Nigeria boycotts WEF as Buhari, Osinbajo meet over xenophobic attacks

Nigeria has boycotted the World Economic Forum(WEF) on Africa
2019 taking Cape Town, South Africa following Xenophobic attacks
against its citizens in the last one week.

The Forum, which kicked off on Wednesday, had no Nigerian
delegation in attendance.

Other African countries also joined Nigeria in boycotting the
event.

Some of the other African countries that have pulled out of WEF
are Rwanda, Malawi and DR Congo.

As at the time of filing this report, President Muhammadu Buhari
and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were meeting with the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama to discuss next step on
Xenophobic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.

They are exploring possible options, including sanctions against
the South African government.

The government is also deliberating over possible actions from
within after some Nigerians carried out reprisal attacks against
South African businesses in Nigeria, including attacks on one of
Africa’s largest food retailer, Shoprite and telecoms giant, MTN,
forcing the organisations to scale down operations.

“President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
have taken hands-on approach in resolving the Xenophobia issue with
South Africa but they want everything done diplomatically,” a
source in the Presidency said.

“The boycott of WEF is another strong statement to the South
African government and people because the Buhari administration
will not stand and fold its arms after attack on any Nigerian
citizen. This is the right step in the right direction.”

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