*FG Demands Compensation For Nigerians
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The South African Government has rejected claims that Nigerian singer Ayra Starr and members of her team were denied visas into the country, amid rising diplomatic tension, boycott calls against South African artistes and renewed outrage over xenophobic attacks on Nigerians.
South African Consul-General to Nigeria, Prof. Bobby Moroe, said in an interview that immigration authorities had no record of any visa application or rejection involving Ayra Starr or her team.
He, however, urged those making the allegation to submit the names of the affected persons and their visa application reference numbers to enable the South African mission verify the claims.
“The immigration said they were not aware of the application or the rejection. But what will assist us is if the people who are making these allegations will send us the names and reference numbers of Ayra Starr and her team; if they were rejected and why they were rejected, so that we can double-check,” Moroe said.
The reaction followed calls by some Nigerians, including former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, and the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, urging the Federal Government to review visa applications submitted by South African artistes and their entourages in line with the principle of reciprocity.
Akpoti-Uduaghan had said that if it was confirmed that Ayra Starr and her team were denied entry visas to South Africa, leading to the cancellation of their engagements, Nigeria should respond with equivalent measures until Nigerians are accorded fair and respectful treatment.
Reports indicated that in February 2024, Ayra Starr and her team were allegedly denied visas to South Africa ahead of scheduled performances in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
The organisers of the concerts, Steyn Entertainment, had attributed the cancellation to visa denial.
In a statement at the time, the company’s Managing Director, Dale De Ruig, said visas were denied despite several efforts to secure entry for the singer and her team.
“Regrettably, as has happened numerous times with other artistes from West Africa, through no fault of their own, visas were denied despite exploring every avenue possible to secure visas for Ayra Starr and her team,” he said.
He added that tickets already purchased would be fully refunded within seven business days through Quicket.
Efforts to obtain Ayra Starr’s reaction were unsuccessful, as an email sent to an address listed on her official Instagram page had yet to receive a response.
The visa controversy came as Grammy-winning South African singer, Tyla, removed Lagos from the list of cities on her APOP World Tour.
Tyla had on Monday announced that she would perform in Lagos as part of her world tour, in what was expected to be her first headline concert in Nigeria and one of the major events of the country’s “Detty December” season.
However, the announcement triggered outrage among some Nigerians, who criticised her silence over xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.
Some Nigerian celebrities and social media users linked the proposed concert to reports of anti-migrant violence in South Africa, including the death of Nigerian national Chika Ibeh in Cape Town.
Social media activist Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan, threatened to mobilise members of his “Ratel Movement” to prevent the concert from holding, declaring that Tyla’s show would not happen in Nigeria.
A social media personality, Solomon Buchi, also urged his followers to reject the performance, while media personality Do2dtun called on the Nigeria Immigration Service to deny Tyla and her team visas.
An online petition seeking to ban Tyla from Nigeria until xenophobic attacks ceased also gathered thousands of signatures.
Checks on Tyla’s official tour website on Friday showed that the December 22 Lagos date had been removed, while dates across Europe, North America, Cape Town and Johannesburg remained on the schedule.
Neither Tyla nor her management issued any public explanation for the removal of the Lagos date.
The development further heightened hostility on social media, with several South African users celebrating the removal of Lagos from the tour schedule and calling for retaliatory action against Nigerians living in South Africa.
One South African X user, @Abahambekr, threatened that Nigerians should leave South Africa if Tyla’s Lagos show was stopped, while another user, @LeslyJohn7, said no Nigerian artiste should be allowed to perform in South Africa.
Another user, @Tyger1960, said Tyla was right to remove Lagos from her tour and called on both countries to cut diplomatic ties, adding that Nigerians in South Africa should return home and South Africans in Nigeria should do the same.
Similar comments circulated widely online, with some users calling for the expulsion of Nigerians, retaliation against Nigerian artistes and hostile action against Nigerians in South Africa over claims of illegal immigration and crime.
Reacting to the development, a former Nigerian Consul to Cameroon and Delegate to the World Expo and Economic Development Centre in Paris, Rasheed Akinkuolie, said Tyla’s removal of Lagos from her tour was inevitable given the current diplomatic tension between Nigeria and South Africa.
He said relations between both countries remained tense, making it inappropriate to organise cultural exchanges at this time due to potential security risks.
“The relationship between Nigeria and South Africa is still very tense and, as such, this is not the appropriate time to stage cultural events in both countries. Participants in such events may be harmed,” Akinkuolie said.
The former diplomat said the South African Government should compensate Nigerians for loss of lives, businesses and property destroyed during the attacks, adding that the dispute should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation.
He, however, warned that if South Africa failed to address the matter, Nigeria could consider measures such as seizing South African assets in the country as compensation.
Akinkuolie also faulted the manner in which South African authorities handled immigration enforcement, saying such exercises should have been conducted in a civilised manner without allowing hoodlums to attack Nigerians and destroy their property.
He disclosed that Nigeria, alongside countries such as Ghana and Zimbabwe, would seek legal redress at the International Criminal Court to deter similar actions against foreign nationals in future.
Responding to reports that Lagos had been removed from Tyla’s tour schedule, Consul-General Moroe said the South African mission had not received any formal communication from the organisers.
“On Tyla, we have not received any formal complaint or notification from the promoters, although we have also seen reports on social media, so we cannot confirm or deny them,” he said.
Moroe maintained that diplomatic relations between Nigeria and South Africa remained cordial despite the concerns raised on social media.
He said President Cyril Ramaphosa’s request that President Bola Tinubu receive South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation showed South Africa’s willingness to reconcile differences between both countries.
“The fact that our President was proactive in requesting that President Bola Tinubu receive South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation is indicative of South Africa’s willingness to reconcile differences between the two countries,” Moroe said.
He added that the meeting held on Monday between the ministers went well and was productive.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has urged South Africa to take concrete steps to implement the Memorandum of Understanding on the Early Warning Mechanism, while renewing its demand for compensation for Nigerians who lost property during the recent wave of xenophobic attacks.
Nigeria also called for an end to recurring attacks on Nigerians living in South Africa, insisting that compensation for victims remains non-negotiable.
A source at the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Nigeria expected South Africa to go beyond promises and activate the Early Warning Mechanism agreed by both countries to prevent future attacks and ensure swift responses to emerging threats.
“Nigeria expects action on the Early Warning Mechanism MoU as the delegation returns to Pretoria. Nigeria also looks forward to an end to xenophobic attacks on its nationals resident in South Africa,” the source said.
The source added that the Federal Government was also pursuing compensation for affected Nigerians, stressing that victims deserved restitution for their losses.
The latest position followed diplomatic engagements after a South African delegation led by the country’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, arrived in Abuja on the directive of President Ramaphosa to meet President Tinubu.
Tinubu, however, declined to receive the delegation, prompting the South African envoys to remain in Abuja over the weekend in a bid to hold the bilateral discussions for which they had travelled.
Following a telephone conversation between Ramaphosa and Tinubu, the Nigerian President directed the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, to meet with the South African delegation.
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