SA Attacks: Ezekwesili Slams Tinubu’s Foreign Tour
Former Minister of Education Oby Ezekwesili has publicly called on President Bola Tinubu to abandon his ongoing three-nation foreign trip to France, Kenya, and Rwanda and return to Nigeria to address the escalating attacks and killings of Nigerians in South Africa.
Ezekwesili made the demand through her X.com account on Monday, describing Tinubu’s decision to proceed with the trip amid reported violence against Nigerians in South Africa as “a total absence of leadership.”
“Mr President Tinubu, it is a total absence of leadership to set out on a three-nation junket to France, Kenya, and Rwanda while the bodies of our citizens lay slain in South Africa while the rest hide from a raging mob,” she wrote in the post addressed directly to the President.
The former minister dismissed the federal government’s existing response which included summoning envoys, issuing travel advisories, urging calm, and facilitating the evacuation of some citizens as insufficient. She argued that the recurring nature of such attacks had made them confirmation that the Nigerian state placed little value on the lives and dignity of its citizens, whether at home or abroad.
Ezekwesili called on Abuja to formally demand from Pretoria a full published account of all reported attacks, injuries, deaths, destroyed businesses, arrests, prosecutions, compensation claims, and unresolved cases involving Nigerians in South Africa. She further pressed for a time-bound justice framework covering investigation, prosecution, restitution, and public reporting, warning that anything short of this would amount to rewarding impunity.
She also urged the administration to overhaul its consular protection system across Nigerian embassies globally, ensuring citizens abroad have clear channels to report danger and access emergency assistance.
Invoking Nigeria’s historical role in the anti-apartheid movement, Ezekwesili said the recurring violence dishonoured a shared legacy. “Nigeria did not stand aside during apartheid. Through the Southern Africa Relief Fund, ordinary Nigerians gave from their meagre incomes to support the liberation struggle,” she stated, adding that Nigeria had provided financial, diplomatic, and moral leadership to the African National Congress when it mattered most.
She urged Tinubu to deploy that shared history as leverage with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, arguing that a show of genuine Nigerian resolve would compel decisive action from Pretoria.
Ezekwesili concluded that the administration’s failure to robustly defend Nigerians abroad further deepened what she called its “legitimacy deficit.”
The latest wave of attacks comes as no fewer than 130 Nigerians have registered for voluntary evacuation flights from South Africa.