SOUTH AFRICANS AND XENOPHOBIA WHAT SOLUTIONS?

Exodus 1:10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

                              Genesis 26:16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.  The bible, kings James version.

Since creation, man has always been on the move. Not satisfied with staying in one environment for long. looking for adventure and a penchant to explore has led him to be very mobile.  Looking for a better place and a conducive Environs to his liking that he can call a home. with time it evolved to what is now known as immigration. Maybe, the sociologist will know more about the nitty-gritty of  it all. Want to think it is almost natural for man to be on the lookout for a better place, for even, the birds and some other animals are known to migrants, too. With the advent of immigrations and the borders and documents enacted and in place, these are not able to deter man from trying either legally or illegal passage. Some, they say, came by air, others by sea and the rest by road In as much as man as the host has been accommodating of strange to their credit, rarely have they accepted that a stranger comes along, looking like a dying flower .blossoming is not the problem with the folks , but when your success is threatening to overtake theirs in affluence and reach, in power and fame, then, you have a problem. their hospitality and their accommodation will end. this will eventually led to other things like attacks and eviction from their mists.
The xenophobic tendencies of some south Africans,[not all] is no news at all. We have seen it before remember in 2008, before the world could grasp what was happening, 60 foreigners lay dead on the south African soil murdered by the people of the nation. Lot of condemnation followed, as usual, but that did not resurrect the dead like Jesus came forth. So, too this will go down the same way, sad enough. UN can not do much in a situation like this neither can the AU .. The police can hardly do something on their own let us not go over the police brutality as recorded in recent times. treating immigrants like sub humans. Nigerians will react in different ways like we are now witnessing: burn down their place here in Lagos, close down their companies, but the road of solutions is better than the road of retaliation. for the latter is littered with anguish and blood. I can stamp my feet with pent up anger and call for a war on anything south Africa, but that will only led to more bloodbath for our brothers over there. I can also go down memory lane to remind them of the role Nigeria government played during their fight in those dark days of Apartheid, but that does not bring about the needed solution either. I can make references to their police brutality and maltreatment of Nigerians that will not bring about peace in anyway, too. I can also encourage the Nigerians to fight them calling it self-defense, but that might bring out their brothers that may have been sitting on the fence to join forces with them. because when a tenant  dares to floor your brother you go to your brother's aid before asking questions.  Solution is the way out. Now, there is no country that do not have nationals that exhibits  xenophobic tendencies ,but it may not have the necessary ground to become full blown when responsible government are in power. Let us remember that notorious ones like the KKK are still existing in America today. The south African government can curtail them by way of fetching out leaders of these groups and appealing to them to stop the attacks. Our government can put pressure on the government to go this way. No foreign bodies or organization can help the situation, sad enough I can sympathize with the south Africans.  It hurts most youths in places like south Africa when foreigners becomes a reference point of handwork, diligence and focus. It hurts real bad when a father says a foreigner is doing better than you, it hurts real bad when you sisters prefers the foreigner to you because they are serious and caring in their relationship, it hurts when they frequent restaurants you can not afford, but how can you say these are reasons to plunder their goods and kill them? it is hard , indeed, then the best is to blame them for all that goes wrong. These south Africans have taken the laws into their onw hands becoming the accuser , the judge and the executioner. If they are sincere they will follow due process, but they know they have no evidence to back up their claim that these foreigners, especially the Nigerians are drug barons. Every country has its shares of criminal and hoodlums, that is why we have the police force. The solution therefore, is not fetch. In  Chinua Achebe's 'things fall apart', Eneke the bird, says' since men have learned to shoot without missing, he has learned to fly without perching'. A word, they say, is enough for the wise
Here is my ten admonition.

1. If you can not stomach it any longer return back to your land
2. Avoid areas they may likely carry out attacks
3. Have an ear to the ground, be a close friend to a native that can give you info when needed.
4. live like a backpack traveler. no luxury goods or well furnish apartment
5. Organize an association that is legit and close to the authority
6. Avoid areas where crime rate is high
7. be careful not to flaunt your success in their faces
8. Make sure you are documented
9. If you do the crime indeed, then be ready to do the time

   

            I will be seeing you.

                                        Godwin Guobadia writes from the Netherlands