Untold story of Nigeria/South Africa face-off over yellow fever

IF the refusal of entry into South Africa of 125 Nigerians, including a senator, aboard an Arik Air flight on account of alleged fake yellow fever vaccination card was meant to be a routine immigration action, unfolding events in the last one week have clearly proven otherwise.
The 125 Nigerians were reportedly refused entry into the country as soon as they landed at the Oliver R. Thambo International in Johannesburg on account of yet to be proven possession of fake yellow vaccination card.

President Goodluck Jonathan and President Jacob Zuma

The action sparked a frenzied reaction at home with many Nigerians both within and outside government, including even government institutions condemning what has been variously described as a slap on the face.
The refusal of entry to the 125 Nigerians drew virulent attack on the South African government with many citing Nigeria’s sacrifice to emancipate the largely oppressed black populace from the clutches of apartheid.


For many, the action was the height of ingratitude and the peak of alleged xenophobic tendencies of the South African government and its citizens towards Nigeria and our citizens domiciled in their country. Apparently buoyed by the reaction of Nigerians to the event that played out in South Africa, the Nigerian government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the South African High Commissioner in Nigeria, Ambassador Kingsley Mamabolo to explain the incident that has obviously raised the temperature of relations between the two countries higher.
Press statement
After a meeting that lasted  over three hours, with the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi,  the Ministry issued a signed press statement detailing at least part of the proceeding of the meeting. According to the information made available to journalists,the statement reads in part:  “The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador (Dr) Martin I. Uhomoibhi, summoned the South African High Commissioner to receive a protest against the spate of deportation of Nigerian travellers to that country.
The Permanent Secretary conveyed to the High Commissioner the concern of the Federal government on the matter, especially in the light of what appears to be a targeted maltreatment of Nigerians on the pretext that some of them did not have valid yellow fever vaccination cards.
“The Permanent Secretary demanded a review of this policy, especially since there were no legitimate concerns about an break of Yellow fever in Nigeria , or that the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an alert to that effect. Of  particular concern to the Government was the unwarranted detention of a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the South African Port Health and Immigration Authorities for 48 hours at the Oliver R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg ”
The permanent Secretary informed the High Commissioner that South Africans travelling to Nigeria, or those residing in Nigeria were not required to produce any evidence of vaccination against Yellow fever, or for that matter against Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, both of which are prevalent in South Africa.
The permanent Secretary    wondered whether the latest deportation and similar acts of targeted maltreatment of Nigerians in South Africa reflected the official position of the Government of South Africa.
The South African High Commissioner assured the Permanent Secretary that the policy was not aimed at Nigerians alone and that Nigerians were not being targeted for any kind of treatment. He maintained that it was a general requirement for all passengers coming into the country from what he called the “Yellow Fever Belt’, which included many West African countries.”
He especially expressed regret about the treatment of the Senator and assured that the matter will be taken up with his government immediately. Both the permanent Secretary and High Commissioner agreed that the matter should not be allowed to get out of hand in the interest of the warm and cordial relationship that exist between the two countries.
For many diplomatic watchers, the tone of the strongly worded and firm statement easily attests to the anger of the Nigerian government, leaving no one in doubt about the intensity of the encounter between the nation’s Foreign Ministry officials and Ambassador Mamabolo.
Indeed the refusal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Olugbenga Ashiru to meet with Mamabolo only confirmed how upset the Nigerian government was about the treatment meted out to the 125 Nigerian travellers. Events, however, moved at a dizzying and dramatic pace same Tuesday with what many described as a reciprocal action, when 28 South Africans aboard a South Africa Airways flight from Johannesburg were refused entry at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport on account of incomplete immigration documentation.
