From Rainbow to Shame: How Xenophobia Betrayed the South African Dream
By Seye Oladejo, Lagos APC Chieftain South Africa today stands at a dangerous crossroads of its own making. Once celebrated as the Rainbow Nation and the undisputed economic powerhouse of Africa, it now finds itself grappling with the predictable consequences of years of populist politics, economic mismanagement, rising intolerance and self-inflicted diplomatic isolation. Nigeria, and indeed the rest of Africa, should watch events unfolding in South Africa with keen interest-not out of schadenfreude, but as a lesson in how quickly a nation can squander decades of goodwill and continental leadership. The recent resurgence of xenophobic policies and sentiments, particularly those targeted at African migrants, has once again exposed the contradiction at the heart of post-apartheid South Africa. A nation that once appealed to the conscience of the world against racial discrimination has increasingly become intolerant of fellow Africans who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with it during its dark...
