President Muhammadu Buhari and visiting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa met Wednesday, last week, in Abuja over a range of bilateral and multilateral issues. They agreed on some and diverged on some.
Buhari, for one, urged a stronger emphasis on people-to-people relations between South Africa and Nigeria to evolve a bond that “will be of benefit to both countries and the African continent.” He reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to improving a “special relationship’’ with South Africa, which would translate into gains for the continent, particularly in education, science, trade and investment, tourism and security.
At the opening of the 10th session of Nigeria-South Africa Bi-National Commission (BNC) held in his office, President Buhari said “some of the challenges identified during the last Bi-National Commission (BNC) have not been completely addressed. We need to ensure that our people-to-people relations are enhanced to a point where there would be no need for unhealthy competition. In this regard, we need improvement in educational and scientific cooperation, mines and energy resources, transport and aviation, tourism, youth exchange programmes, trade and investment and military cooperation, to mention but a few.”
President Buhari told ministers and government delegates of both countries that a strong bond of brotherhood between Nigeria and South Africa would be of great benefit to Africa as a catalyst for economic, technological, social and cultural development and as a force for peace and security on the continent. “Let me at this point reiterate my commitment to ensure that the special relationship between our two countries is continually strengthened,’’ he added.
President Buhari said it was fulfilling that despite all the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the BNC was still holding on schedule. “It is gratifying to observe that this has been brought about by the dogged commitment of senior officials from our countries. More importantly, it is gratifying to note that despite the pandemic, our timelines for implementing some decisions of the 9th BNC have been met. Similarly, discussions are ongoing on new and important areas of cooperation between our two countries.”
He added, “Our two countries have established high-level official communication channels for diplomatic consultations, trade and investment, and will, shortly, inaugurate the Nigeria – South Africa Youth Dialogue. I am confident that these vehicles of engagement and cooperation will serve our mutual interests. I hope that beyond being a vehicle for mutual learning and understanding by our youth, it will also foster the kindred spirit of humanity towards others as prescribed in the great South African traditional philosophy of Ubuntu. That would lay a solid foundation for the realization of the Africa that we want.”
On his part, President Ramaphosa, thanked the leaders of Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Senegal for expressing their dissatisfaction with the travel ban imposed on South Africa and sister neighbouring countries in the aftermath of the discovery of the Omicron COVID-19 variant by South African scientists. He described the imposition of the ban by some western countries as “arbitrary, discriminatory, unscientific and unproductive” in the long run.
“President Buhari, the solidarity expressed by yourself and the Government of Nigeria sends the strongest message. It says that as African countries we are standing united against the imposition of arbitrary and discriminatory restrictions that are not only unscientific but counterproductive in the long run.” He added that the Omicron variant is an extension of the global pandemic and overcoming it requires collaboration.
“The resulting damage of this travel ban to the economies of the countries affected will be considerable and long-lasting. So I want to use this opportunity to tell the countries that have imposed this ban to reverse their decisions whether they are the northern, more developed economies or in other parts of our continent or elsewhere,” he said.
During the visit, the two countries added 2 MoUs to the 32 existing before. The new ones were on youth development and audio visual cooperation as well a programme of cooperation on arts and cultures. Good as these MoUs are because they indicate the strength of the relations between the two countries, they are useless if they stay as paper work. As President Buhari said, “We need to ensure that our people-to-people relations are enhanced to a point where there would be no need for unhealthy competition. In this regard, we need improvement in educational and scientific cooperation, mines and energy resources, transport and aviation, tourism, youth exchange programmes, trade and investment and military cooperation, to mention but a few.”
Unhealthy rivalry has often led to xenophobic explosions in which Nigerians and their businesses have been attacked. The South African government must be up and doing to stop such attacks. It is heartwarming that Ramaphosa introduced the South Africa-Nigeria Youth Dialogue MoU. But the talk must be walked to be meaningful.
