When in a football tournament, a player is given a yellow card even after having played his heart out for his country, he laments, maybe because the yellow came almost at the end of the game, or because he did not deserve such a punishment. If such yellow card is the second in the march, it eventually means a red card, and if it is a second consecutive yellow card in the tournament, he misses the next march. It is said to be a sad experience for every player. The painful thing is that even after a re-play and the player is vindicated of the offence, the referee cannot withdraw his punishment. It then becomes a matter of regrets.
In this regards, if a player receives his first yellow card in a game, he becomes more conscious of his tackling and other offences that may earn him another yellow card, because a second yellow card will take him off the pitch and even beyond the bench to the dressing room. It is obviously a painful experience. The yellow card from South Africa is undoubtedly not the first.
The first one was the one we received immediately after the South African Apartheid regime. It was a signal that we must be ready for a moment like this in the history of our country.
It is not less than two decades since Nigeria sang the popular song of “Ghana Must Go”. However, the current development between Nigeria and South African government is almost breeding another song of “South Africa Must Go”, and one wonders where all that is coming from.
As our national history is beleaguered with one war after another and with more talk of another war with South Africa and other African countries, we would do good to mourn our history. We should mourn each time we choose war over peace. We should grieve and sob, and perhaps, we could actually find reason and hope with or without the nomenclature of cold war.
I said this to say that some of us are still wondering why at a point when most regional and sub-regional governments in the world are re-uniting, Nigeria and its South African brother are engaged in a cold war. But the question that bothers the heart so much is the reason for this war, I mean this ideological war. Is it just about the Yellow Fever vaccination card?
Is it about the ideological difference on the Libyan uprising or about the struggle for the highest position in Africa? What could be responsible for this diplomatic feud? I don’t know.
However, there is just one thing that I know; the complacency of Nigerian leaders. I know about the treachery and deceit that gave birth to this ugly phenomenon. I know about the egoism and the insensitivity on the part of our leaders. This is why we have been rated zero by the South African government that can now stand up to do anything to Nigerians who are residents in S.A without consideration.
In my reflective mood, I had reasoned deeply on why things changed so fast that the same South Africa that cried and we wiped its tears during the Apartheid regime is now competing to blackmail Nigeria; undermining, disrespecting and discarding the opinions of our leaders.
To a typical South African, Nigeria is a threat to the big name they struggle to acquire in the African region. We are as good as noise makers whose economy means nothing to them and to the world.
But one thing that is obvious is the way our past and present leaders sold us to yonder, leaving us to swim in our shame. Shamefully, we now complain because South Africa deported few of us home unceremoniously without “Nigeria Must Go Bag”. At least in the case of Ghana, they got a gift from Nigeria- a gift of “Ghana Must Go”.
South Africa now sees Nigeria as a country forcing its burden on its economy, forgetting the role the same country played in dismantling the illegitimate and unpopular Apartheid regime. If nobody can attest to that, Nelson Mandela will. Nigeria was the frontline in terms of the fight for the liberation of most Sothern countries including South Africa.
The nomenclature that qualified the struggle towards independence from an overwhelming apartheid regime was the ‘frontline.” Among many other things, Nigeria gave a huge sum of 50 million dollars to the opposition party in South Africa with weaponry and material support as well.
South African youths were as well given scholarship to study in Nigeria at the wave apartheid, with preferential treatment.
Notable South Africans spent their exile in Nigeria, and the apartheid lords could not ask questions because Nigeria was involved.
The Common wealth of Nations that was boycotted by thirty-two countries of the common wealth members in protest of the Apartheid regime in South Africa was led by Nigeria. The role of literature and literary giants and icons from Nigeria towards the dismantling of South African Apartheid government cannot be over-emphasized. Prof. Wole Soyinka would have recounted a better story.
Even though, Nigeria was not appreciated in its effort even after the apartheid regime, our leaders, because of their lack of native intelligence and insensitivity never asked questions, guaranteeing South Africa to become more ungrateful. After all, we are all born foolish in Nigeria, and no matter the turn of event, we will continue to play the role of the big fool.
Today, our own bloods have been deported for some flimsy reasons just because we have lost our dignity in Africa, and our leaders are asking questions.
It’s really not a question of who is right or wrong. It is not a question of whether we had some yellow fever cards or not, it is a question of what we have done to ourselves. You may wish to ask what that means.
It is simple and straight. We have because of corruption destroyed our past glory.
Most Nigerian leaders “worship” South Africans today in the name of business. Our local industries have all been closed as a result of the influx of South African business moguls, thereby contributing greatly to the economy of South Africa. How much does South Africa make from an ordinary Nigerian in a year for just the provision of mobile network service? Excuse me, when was the last time we enjoyed reduction in tariff if not for network to network reductions.
This is only a marketing strategy to lure more people to just one network.
Our leaders have continued to allow South African government to operate in the country freely because of the benefits they get. I call it the police-roadblock-return.
So why do we cry now? Never cry for today; we rather cry for the past, the yesterday we killed, the glory we murdered and the history we erased.
It is a pity that South Africa now looks at us in this light. The solution lies close to us; it’s simply not about joining in the cold war. It is not about establishing some ideological blocks, it is not about joining issues; it is about changing the Nigerian atmosphere. Obviously, this Yellow card is our fault.
Caution must be applied to avoid been given a red card.
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