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Julianah Taiwo-Obalonye
During the apartheid era in South Africa, Nigeria was one of the foremost supporters of anti-apartheid movements. Without the country’s big-brother role in the abolition of apartheid in South Africa, there is little doubt that country will still be fighting apartheid today. The Nigerian government issued more than 300 passports to South Africans seeking to travel abroad. Nigeria’s Sonny Okosun, a musician, wrote the hit song “Fire in Soweto” in 1977 to commemorate the 1976 Soweto uprising against apartheid in South Africa.
Even today, South African businesses are thriving with the huge support they have in Nigeria. Yet Nigerians are being attacked and killed mindlessly in that same South Africa. According to reports, since 2016, about 200 Nigerians have been killed there. The most recent is the mysterious and unresolved death of the Deputy Director-General of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, Elizabeth Ndubuisi-Chukwu, who was found dead in one of the rooms at the Emperors Palace Hotel and Convention Centre on June 13, 2019, where she lodged. The resultant autopsy report was said to have suggested unnatural cause of death.
This situation seems to have emboldened some other African countries that also owe their freedom or security to Nigeria to begin to attack Nigerians resident in that country. Liberia is a case in point. While Liberia’s President, George Weah, thanked Nigeria for her longstanding support to peace and stability, some Liberians, bereft of a sense of history, have begun to attack Nigerians.
Nigeria was one of the first countries to deploy troops in Liberia in 2003, and was among the last to leave. Its final troops left in February 2018.
President Muhammadu Buhari was in that country recently to receive the “Grand Cordon of the Knighthood of Venerable Order of the Pioneers,” Republic of Liberia’s highest national honour, as part of the country’s 172nd Independence Anniversary Celebrations of the country in Monrovia.
Nigerians in Liberia who turned out to receive him spoke to the reporter about the recent attacks and why the authorities must step in to address them.
Harrison Eva Aniukwu, President, Nigerian Community and Descendants Union in Liberia (NCDUL), who led the community to welcome Buhari, captured the situation.
He said: “What we are facing here is the issue of security. We are friends with Liberia, we are in good relations with Liberia in terms of businesses, trade and other areas but when it comes to security, crime they believe we are enemies. Whenever citizens from other West African countries commit crime, once the authorities are unable to establish the true identities of those involved, they conclude in their report that the persons are Nigerians.
“We have Sierra Leoneans, Ghanaians, Gambians living here and when they get involved in crime, the authorities will automatically shift it to Nigerians.
We are simply saying, deal with persons committing crimes, no matter where they come from. All of us from these countries speak English. So they shouldn’t profile us as criminals. We are appealing to the security chiefs in Liberia and the Liberian President to look into it. The relationship between Nigeria and Liberia is very cordial; they should not allow bad eggs to spoil that relationship.
“By the grace of God, Nigeria’s resources, the blood of our soldiers flowed in this country to contribute to the peace they are enjoying here today.
“A Nigerian was killed in Ganta, a city in Liberia. We are yet to know the outcome of it. Another one was killed in Rail Light’ again nothing came out of it. When we complained, they alleged that Nigerians have the highest number of criminals in Liberia.
“There are seven banks in Liberia; five of them are Nigerian banks. Seventy-five per cent of the airlines coming here are Nigerian. Nigerians own 95 per cent of spare parts shops here. How can we be criminals? We are boosting the economy.
“The Liberians believe one bad egg can spoil the rest, but that is not true. You can take out the bad egg and enjoy the rest. Liberia is 4.2 million in population and Nigeria is over 200 million people. The few of us that are here are just engaged in businesses that are boosting the Liberian economy.
“Nigerians are hardworking and Nigeria is a good country. During the war in 2003/2004, I was opportune to be the chairman of the committee evaluating Nigerians. Our then president brought seven planes to evacuate Nigerians and we also took some Liberians along, because some of us are married to Liberians. So we took our wives and in-laws until our then president, Obasanjo had to caution us. I told him that if we abandoned our in-laws in the time of war, if the war was over, we would be welcomed back and he saw reason with me.
“So we are advising the Liberian authorities to change. I must appreciate the George Weah government; he is trying, unlike the previous administration. I also want to commend the Ambassador of Nigeria to Liberia, James Dimka. He has really tried to mediate between us and the authorities.
“Before now, we couldn’t enter the Nigerian Embassy but all that has changed. Today, we feel the embassy is our home. We use to pay $30 for Nigerian Identity card but the ambassador came and said we can get it for free.
The ambassador and his men are doing well for us and we want to thank President Muhammadu Buhari for sending them to us.”
Aniukwu also appreciated the honour done to Buhari by Weah’s administration. He said the award the Liberian government gave the president was well deserved.
“During the war, America abandoned them. It was Nigeria that sent forces from Sierra Leone to come and rescue them. About 2, 070 of our soldiers perished here on this Liberian soil, so there is no amount of award that is too much for him.”
A Nigerian national, Oyiborde Wilson was on July 12, 2019 discovered dead around the Toweh Yard community in Ganta, after he had been missing for three days.
“Until his death, Wilson was a chainsaw operator who also dealt in planks. He was also married with two children. One of them doing well with his businesses in Ganta. We want justice for the Nigerian community and Wilson’s family,” Aniukwu stated.
He also spoke on immigration issues. Hear him: “The former Liberian immigration chief told us that once you are naturalised, you are a citizen of Liberia but the new chief says we must get clearance. So once you are without your clearance, you will be picked and you can spend two or three days before you are released. But now we engage in discussions. They go after Nigerians because they know we will give them money. We are business people and won’t want to be detained or have our time wasted, which will affect our businesses.
“When we did a census in 2003 to evacuate Nigerians, we were 700,000. But today, we are over a million because people keep coming and going. Each time Nigerians land here, they are humiliated, asked to line up separately and then thoroughly searched for drugs.”
