When Xenophobia Strikes, Nigeria Must Engage South Africa In ‘Roforofo Diplomacy’ -By Isaac Asabor

Every time xenophobic violence erupts in South Africa, the script is almost always the same. Horrific images of foreign-owned shops being looted flood social media. Nigerians living and doing business in the country scramble for safety. Families in Nigeria panic as they struggle to reach loved ones. The Nigerian government issues a statement condemning the attacks, calls for calm, demands justice and urges the South African authorities to act. Diplomatic consultations follow, promises are made, and after a while, silence returns, until the next cycle of violence begins. This repetitive pattern has become both predictable and unacceptable.

It raises an uncomfortable but necessary question: How many more times must Nigerians be subjected to xenophobic attacks before Nigeria changes its diplomatic strategy? It is perhaps time for Abuja to abandon excessive diplomatic niceties and embrace what many Nigerians would describe as “Roforofo diplomacy”, a more robust, assertive and reciprocal engagement that makes it unmistakably clear that attacks on Nigerians abroad will carry diplomatic consequences.

The phrase “roforofo,” borrowed from the popular Nigerian expression for mud wrestling, symbolizes a no-holds-barred confrontation rather than physical aggression. In diplomatic terms, it means abandoning excessive restraint in favour of firm, unapologetic and interest-driven engagement. It means matching rhetoric with action.

For decades, Nigeria has approached South Africa as an elder brother. During the anti-apartheid struggle, Nigeria invested enormous political, financial and diplomatic capital in the liberation of South Africa. Successive Nigerian governments contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to liberation movements. Nigerian workers voluntarily paid into the Southern African Relief Fund. Scholarships were awarded to South African students. Nigerian passports carried restrictions against visiting apartheid South Africa in solidarity with the oppressed majority.

Many Nigerians still remember these sacrifices with pride. Ironically, many younger South Africans appear either unaware of this history or indifferent to it. Instead, Nigerians have increasingly become convenient scapegoats for South Africa’s deep-seated socio-economic challenges.

There is no denying the fact that high unemployment, widening inequality, inadequate public services and rising crime have created fertile ground for populist narratives in South Africa, thereby creating an atmosphere of blaming foreigners for domestic hardships. Given the foregoing atmosphere, Nigerians, because of their visibility in commerce and entrepreneurship, often become easy targets. The reality, however, is that xenophobia has little to do with nationality and everything to do with governance failures. Foreigners did not create South Africa’s unemployment crisis. Foreigners did not institutionalize inequality. Foreigners did not weaken public infrastructure. Foreigners did not design policies that have left millions frustrated. Yet, instead of confronting these structural problems, mobs repeatedly vent their anger on vulnerable immigrants. Sadly, Nigerian-owned businesses have become recurring casualties.

Nigeria’s response has generally reflected the principles of diplomacy: protest notes, ambassadorial consultations, presidential phone calls, bilateral commissions and expressions of concern. These measures have achieved little. The attacks continue. This is precisely why Nigeria should reconsider its diplomatic toolkit.

A country with Nigeria’s demographic weight, economic influence and regional leadership credentials cannot continue responding to repeated assaults on its citizens with little more than carefully worded communiqués. Diplomacy should not be mistaken for weakness. Every sovereign nation has a primary obligation to protect its citizens wherever they may be. If conventional diplomacy consistently fails to achieve that objective, then more assertive measures become necessary.

Roforofo diplomacy does not mean severing diplomatic relations with South Africa. Nor does it imply encouraging retaliation against innocent South Africans living in Nigeria. Nigeria must never descend into the same lawlessness it condemns. Instead, it means adopting reciprocal diplomatic pressure.

For example, Nigeria can temporarily suspend certain bilateral engagements whenever attacks recur until measurable actions are taken by Pretoria. It can review preferential economic arrangements where necessary. It can insist on concrete timelines for prosecution of perpetrators rather than accepting endless promises. It can pursue compensation mechanisms for verified victims.

