A non-governmental organisation, ActionAid Nigeria (AAN), has urged the African Union to find a way of resolving the xenophobic crisis in South Africa.
The organisation condemned the violent attacks on foreign nationals, calling on African governments, and the African Union to “speak with one voice and take the necessary steps in finding a lasting solution to the xenophobic attacks causing rage, loss of lives, and loss of livelihoods on the African Continent.”
In a statement issued on Saturday, ActionAid’s Communications Coordinator, Lola Ayanda, quoted Ene Obi, the organisation’s Country Director, as saying that “the drivers of the dastardly act are unemployment, poverty, widening gap of inequality, little investment in human capital development; particularly lack of investment in the youth across the continent, and lack of service delivery which are governance shortfalls.”
“As an anti-poverty organisation, we are concerned about the situation and how it undermines Africa’s socio economic and political integration which is needed to fight poverty on the continent.
Speaking on the reactions of Nigerians to a fake video that led to reprisal attacks in Nigeria, Ene said, “journalists and media organisations in the country have a strategic role to play in countering fake news quickly before things degenerate”.
She advised journalists to fact check information at their disposal before going to press.