Oby Ezekwesili, former minister
of education, says the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) would
not deliver on its promise if xenophobic attacks remain on the continent.
Earlier in the week, the Nigerian
government at the eleventh hour decided to pull out of the World Economic Forum
(WEF) in Cape Town, South Africa, following xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in
Pretoria.
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was
billed to speak at the summit, but pulled out on the day the summit started.
Bashir Ahmed, media aide to the
president, said Ezekwesili was at the summit on her own.
“We all thought you’d sympathize
with them and boycott the WEF to properly protest the attacks,” Ahmad said via
Twitter.
In her response, Ezekwesili said:
“Let your Boss know that I am actually leading an effort here in South Africa
that will help safeguard our citizens not the childish silly politics his
government, aides and praise-singers constantly play with the lives of our
Citizens.”
She was on a panel to speak on
the promise of Africa with Jim Ovia, billionaire businessman, who later on said
he was pulling out of the summit.
“I think that there has to be a
very distinct session for us to discuss the issues of our collaborations as
Africans. The reality of what we saw in South Africa is too sordid for it to be
a mere conversation by the way,” Ezekwesili said at her originally scheduled
session.
“We cannot have AfCFTA where
there is black on black violence in this country.”
THIS IS AFROPHOBIA NOT XENOPHOBIA
She was eventually granted a
special session, where she spoke extensively on tackling xenophobia on the
continent.
At the session, she said: “I
believe wholly that there are some important steps that the government of South
Africa should be able to take immediately.
“In order to send a signal to the
people that have been victims of what I call Afrophobia, it’s not xenophobia. I
haven’t seen any Italian or European, I have not seen any Chinese or India
being harmed, being maimed, being killed, losing property.
“I have seen a targeting of
especially my country Nigeria. I have seen a lot of single-story where people
are saying things like Nigerians engage in criminal activities in South Africa.
“I also know that is a single
story. 18 percent of the people that teach in higher institutions in this
country are Nigerians”.
WATCH FULL VIDEO HERE
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com