South Africa’s “Other” Problem

(Ebenezer Obadare – Council on Foreign Relations) It is not every day that the investiture of a traditional ruler becomes a cause célèbre, but that is precisely what happened last week in the South African port city of KuGompo (formerly East London) after the local Nigerian Igbo community installed one Solomon Ogbonna Eziko as “Eze Ndi Igbo East London,” translation: “King of the Igbo People in East London.” In reaction to what is in fact a common practice among Igbos outside their southeast Nigerian heartland (there is practically no Igbo community anywhere in the world without its own “King”), outraged locals took out their anger on Nigerian businesses and individuals of Nigerian descent. By the time the dust had settled on what was initially billed as a peaceful protest, including a demonstration outside the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria by members of the Progressive Forces of South Africa and other civic groups, at least twenty-six Nigerians had been reportedly injured and hospitalized, with property worth millions of rands similarly destroyed. Why would a harmless practice whose value is symbolic at best trigger such a violent reaction? (After all, king or no king, Igbos in South Africa—which is the same for Igbos anywhere in the world—remain subject to the laws of the land.) – South Africa’s “Other” Problem | Council on Foreign Relations