It can intensify legal action through regional and continental institutions. Nigeria can also leverage multilateral platforms such as the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to push for enforceable continental standards against xenophobic violence. The issue should no longer be treated merely as South Africa’s internal affair.

Persistent attacks on African migrants undermine the very ideals upon which African integration is built. The vision of the African Continental Free Trade Area depends not only on the movement of goods but also on the protection of people. Businesses cannot thrive where entrepreneurs fear for their lives. Investments cannot flourish where nationality becomes a death sentence.

Beyond diplomacy, Nigeria must also strengthen its consular protection framework. Its missions abroad should possess emergency response capacities capable of rapidly evacuating citizens where necessary, providing temporary shelters and offering legal assistance.

Technology can also play a role through digital emergency registration systems that enable embassies to locate Nigerians quickly during crises. Equally important is economic diplomacy. Nigeria remains one of South Africa’s significant African trading partners.

Major South African corporations have earned billions of naira over several decades operating successfully in Nigeria. Companies in telecommunications, banking, retail and entertainment have enjoyed enormous opportunities within Nigeria’s large consumer market. While business should never become a weapon, economic relationships should encourage mutual respect. Reciprocity remains a fundamental principle of international relations.

If Nigerians cannot operate safely in South Africa, legitimate questions will inevitably arise regarding whether South African businesses should continue enjoying a completely frictionless environment in Nigeria without corresponding guarantees for Nigerian interests.

Such questions are neither unreasonable nor unprecedented in global diplomacy. The United States routinely imposes sanctions when its citizens are threatened abroad. European nations frequently issue travel advisories and apply diplomatic pressure over human rights concerns. China aggressively protects its nationals and investments overseas. India has demonstrated increasing willingness to intervene diplomatically whenever Indians become victims of violence abroad.

Nigeria should not consider similar firmness an overreaction. It should consider it responsible statecraft. At the same time, Nigerians must resist the temptation to paint all South Africans with the same brush. Millions of South Africans reject xenophobia.

Civil society organizations, religious leaders, journalists, academics and ordinary citizens have repeatedly condemned these attacks and risked their own safety defending foreign nationals. These allies should be strengthened, not alienated. People-to-people diplomacy remains essential.

Educational exchanges, historical awareness campaigns and cultural cooperation can help younger South Africans understand Nigeria’s historic contributions to their country’s freedom. Ignorance often fuels prejudice. Knowledge can weaken it.

Ultimately, however, no amount of cultural exchange can substitute for effective law enforcement. The greatest deterrent to xenophobic violence is certainty of punishment. Each time perpetrators escape justice, they become emboldened.

Each failed prosecution sends a dangerous signal that foreigners are expendable. That perception must end. Nigeria should therefore insist that every episode of xenophobic violence be followed not merely by arrests but by convictions, restitution and transparent judicial processes. Anything less simply postpones the next outbreak.

In fact, the relationship between Nigeria and South Africa is too important to be marred by South African vigilante groups arrogating immigration duties to themselves. Together, both nations account for a significant share of sub-Saharan Africa’s economy and diplomatic influence. Their cooperation remains indispensable for continental peace, trade, innovation and development.

Yet genuine partnership cannot exist where one partner repeatedly watches its citizens become victims. Friendship without mutual respect is unsustainable. Brotherhood without protection is meaningless. There comes a point when patience begins to resemble acquiescence. Nigeria appears dangerously close to that point. The country does not need reckless confrontation. It does not need inflammatory rhetoric. It certainly does not need retaliation against innocent South Africans.

What it needs is a foreign policy anchored firmly on reciprocity, national dignity and the uncompromising protection of Nigerian lives. That is the essence of roforofo diplomacy, not unnecessary hostility, but unmistakable firmness.

When diplomacy repeatedly produces condolences instead of security, it is time to change the diplomatic language.  Nigeria owes its citizens nothing less.