This action no doubt delighted Nigerians who applauded the an eye for eye  diplomacy, describing it as a re-awakening of the nation’s diplomatic initiative. For many, the reciprocal action of sending back the 28 South Africans should be a clear signal to the international community that Nigeria would no longer turn the other cheek in the name of African brother hood. Though no functionary of the Nigerian government came out to admit the refusal of entry to the 28 hapless South Africans as a reciprocal action, the message was not lost.
This is coming on the heels of explanation by the Nigerian Immigration Service on why it deported 28 South African nationals on Tuesday morning. However the Nigeria Immigration Service in its explanation to Vanguard Features, VF said it deported the 28 South African nationals because they lack the requisite travel documents.
In a telephone chat the Service Public Relations Officer and Superintendent of Immigration, Mr. Joachim Olumba, said that the 28 South Africans were deported because they came into the country without the required documents, saying,  “ They entered into the country without the required documents.
Commenting on whether the deportation was a reciprocal action by the Nigerian government, he said: “In international law, you may not rule that out. It is always expected that when you take an action in one’s country, it is bound for another country to also retaliate. On the same Tuesday, the national temperature had indeed raised a few notches with the invitation for Ambassador Ashiru to appear before the Nigerian parliament to brief it on what transpired.
The temper of the language in the course of the proceeding was anything but temperate, with many describing the act as an embarrassment. For a country that has 56 blue chip companies, including the telecommunication giant, MTN with 42 million subscriber base are all doing well, thanks to the good will of Nigerian government and her citizens, many parliamentarians who spoke were clearly for more drastic reciprocity.
By Wednesday, three officials from the Nigerian Foreign Affairs Ministry were dispatched to the South African High Commission to continue to seek diplomatic path out of the imbroglio. Sources in the Ministry informed that, the meeting between Nigerian government officials and their South African counter parts were shifted to the High Commission in order to divert attention and possibly diffuse interest in the matter.
Averting future occurrence
According to a ministry source who spoke on condition of anonymity, “ the ministry met with officials of the High Commission at the Embassy, arising from agreement reached earlier to continue dialoguing on how best to avert future occurrence. The meeting was shifted to the High Commission because of the need to diffuse tension and shift focus from the matter, which is really assuming a  very unpleasant dimension.  Of course, one of the issues on the table is a holistic look at the visa requirements for both countries and agree on how to make travel to  between both countries less cumbersome” the source added.
An official of the High Commission, who was contacted by VF for confirmation of the meeting neither confirmed nor deny the meeting, but simply said she was not aware of any meeting. While Nigerian Foreign Affairs officials were meeting at the High Commission, Ministera of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, at the Ministry’s headquarters also joined issues with Mamabolo, effectively puncturing the reasons advanced for the refusal of entry to the 125 Nigerians.
On the explanation offered by Mamabolo that, Nigeria by virtue of being in the Yellow fever belt in the West African sub-region reported that the last case of Yellow fever was confirmed in 1995. He also gave other indices to shoot down the only solid argument presented by the South African authorities for the seemingly inexplicable action it took.
He said: “Nigeria is not endemic for Yellow Fever and there is no epidemic right now. However, Nigeria is one of the 44 countries at risk. The last confirmed cases of yellow fever in Nigeria were in 1995 when 25 cases with one death were recorded.
Countries at risk
“Countries at risk for Yellow Fever may be required to have their citizens travelling out to take the Yellow Fever vaccination and therefore have a Yellow Card in accordance with the International Health Regulation 2005 (IHR 2005). The list of other diseases for which vaccination is required will depend on individual countries in line with the IHR 2005”
“So far, no country, no individual, no group has made any report to the Ministry on the possession of fake Yellow Card by an individual. If there are such cases, the Ministry would like to have reports for necessary investigation, therefore it is curious that a country that had issued entry visas to intending travelers which issuance was predicated on the presentation of a valid Yellow Card, will then turn around to deport those travellers”
“If these travellers had fake Yellow Cards, how did they come about valid visas? To the best of our knowledge, there was no reason to deport and embarrass these Nigerians. The action of South African immigration towards the Nigerian travellers is against the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 Article 32”Professor Chukwu said.

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