By Raphael Jov
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called on Nigerians living in South Africa to reconsider their status in that country and return home.
NANS President, Danielson Akpan who gave the advice in Abuja at a joint press conference between NANS and Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), said that the killing of Nigerians in South Africa had taken an alarming dimension requiring every form of caution.
Akpan explained that the message of Nigerian students across the globe is that South Africans must go and Nigerians in South Africa should return home, as according to him, Nigerian students had in the past two weeks been picketing in a peaceful way in major cities in the country to send a message to the international community about the killing of Nigerians in South Africa.
He further said that the picketing was carried out with the hope that the South African government and its citizens would end all forms of attack on Nigerians, as he urged South Africans to deal with their own issues and not spill the blood of other nationals in the process.
The NANS president said if the security of lives and property of Nigerians living in South Africa could not be guaranteed, “there is no need
to condone the continuous flourishing of South African businesses in Nigeria”.
Also Speaking, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NIDCOM, while appealing to NANS to avoid letting the situation get to the level of killing or closing down South African businesses in Nigeria, she said that closing down businesses of South Africans in Nigeria was not the solution.
According to her, what was important was for South Africans to stop killing Nigerians, as she described the the killings as “unacceptable”.
The NANS is saying that if the security of lives and property of Nigerians living in South Africa could not be guaranteed, there is no need to condone the continuous flourishing of South African businesses in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, sharing his experience as a victim of xenophobic attack in South Africa at the conference, the Big Brother Africa Star, Mr. Tayo Faniran said that he has the capacity to end xenophobic attack on Nigerians in South Africa.
He said as a victim of xenophobic attack, he still has the passion to live in South Africa and he would never give up to use his Television fame to ending xenophobia in South Africa.
The Big Brother Star said although he was a victim of xenophobic attack as he was beaten almost to death by the South African Cops, he would not relent in his campaign to stop xenophobia in South Africa.
