After spending 11 years in South Africa, Lucky Otoikhila left behind his investments and family to save his life. He tells CHUKWUDI AKASIKE about surviving repeated xenophobic attacks, his determination to rebuild his life, and why no amount of persuasion will make him leave the country again.

Tell us about yourself and life in South Africa?

I am a 49-year-old indigene of Edo State. I lived in South Africa for 11 years before returning to Nigeria. I have families in both countries. I was born and raised as a Muslim, and under my faith, I am permitted to marry up to four wives. My South African wife and our two children are still back there. I have three children in Nigeria.

My father is late, and my mum is alive. My siblings are all with me now. We are six, and I am the eldest.

How would you describe life in South Africa?

It was rough and bloody because of the experience I had there. I faced xenophobic attacks, not once, not twice. That was before the present incident in that country. I was attacked by gun-wielding South Africans. They said their anger stemmed from the fact that we Nigerians were always with their women.

Even my passport was thrown into the bush by some armed South Africans, although I managed to search for and recover it. That was a few years ago. I think the incident happened in 2017. One of the South Africans pointed a revolver at me.

How did you survive such a scary situation?

I cried like a baby when they pointed the gun at me. I knelt down and begged like a baby because I was at the point of being killed.

Some South Africans said only foreigners without legal documents should leave their country. Do you have legal documents?

Now, it is not only people without legal documents. They are saying they don’t want all foreigners. Whether you are legal or not, they don’t want you. To be honest with you, my documents have expired. My passport has expired, and my asylum permit has expired because I couldn’t go out to renew them for fear of being attacked.

What was your occupation in South Africa?

I was hustling, but I was not into drugs. I never sold drugs during the 11 years I stayed in South Africa. I am from Edo State; I will never do drugs. I was buying and selling phones, laptops, and their accessories.

Were you making a profit good enough to take care of your family?

The profit was not enough, but my wife was taking good care of me. My wife was in charge of the rent and all that because she works.

Do you intend to visit South Africa again because of your wife and children who are there?

I will never travel to South Africa again.

Why?

The situation there is bad. Even if they say I should come for free, I will not go because I’m home now and I am very free. By the grace of God, I’m a farmer. I have a sixteen-and-a-half-acre oil palm farm in my village, which I want to invest in.

However, the means of investment are not there. That was what I told the government. So, I’m pleading with the Nigerian government to see what they can do for me.

If the government wants to come and assess my farm in my village, Afuze, in Owan East Local Government Area, I am open to it. Those of us who recently returned from South Africa are begging the government to come to our aid.

We don’t want to come back to this country and embark on anything that is not legitimate. Most of us are educated, and as I said, my sixteen-and-a-half-acre oil palm farm is there. It is not a joke.

Nigeria is blessed with enough natural resources. Most of us who came back did not return to relax; we came home to do one or two legitimate businesses. That is not to say that there are not a few of us who plan to go into dubious means to earn income, but I am among those who want to do legitimate businesses.

Why did you leave the country for South Africa?

I left the country for greener pastures and to earn something to take care of my farm. But when I got there, the dream I had was not what I saw in South Africa. I lived from hand to mouth until I met my woman in South Africa. I had been begging God to see me through until the President said, ‘Okay, I want you all to come home.’ I should be among the first set of people who volunteered to come back home.

What I went through in that country was hell. I was robbed several times because I am a Nigerian. But now, I’m free because no policeman will stop me on the road to ask me for any ID or work permit. I am free. As I speak with you, I’m with my younger ones, and we are enjoying our lives because, unlike South Africa, Nigeria is a free country.

I thank God for bringing me home, and I thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for giving us the opportunity to come back home. There are a lot of Nigerians in South Africa who do not want to come back. I have always said that Nigeria is a blessed country and that they should come home.

No, I am not going back to the business. I can never do that in Nigeria. I’m home now, and I have seen that there are opportunities in Nigeria. What we need from the government is to empower the citizens. A lot of Nigerians are still planning to travel out of the country, but they don’t know what awaits them there.

