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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said South Africa would not have ended apartheid when it did without Nigeria’s support for the struggle against white minority rule.
Obasanjo made the claim during an interview on C-Suite Cafe, hosted by Ikem Okuhu, while reflecting on Nigeria’s role in the anti-apartheid struggle and its support for liberation movements across Southern Africa. South Africa held its first democratic, non-racial elections in 1994, formally ending apartheid rule.
The former military Head of State said Nigeria’s intervention was not driven by the expectation of financial or political benefits, but by a belief in racial equality and the liberation of black people across the continent.
“We were not doing what we did in South Africa or in Southern Africa or decolonisation anywhere for our personal gain or for our country. We did it for our race. I believe that no black man anywhere or black person anywhere should be regarded as an inferior human being because of his colour,” Obasanjo said.
He described Nigeria’s role as “enlightened self-interest” but maintained that the country supported the anti-apartheid struggle without expecting anything in return.
“And for me, and I believe for Nigeria at that time and even now we should be proud of what we did because without Nigeria, South Africa would not have got rid of apartheid when it got rid of it. That is true,” Obasanjo said.
Obasanjo said Nigeria worked with several African and international figures in the campaign, naming former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, former Mozambican President Samora Machel, former United States President Jimmy Carter, former British Prime Minister James Callaghan and former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme.
His comments come amid renewed tensions in Nigeria-South Africa relations over xenophobic attacks against Nigerians. The National Assembly last week suspended official visits to South Africa and ordered a boycott of legislative activities hosted or organised by the country over the attacks.
Obasanjo also condemned the attacks, rejecting the argument that illegal immigration or criminal activity justified violence against African migrants.
“I do not believe that you use illegality to treat illegality, asking and encouraging area boys and area girls to break into their houses and break into their shops,” he said. He also rejected claims that migrants generally take jobs from South Africans, noting that some foreigners contribute to the economy by creating jobs.
