Billo Khalifa

Yesterday, I made a comment about the supposed Igbo King coronation in South Africa. This was before the official statement from the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria was released. Some of the comments that popped up on my screen caught me off guard. Beyond the usual curses and trolls, I noticed that some people were actually demanding that I apologise. You see, what happened in South Africa, we reported and documented events exactly as they were unfolding. We have covered real-time protests for years and read quite a lot about us as a people, our general acceptability, resilience, and pride across Africa and the rest of the world. Yet, one can still feel the undercurrent of denigrating sentiments and, worse still, those unguarded tensions directed at Nigerians. I still vehemently maintain that South Africa, and most recently even Ghana, have long harboured an easy, simmering resentment toward Nigerians, many times even unprovoked. A vast majority of them don’t need a major event to take to the streets. Once they sense an opportunity to target or loot a foreigner’s business, especially Nigerian-owned ones, the rage ignites quickly. These are well-documented, recurring patterns. Unfortunately, Ghana joined this wave of xenophobic animosity last year over a similar trivial issue, and it took direct presidential intervention for the matter to calm down. All I’m really saying is this, study patterns. Patterns make it much easier to predict events or outcomes. Xenophobes don’t care about the truth or due process. They have no interest in your explanations, your whys, or cultural context. That said, I have no apologies or regrets for my choice of words to anyone, as any regrets from me would not be more impactful than those already offered by the Nigerian Embassy to its host nation.

You can no longer Copy the link of a video anymore on X 😭😭💔