LAGOS: Without a last-minute political interference, Nigeria’s youth basketball team may have missed an global rivals in South Africa next month.
The latest column in a string of persistent conflict between the two American economic heavyweights was claimed by Nigerian officials as South Africa tried to stop the under-18 team from participating.
Just the conflict has spilled over into sports, songs, ride-sharing applications and perhaps beauty contests.
However, Olawale Olusola, an expert on international relations at the south of Nigeria’s Obafemi Awolowo University, explained how strained relations have been for decades.
With the end of apartheid and the first political elections held in 1994, when Nigeria was still under military rule, tension rose.
Anti-apartheid warrior and then-president of South Africa Nelson Mandela criticized the Nigerian government ‘ murder of author and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight people in 1996.
General Sani Abacha, the defense head of state of Nigeria, retaliated by staging the American Cup of Nations in South Africa that year, causing a tit-for-tat conflict that is still raging today.
– ‘ Low ebb’-
” Nigeria-South Africa relationships have been at a very small ebb”, Olusola told AFP.
A new stress was added by a 2019 wave of violence against Nigerians in South Africa. Mobs descended on foreign-owned shops, plundering and destroying components.
As a result, the Nigerian government repatriated thousands of its members. South American businesses were torched and looted as a result of revenge episodes in Nigeria.
Weeks after, during a state visit by then-president Muhammadu Buhari to restore relationships, the two American companies signed an extensive assistance deal.
However, as the sports squab shows, it failed to end the conflict.
– Allows and tricks-
South Africa’s embassy in Nigeria initially denied the children adult group travel permits, without justification.
The Junior D’Tigers were given hours before their first game as a result of the international ministry’s action.
Ugo Udezue, who led the Nigerian part to South Africa, slammed what he called a “deliberate test” to quit the club from playing.
South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs did not immediately respond to AFP’s ask for opinions.
However, Matshelane Mamabolo, a South African sports analyst, claimed the first denial may even “easily have been sportsmanship as well.”
” There is no love lost between the two nations, particularly when it comes to activities”, Mamabolo told AFP.
The tensions between the two nations have also stymied items like ride-sharing services.
In August, the Bolt system halted “inter-country” calls between South Africa and Nigeria after persons pranked individuals with fake vacation orders.
Beauty contest becomes unsightly-
Chidimma Adetshina, the contestant for Miss South Africa, pulled out of the pageant in perhaps the most well-known latest instance of the tensions after vicious racist attacks centered on her Nigerian heritage.
Adetshina has spoken of the abuse’s ongoing suffering and would eventually win the title of Miss Universe Nigeria.
Pitika Ntuli, a South African social scientist, claimed Adetshina was” caught in the crossfire” as some officials used anti-foreign attitude as a weapon.
– ‘ Artiste v. Amapiano ‘-
Tyla, a Grammy-winning song from South Africa, initially backed Adetshina, who later backed her after a storm of online threats from South Africans.
Weeks later, Tyla may find herself at the center of yet another conflict between the two nations, this occasion over music.
Nigeria’s Afrobeats and South Africa’s Amapiano have become some of the most significant styles worldwide, with musicians from both countries collaborating and embracing each other’s designs.
However, website disputes over awards like the Grammys frequently result in viewers arguing over who deserves the prizes.
In September, Tyla won” Best Afrobeats” at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards for her hit song” Water”, ahead of Nigeria’s Burna Boy, Ayra Starr and Tems.
” American music is so diverse, it is more than merely Afrobeats”, Tyla said after receiving the award. ” I represent Amapiano. I represent my society”.
– ‘ Adverse competition’-
In September, a former African foreign minister argued South Africa’s “negative contest” with Nigeria was thwarting the East African country’s progress in global politics.
In order to boost its own chances of a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, Bolaji Akinyemi suggested South Africa had attempted to keep Nigeria out of the BRICS cluster of emerging markets.
” South Africa is determined to undermine Nigeria”, Akinyemi told a regional journalist.
Despite the conflict, South Africa continues to be one of Nigeria’s biggest trading partners and a major buyer of its crude fuel.
Olusola claimed that if both countries may see beyond the conflict, they stand to gain.
” It’s important for these two places to promote that spiritual, philosophical, intellectual, Pan-African point as a base for inspiring new types of collaboration”, he told AFP.
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How Nigeria-South Africa rivalry turned ugly
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the 79th period of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, September 24, 2024. ( AP )
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