Some of them are saying they want to travel to Europe, but I am at home; I will not travel out of the country anymore. I have an investment here, and I’m begging the federal and state governments to come to my aid.

Beyond the negative things you experienced in South Africa, what do you enjoy most in that country?

Like Nigeria, South Africa is a good country. I never suffered a lack of electricity supply in South Africa; I never suffered a lack of government water supply. There are good roads; everything in that country is good, apart from the xenophobic attacks.

I don’t think any Nigerian is working in a big organisation in that country. So, this issue about foreigners taking South Africans’ jobs is nothing. It is just that South Africans are hungry. I saw a video in which my friend’s shop was looted. It happened last Monday night. His phones, laptops, and accessories were looted by South Africans. Another incident involved a scrap yard that was set ablaze. How will the owners survive?

Is it true that South African women love Nigerian men?

It depends; not all of them. It is just as our Nigerian women love men from other countries. That is how it is in South Africa. South African women are good. Most of them are good; it depends on your relationship with them.

Did you go job-hunting when you got to South Africa 11 years ago?

South Africans don’t give foreigners jobs. So, when I was leaving Nigeria, I had a dream of furthering my education after one or two years if God should bless me financially. But when I got there, things didn’t go as planned.

What went through your mind when you were about to leave for Nigeria because of the xenophobic attacks?

I was happy the day I decided to return to Nigeria. I was not sad because, about two years ago, I already had it in mind to leave South Africa. I prayed to God to bless me, and I promised to process my ETC (Emergency Travel Certificate) and get my ticket.

The means to come back home were not there; I did not have the finances until President Bola Tinubu intervened and asked us to prepare to come home if we were willing. So, I went through the screening process and all that. When I got there, the first batch had left. If you check the list, I was No. 11 in the second batch that was airlifted to Nigeria from South Africa.

Were you stranded in South Africa at one point?

I was never stranded because we were told that there were logistical and other unforeseen circumstances that affected our original date of travel back home. I was supposed to travel on the 15th of June. But when I heard that there was a stop in the exercise due to logistical and other unforeseen circumstances, I prayed to God to allow His will to be done.

So, I had been screened, and I knew I would come home. Later, I was called and told that the issue had been resolved. I was never stranded, but I was worried to the extent that I began to ask God what was going on. I told myself that I wanted to go home. Later, I was called one day and told that my name was among the list of Nigerians who would be travelling back to Nigeria. It was the second batch.

So, I am happy to be home. You can see that I am free to speak with you. I am very free, and I am with my family and friends, enjoying life.

Nigeria is a free country; I love Nigeria because we don’t discriminate against anybody.

If you are from Mozambique, Rwanda, or America, be informed that there is no discrimination in my country, Nigeria.

A friend of mine in South Africa told me that he would visit me as soon as I settled down in Nigeria. I told him there was no problem and that I would welcome him anytime, and he could stay for two weeks or a month. But he said he was scared, and I told him there was nothing to be scared about, so long as he came with his documents as a South African.

I told him that in Nigeria, we don’t kill foreigners; we don’t rob foreigners, and we don’t intimidate them. So, he is planning to visit soon.

One of the returnees said in a video that he decided to leave South Africa when his South African friend from KwaZulu-Natal, from whom he used to buy fuel, threatened to kill him if he refused to leave the country. Is the situation in South Africa that bad?

It is very bad. I was never in KwaZulu-Natal. I heard that the xenophobic attacks started there. I was in Johannesburg at the time.

Some South Africans said Nigerians in their country were into drugs and other serious crimes. How would you react to these claims?

Not all Nigerians in South Africa are into drugs or any other crimes. My friend in South Africa called me today (Tuesday) and asked me why I left. He told me that I was safe with them. Not all South Africans are bad. Those who are chasing foreigners away are doing so because of politics.

I pray to God to redeem that country. South Africa is a nice country, but just like my country, there are bad eggs. There are bad eggs in America; there are bad eggs in Spain and France. No country is perfect. (Saturday PUNCH)

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