S-Africa begs Nigeria

AFTER six days of diplomatic stand-off that led to the deportation of 256 nationals, Africa’s two powerhouses, Nigeria and South Africa, have mended fences and reached a five-point agreement to avert a recurrence.

The much needed truce came after the South African government sent a letter of apology to Foreign Affairs Minister, Olugbenga Ashiru, apologizing to Nigeria for barring 125 Nigerians from the country last Friday over alleged possession of fake yellow fever vaccine cards and the acceptance of the apology by the wronged party. Since the first deportation, Nigeria, in retaliation, has turned away 131 South Africans.

“We apologize for this unfortunate incident and we hope this matter will not in anyway affect our bilateral relations,” Deputy Foreign Minister, Ebrahim Ebrahim, told reporters in Pretoria.

From Left; South Africa Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ebrahim Ebrahim; Nigeria High Commissioner to South Africa Mr. Anderson Madubike; Mrs. Kojo, of South Africa International Relations and Cooperation Department and Nigeria High Commission Consular Minister, Ibrahim Bashir at a news conference on the crisis between Nigeria and South Africa in Pretoria on Thursday. Photo: NAN

“We have put into place certain mechanisms to ensure this doesn’t happen again, and we believe that this matter is closed. Thereafter, we will move quickly to ensure that we put machinery in place so that it will be a lasting solution. We don’t want this to happen again because of our bilateral relations. We felt it was un-African to have deported well over 125 Nigerians in a space of two days,” he added.

Ebrahim said South African officials had agreed to reopen an airport clinic that would allow travelers to receive yellow fever vaccines on arrival. Immigration officials will also need a foreign ministry official’s consent before turning away large group of travelers.

Indeed, a Minister in South African Presidency, Collins Chabane, told reporters in Cape Town yesterday that “Cabinet expressed shock and regret at the reports regarding how African foreign nationals, particularly Nigerians, and other nationals from other parts of the world have been treated” at Johannesburg’s main airport.

Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Olugbenga Ashiru, said that Nigeria had accepted the apology, saying a South African envoy was expected soon to formally apologize for the row.

Ambassador Ashiru said the apology and letter would be sent to President Goodluck Jonathan as well as a reply to the South African Authority to show that it had been accepted.

He said during the Bi-National Commission meeting, “Nigeria would demand for waiver of the yellow fever vaccination card or present sample of Nigeria’s yellow fever card to South Africa seeking for respect for Nigerians visiting and living in the country, saying some of them were going there for medical treatment, seminar and tourism.

However, the minister urged Nigerians in the Diaspora to conduct themselves in a manner that would not bring disrepute to the country and to always obtain necessary documents whenever they were traveling abroad, adding that yellow fever vaccination cards were available in medical centres and airport clinics.

Also speaking, Minister of State (II) Foreign Affairs, Dr. Nurudeen Muhammed, said Nigeria would no longer tolerate any ill-treatment meted on her citizens on flimsy excuses.

To firm up the reconciliation, the governments of both countries yesterday reached a five-point agreement to end the face-off and prevent a recurrence in future.  This came as Nigeria’s 360-member House of Representatives asked the Federal Government to review the country’s relations with South Africa.

Viewing the developments, which led to deportation and counter-deportation of nationals in a serious light, the two governments, through diplomatic channels, consulted at the highest levels on ways of avoiding a recurrence of such developments.

A joint statement by the Department of International Relations, Republic of South Africa, and the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria, said:  “The South African government has sent a letter of apology to the Nigerian government following this regrettable incident which the South African government believes could have been handled in a better way” adding that both countries have agreed on number of measures to avoid future occurrence.

Among the measures agreed were:
* The Bi-National Commission between South Africa and Nigeria should be revived as soon as possible. There is also agreement that the Immigration Working Group should also be revived.

* The National Department of Health and the Gauteng Health Department should consider re-opening the vaccination clinic at the OR Tambo International Airport so that passengers without the yellow fever card can be vaccinated upon arrival at the airport, rather than be deported.

* The South African and Nigerian Health authorities would exchange vaccine batch numbers and details about the official institutions that administer the vaccine for verification purposes at the port of entry. This information would also be made available to the Missions in Lagos and Abuja who issue visas based on the proof of a yellow fever certificate. The airlines will also be informed about the verification process.

* Immigration officials should be the first officials that deal with the passengers at the port of entry and if they experience challenges, they should invite other units (such as health) to help and not the other way round.

* When it comes to mass deportations, it was agreed that senior officials at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (including Protocol) should be consulted by Immigration and Health officials at the airport before undertaking such action. This will provide the Senior Officials to consult with the Department before deporting large numbers of people.

They hoped that “these measures, when fully implemented, will address the current immigration challenges affecting citizens from the two sister African countries and help us avoid a recurrence of the regrettable incidences we have seen recently.”