Former Edo State Governor and Senator Adams Oshiomhole clashed with Arise TV anchor Rufai Oseni on Tuesday morning, May 12, over the senator's renewed push for the Nigerian government to nationalise South African businesses in Nigeria as a retaliatory measure against fresh xenophobic attacks.
Following his earlier call for action against South African entities, Oshiomhole argued that the federal government must strip South African interests of their ownership in companies such as MTN and DStv.
“We should re-privatise [them] so Nigerians can take them over,” Oshiomhole argued, proposing that the economic impact of losing these assets will force the South African government to end the violence.
Rufai challenged the feasibility of the proposal, raising concerns about Nigerian shareholders in those quoted companies and questioning if the strategy would be tenable for long-term investments.
Oshiomhole maintained his stance, asserting that “no foreign investor can be equated to a Nigerian life.” He added that the attacks constitute a trade crisis that demands a severe economic response to ensure the safety of Nigerians abroad.
“The President of South Africa is a major shareholder in MTN and as at the time I spoke, he has found it very convenient to keep quiet. I am also aware that during his election campaigns, he made the issues that foreigners are doing the jobs of South Africans. Now the South Africans are hungry, there is no employment and they have transferred aggression against black people.
“So I said, when you hit Ramaphosa, you touch his economic interest in Nigeria, he will speak out. Call your colleagues in South Africa, they will tell you after they watched what I said on the Nigerian Senate, thereafter Ramaphosa came out to condemn the attacks on black people. He didn't do so until I threatened his interest.”
Rufai however argued that such actions proposed by Oshiomhole would affect foreign direct investments. “But it is the same government that is saying it wants Foreign Direct Investments. How does that sound? Where you can arbitrarily nationalise people's shares who come to invest in your country and you want Foreign Direct Investments?”
Responding to Rufai, Oshiomhole said the media personality places more weight on wealth than the lives of human beings. “If anything leads to the death of Nigerians, what is the value of wealth to the dead? If it is your own value system to say investment is more important than the life of Nigerians that are being wasted and killed in South Africa and the government is not on record to have convicted anyone and I know that those in South Africa are making money from Nigerian economy and carting away that money to South Africa… In my judgment, life is more important. We do not want investors who will invest at the expense of human blood. If you need Nigerian blood to service and you do not care about Nigerian human blood because you want to attract investors, I will say, even in my poverty, I value my life.”
