Xenophobia pain: can we be smart about this, please?

I work there and am going to be rendered jobless, am I a South African? My company is owned by a Nigerian.”, Lily Loveth a Nigerian shop owner at the Timekeepers Novare Mall, Sangotedo, Lekki, cried out in a social media post on Twitter.

Nigeria is in a little bit of trouble at the moment. I know… that is a gross understatement.

However, since the country appears to be in some twisted form of denial at the moment, let’s keep it that way.

Millions of Nigerians are consumed with anger at the maiming and destruction of Nigerian lives and property in South Africa by that country's nationals.

Xenophobia Pain: can we be smart about this, please? Pulse Nigeria

The government from both sides appear to be ‘envoying’ and playing a lacklustre game of ‘taksies-backsies’ with its High Commissioners.

Just in case the world was wondering, Nigerians have earned every ounce of anger felt at the violence.

Our brothers and sisters who journeyed in search of greener pastures to a land that we helped fight for, appear to have become targets of extreme violence.

As with many irate mob actions, the cause of the recent xenophobic attacks against Nigerians and other foreign nationals in South Africa appear unclear and scattered.

A popular theory is that Nigerians are stifling the limited sources of livelihood.

Some Nigerians took to retaliating in ways that shocked many fellow Nigerians.

There have been outbreaks of violence in Lagos, Uyo, Ibadan, the nation's capital Abuja and other parts of this nation.

Shops have been looted and destroyed, goods worth millions of hard-earned naira have been stolen.

Buildings have been burnt and employees of targeted companies chased out! In reply, many Nigerians chanted, “good, let’s give them a taste of their medicine! They will stop destroying our people!”

Xenophobia Pain: can we be smart about this, please? Pulse Nigeria

The dust has fallen and now we are holding our heads in pain. The shops that were targeted as ‘South African’, were filled with Nigerian workers and customers who were pursued away by their own brothers like they did not matter.

The surrounding shops that were owned by Nigerians who had toiled to make ends meet and provide for their families were not left out of the ‘anger’.

I don’t even want to think about the kind of gbese suddenly on the heads of the Nigerians that dared to lease the freshly vandalized (and sometimes fire ravaged) properties to outsiders.

The cars that were destroyed and their occupants assaulted as angry mobs meted out ‘vengeance” were filled with Nigerian families returning home from school and work!

In simple terms, we ‘revenged’ against ourselves! We pillaged ourselves without a moment's thought and called it ‘standing up for our brothers”.

The same brothers who will spend the next year or many years in pain as they try to piece together the shambles that we left behind in an uncalculated few days of anger.

The matter is as depressing as it is troubling. Shouting ‘No To Xenophobia’ as we literally ‘xenophobia’ ourselves into pain and penury is not the solution. We knew it a week ago and we know it now.

The government needs to step in and make the necessary decisions immediately before the country chews off its own foot in a feeble attempt to ‘save’ or 'show solidarity' to our comrades. Let’s deal with the root causes as we should and stop destroying our own!

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