Tuggar says xenophobia betrays Mandela’s legacy

Former Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar has urged African countries to confront the growing hostility towards Nigerians and other black Africans in South Africa, warning that the attacks undermine the continent’s struggle for unity and economic integration.

Tuggar said the treatment of fellow Africans in South Africa contradicted the ideals of liberation and solidarity championed by the country’s late President, Nelson Mandela.

He spoke on Thursday at the 2026 end-of-year event of The Bridge Club, held at the Continental Hotel in Lagos, where he served as chairman of the occasion. Kenyan scholar and Pan-African advocate, Prof P.L.O. Lumumba, delivered the keynote address.

The former minister recalled Nigeria’s role in the struggle against apartheid and minority rule in Southern Africa, saying the country provided diplomatic support, scholarships and assistance to victims of racial oppression.

He cited Nigeria’s support for South African students who survived the 1976 Soweto massacre, as well as liberation movements in Namibia, Angola and other territories affected by colonialism.

Tuggar said his generation, which grew up embracing the ideals of African liberation, found it difficult to understand why Nigerians and other black Africans were now being targeted in South Africa.

“These are but a very few of the reasons why Nigerians cannot fathom why they and other black Africans are being targeted in South Africa,” he said.
Describing the attacks as Afrophobia rather than merely xenophobia, he argued that non-black migrants appeared to be exempted from the hostility.
“Call it Afrophobia, which may be a better description than xenophobia ... it is wrong and must be condemned,” Tuggar added.

He warned that the hostility could weaken Pan-Africanism and frustrate efforts to build a continent capable of competing economically and exercising greater influence in global affairs.

The former minister also linked the persistence of discrimination to the psychological and social effects of colonialism and apartheid, calling for stronger institutions, historical awareness and intellectual engagement to challenge prejudice.

He said African unity must go beyond political declarations and be reflected in economic policies, particularly industrialisation, regional trade and the free movement of people.

Tuggar identified the African Continental Free Trade Area as a key framework for advancing economic integration, arguing that the continent could not achieve economic independence while depending on other regions for manufactured goods and exporting mainly raw materials.

“The path to Pan-Africanism is through the continental free trade area,” he said.

He also called for scrutiny of external interests and funding that might be encouraging anti-migrant campaigns, warning that Nigeria and South Africa could not afford to allow mutual suspicion to damage their relationship.

Tuggar recalled South Africa’s support for Nigeria’s international engagements, including its efforts to secure membership of the Group of 20.

Earlier, the President of The Bridge Club, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), said the event’s theme, Xenophobia Contradicts Pan-Africanism, challenged Africans to examine the gap between their calls for continental unity and their treatment of fellow Africans.

Mustapha questioned how Africa could achieve unity when people were made to feel unsafe or unwelcome in other African countries because of their nationality, ethnicity or origin.
He said the continent’s prosperity, security and dignity were interconnected, urging stakeholders to promote tolerance, mutual respect and understanding.