President Muhammadu Buhari has urged Nigerians living in South Africa to be good ambassadors of the country and also represent Nigeria well at all times.
Buhari said this while addressing Nigerians at the Nigeran Consulate in Johannesburg on Monday.
He said “Those of you who have the opportunity to come here and represent us, make sure that you are representing Nigeria well, you are all ambassadors of Nigeria. This means a lot of patience, restraint, self-respect and pride. You must have all these.
“Government is determined to secure the country, manage the economy, create employment and fight corruption. Some articulate writers have said if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. This APC administration intends to kill corruption in Nigeria. We will do our best, I assure you.”
On the African Union Meeting, he said “This is my first time of attending these types of meetings (AU) and they go on and on until about 1 in the morning. And then you are supposed to start in the morning again. Everybody is repeating what the other speaker has said instead of keeping their mouths shut. Anyways, it is a great experience.
“I have listened to the address paraphrased by the counsel-general. I’m pleased that wherever Nigerians are whether in South Africa or Saudi Arabia or Europe or Alaska for that matter, you’ll make an impact both positive and negative.
“There is no way 160 million people or more cannot make an impact wherever they are. We have so many cultures and nationalities.
“At a point I was very frightened; [I] don’t know how many of you kept records. I was afraid Nigeria might be like Somalia. The Somalis are the same people; they are all Muslims but because the elite are self-centred, selfish, they have succeeded in making Somalia a war-torn country for the last 20 years.
“For that reason, I said Nigerians are much more vulnerable, we have so many nationalities no matter how you look at it – Hausa-Fulanis, Kanuris, Ishekiris, Yorubas, Igbos. We are actually people of different cultures but since 1914, we have merged in spite of religion and culture, married across, produced children and only crazy people can think of balkanising Nigeria.
“But we are not short of crazy people, that is the frightening part of it. But I assure you that after being in the military for 25 years, and getting to the highest rank and becoming head of state and under unusual circumstances, I went straight to detention for three and a half years so those who accused me of locking them up, I too have been locked up, so what?”
Ambassador Ajulu-Okeke informed the President about the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa after meeting, He said that a total of 143 Nigerians were killed in South Africa between 2011 and 2014 while 81 are in prison.
He said “Out of this 81 Nigerians, 21 have been convicted,” she said, adding that shops and other property worth millions of rand belonging to Nigerians were destroyed during the wave of xenophobic attacks between April and May.”
He urged the President to ensure Nigerians who have been victims of xenophobic attacks are adequately compensated.