.Calls on Buhari-APC govt to provide decent jobs
.Seeks end to capitalism
By Valentine Amanze
The Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) has condemned the raging xenophobic attacks in South Africa, which have affected Nigerians and other African migrants in the country.
The party made its feeling known in a statement by the acting National Chairman, Abiodun Bamigboye, and the National Secretary, Chinedu Bosah.
The party pointed out that some people had been killed and many injured while shops had been destroyed and looted in the recurrent violence in South Africa.
It however warned that reprisal or retributive actions in South Africa and possibly in Nigeria and elsewhere could further worsen the cycle of violence.
It also alleged that there were reports of the South African police supporting the violence or looking the other way.
It lamented that there had not been any effective measures so far taken by the Nigerian government through its High Commission and Consulate in South Africa to safeguard Nigerians and provide succour to victims of the violence.
The SPN also condemned the Cyril Ramaphosa/ANC government in South Africa and the Buhari/APC government in Nigeria for their lip-service towards protecting the lives and properties of Nigerian migrants and other African nationals from attacks.
“At the same time, we recognise that there can be no trust in either governments to take any effective action. This is because, regardless of their phoney outrage at the attacks, apart from the fact that they have a whole lot to benefit from the division and disunity of the working masses of both countries, they are also responsible for the problems that are driving this violence.
“First, it is the ruinous anti-poor policies of all capitalist governments in Nigeria since independence and particularly since 1999 that is responsible for the collapse in living standards and absolute lack of decent jobs and opportunity which is forcing layers of the working class, middle class and youth in Nigeria to run out of the country in pursuit of greener pasture. Particularly since 2015 when the Buhari APC government came into power under a slogan of change, the fortunes of the country has further plummeted as a result of the regime’s implementation of capitalist policies, which have further driven down employment, increased job losses and deprivation for the vast majority,” it said.
The party wondered: While Nigeria has effectively become the poverty capital of the world, the other side of the coin is that Nigeria is home to the richest black person from Africa. It alleged that the majority of Nigerian immigrants in South Africa, Europe and America were escapees from the hellish conditions of poverty, lack of jobs and opportunity as well as the daily insecurity and violence in Nigeria.
“While the world is focused on the xenophobic attacks in South Africa at the moment, thousands more of Nigerians and African nationals are undertaking dangerous journey through the Sahara desert and drowning in the Mediterranean Sea in the hope of reaching European shores,” it said.
The party attributed the trend to decades of ruinous anti-poor policies of apartheid era and post-apartheid African National Congress (ANC) governments.
“After 25 years of self-government, all the hope and aspiration of the black population has been shattered with the ANC becoming a tool for the implementation of anti-poor capitalist policies which have created a new black capitalist elite while driving the mass majority of blacks further down the ladder. The Cyril Ramaphosa ANC government is simply a continuation of the ruinous past, only the clique at the top has changed,” it said.
The party said that the poor South African workers and youth who were involved in these xenophobic attacks were victims of capitalism.
“For us in the SPN therefore, the only way out is for a united struggle of the working classes of both countries to challenge and defeat their capitalist ruling classes and enthrone a workers-led government armed with socialist policies.
“South Africa’s economy and Nigeria’s economy are big enough to provide a decent and better life for a majority of their populations. Officially about 40% of South Africans of working age are either unemployed or given up looking for work. Over 60% of Black South Africans live in poverty, 25 years after the end of the Apartheid regime. But the end of Apartheid did not end capitalism and the insatiable greed of the capitalist elite. Even the World Bank describes South Africa as “the most unequal country in the world by any measure” (Financial times, May 2, 2019). Therefore, these xenophobic attacks in South Africa and the daily insecurity and violence in Nigeria itself show the urgency for mass struggle to develop and mass workers parties built to end this unjust system. Otherwise the alternative is barbarism.”
It appealed to the workers in both countries (South Africa and Nigeria) to unite, get organised and channel their anger at the capitalist ruling elite who implement policies that are responsible for job losses and poverty.
