Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has condemned attacks by South African youths on Nigerians and other African nationals in the former apartheid enclave, blaming the development on the insincerity of the government and the leaders of the country.
He said this on Wednesday in Abeokuta while receiving the management of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, Jos, led by its chairman, Maj. Gen. Lawrence Onoja (retd.).
The former President, who received the delegation at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, said the current development in South Africa betrayed the contributions of Nigeria to the struggle for the emancipation of the country during the apartheid era.
Obasanjo, who blamed the exodus of Nigerians and other African nationals in search for greener pastures, however, called on African heads of government to ensure good governance for the overall development of the continent and its teeming population.
He blamed South African youths for their immaturity, while hitting their leaders more for allowing fellow Africans to rise against themselves.
“Youths can be so immature; they may not understand what Africa stands for; what our continental organisations stand for. But if the youth do not understand what happened, what happen to the leadership?
“I will blame the youth of the country for the attacks but I will blame the leaders more in any country that allows xenophobic attacks against fellow Africans for whatever reason.
“Having said that, it is also the responsibility of everyone of us in our different countries to prepare our countries so that our youths, who think that there is an Eldorado somewhere outside their countries, will be made to know that there is no greener pastures anywhere.
“The greener pastures is here in your country. I feel disheartened to know that many of our youths perish while crossing the Sahara desert or the Mediterranean.”
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