Adams Oshiomhole, the senator for Edo North, has maintained his demand that MTN and other South African-owned businesses operating in Nigeria be nationalized, arguing that the government must put its residents’ lives ahead of foreign investment.
In response to fresh xenophobic violence against Nigerians in South Africa, he made the decision on Tuesday in an interview with Arise News.
ENigeria Newspaper recalls that Oshiomhole stressed reciprocity in international relations when he stated lastweek on the Senate floor that Nigeria must act strongly to safeguard its citizens.
“I am aware that MTN is quoted, and therefore Nigerian shareholders can hold on, but we take away the South African rights.
“And because of the issue. You nationalise, and then you re-privatise it so that Nigerians can take it over, and the profit they are taking out of Nigeria will be retained here. There will be no South African share in it. Thereafter, President Ramaphosa came out clearly to condemn the attack on Black people. He didn’t do that until I attacked his interests,” he said.
“If anything leads to the death of Nigeria, what is the value of wealth to the dead? We don’t want investors who invest at the expense of human blood. Even in my poverty, I value my life.
“Life is more important; we don’t want investors who invest at the expense of human blood. If you need Nigerian blood to service and you don’t care about Nigerian human blood because you want to attract investors, even in my poverty, I value my life.”
The former governor added that justice had not been done in earlier instances and connected his position to what he called “chronic attacks against Nigerians in South Africa.”
“When a country, for the first time, killed Nigerians, they got away with it. The second time, they killed Nigerians; they got away with it. Third time, they killed Nigerians; they got away with it. Under Buhari, there was an agreement. They broke it. They are killing Nigerians. Nobody is in prison for murder, or extrajudicial murder.
“You are talking about law. Is there no law protecting the life of foreigners who live in your country? Even if they were there illegally, there are legal ways to repatriate them, to deport them,” he said.
In another development, Senator Godswill Akpabio’s Senate presidency was questioned by Oshiomhole, who suggested that he might not be qualified to lead the higher legislative body due to the present Senate Standing Order.
The federal legislator for the Edo North Senatorial District made these comments while supporting Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire, SAN’s reservations regarding the Senate Standing Order modification, confirming his earlier stances that Akpabio does not meet the minimal eligibility standards, he is ineligible to serve as Senate President under the current regulations.
“The fight is not over. The current Senate President served a 4-year term, lost his re-election bid, served as a minister, and returned this term to become Senate President again. If you add his first term to his current term, he still has not served 8 years. If 8 years is the minimum requirement, Senator Akpabio does not qualify to preside because he has not met it. If he assumed the role in error, that error must be corrected.
“These kinds of laws are what breed dictatorship in Africa”, he added.
