortunate and regrettable
step", before taking a swipe at Abuja for its own
record on protecting foreigners. Last September, a church hostel collapsed in Lagos,
killing 115 people, most of them South African.
Nigeria was criticised for its slow response to the
disaster and what some saw as a haphazard rescue
effort. "It would be curious for a sisterly country to want
to exploit such a painful episode for whatever
agenda," a foreign ministry statement said in
response to Cobham's recall. "We did not blame the Nigerian government for the
deaths and more than nine months' delay in the
repatriation of the bodies of our fallen
compatriots." Such tit-for-tat slights are becoming increasingly
common. Weeks after the hostel collapse, South Africa seized
$9.3 million from a private jet carrying two
Nigerians, funds Abuja said were for a legitimate
arms deal. South Africa said the deal was being
conducted without relevant permits. Abuja accused South Africa of xenophobia when
Nigerians were deported after staff at
Johannesburg airport believed their yellow fever
certificates were fake. Arik Air, Nigeria's biggest
airline, briefly cancelled flights to South Africa. Cannibals Nigeria banned 2009 film "District 9", a hit movie
directed by a South African that depicted Nigerians
as cannibals, criminals and prostitutes who had sex
with aliens. Rows over Hollywood movies and yellow fever
certificates are reflective of a more serious battle for
economic dominance and control over Africa's
representation on the global stage. "It's no secret that Africa's would-be superpowers
don't like each other very much," analyst Simon
Allison wrote in a column in the Daily Maverick, a
leading South African political online newspaper. "For all their lofty talk of unity and pan-Africanism,
both Nigeria and South Africa are actually locked in
a fierce struggle to be sub-Saharan Africa's pre-
eminent superpower." Nigeria overtook South Africa as the continent's
biggest economy last year after re-basing its GDP.
Pretoria said the numbers reflected Nigeria's larger
population and not the sophistication of their
respective economies. "Despite what was said publicly, Nigeria's rebasing
was resented by the South African government," a
Pretoria-based Western diplomat told Reuters. Diplomats say that when South African politician
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the ex-wife of President
Jacob Zuma, won a close race to chair the African
Union Commission in 2012, Nigeria strongly
backed her opponent. Both countries are also lobbying for a permanent
position to represent Africa on the United Nations
Security Council. Given their political and economic heft together, the
two economies are larger than the rest of sub-
Saharan Africa's combined relations between South
Africa and Nigeria could be decisive for the future
of a continent of 1 billion people. "Nigeria and South Africa are like two prisoners in
the same cell of poverty, inequality and bad
leadership," Nigerian writer and political
commentator Elnathan John told Reuters. "Together they could muster the strength to break
their bonds and overpower the jailer but instead
they spend time feuding with each other in a
needlessly fractious relationship." - Reuters

m.news24.com/nigeria/National/News/Xenophobia-row-exposes-rivalry-between-SA-and-Nigeria-20150428

Viewing......

Young03:
Viewing......

In 3D

Its like u de follow me 4 back de view

MrScript:


In 3D

hmmmmmmm

south Africa has always being jealous of Nigeria right from the onset just because we are doing better than them cos last tym i checked d growth of our economy beats theirs so their taking it on we and other africans buh no matter wat they wil always remain behind.EEDIOTS_ how i hate deir country with passion.dunno wat can even take me dere sef

Ddonoflife:
south Africa has always being jealous of Nigeria right from the onset just because we are doing better than them cos last tym i checked d growth of our economy beats theirs so their taking it on we and other africans buh no matter wat they wil always remain behind.EEDIOTS_ how i hate deir country with passion.dunno wat can even take me dere sef

We've to shoulder the blame more. We brought this on ourselves. Our worthless leaders led us to this cesspit we're in now, to the extent that Nigerians now go CAR (Central African Republic) in search of "greener pastures." We even shoot most of our music videos in S.A. The truth hurts, but it must be told. If only our leaders let go of their greed and invested all our billions of Dollars stolen all these years, we won't be in this condition where we'd run to other countries for greener pastures. We can't even lay claim to being the Giant of Africa. Our reputation has nosedived. Any country take shots at us. We're irrelevant in the comity of nations. We caused all these.

Ddonoflife:
south Africa has always being jealous of Nigeria right from the onset just because we are doing better than them cos last tym i checked d growth of our economy beats theirs so their taking it on we and other africans buh no matter wat they wil always remain behind.EEDIOTS_ how i hate deir country with passion.dunno wat can even take me dere sef

I love Nigeria but the average South African is way better than the average Nigerian.

eaglechild:

I love Nigeria but the average South African is way better than the average Nigerian.

dats a big lie. Average nigerian u say .how come u pple loathe our prescence in your country when most of ur pple come to nigeria and set up companies that run effectively.i disagree with u

sinizia:


We've to shoulder the blame more. We brought this on ourselves. Our worthless leaders led us to this cesspit we're in now, to the extent that Nigerians now go CAR (Central African Republic) in search of "greener pastures." We even shoot most of our music videos in S.A. The truth hurts, but it must be told. If only our leaders let go of their greed and invested all our billions of Dollars stolen all these years, we won't be in this condition where we'd run to other countries for greener pastures. We can't even lay claim to being the Giant of Africa. Our reputation has nosedived. Any country take shots at us. We're irrelevant in the comity of nations. We caused all these.

gbam.u av said it all.Only God can help us