Nigeria Has No Intention To Cut Diplomatic Relation With South Africa

Nigeria does not intend to cut off its diplomatic ties with South Africa despite xenophobic attacks on its citizens, Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said on Friday.

“We are not thinking to the stage of diplomatic ties called off,” Onyeama told Nigeria Senate Committee on Diaspora.
“There are various options. We are not by any means at a stage where we are breaking diplomatic relations with South Africa.”
He said available statistics from the Nigeria High Commission in Pretoria indicated that over 800, 000 Nigerians are legally living in the South African country.
But a 2016 figure by South Africa’s statistics office showed that there are only 30, 314 registered Nigerians living in the country.
The minister noted that any attempt by the Nigerian government to cut the diplomatic relations with South Africa will greatly affect Nigerians and would result in a huge investment loss.