Amidst disappointment and resentment against the anti –black immigrants in South Africa, a collective voice is sticking to the case for solidarity between the two countries, the two black powerhouses in the world. Nigeria and South Africa should not be fighting, they are saying.
Rising to practicalise its conviction Thursday is the Film Club at the University of Ibadan which sang the National Anthem of both South African and Nigeria in an uninterrupted succession at the University of Ibadan’s symbolic Institute of African Studies, (IAS).
It points to quality student activism of yester-years although the UI Film Club is not a strictly students forum as there are also lawyers, journalists, medical doctors and other professionals in and around Ibadan.
Thursday’s reflective session in their weekly gathering looked at various angles to the crisis, including subtle anger over how the bourgeoisie of 25 year old South Africa could become teachers their counterpart in 59 year old Nigeria how to run a continent wide retail chain such as Shoprite or manage a satellite company.
The session closed with a screening of the 90-minute ‘Zulu Love Letter’ that speaks to the present crisis in its own way. It remains to be seen how others would receive this move, with particular reference to its replicability on other campuses but it is a powerful symbolic message that has pitched the club ahead of other actors in terms of the way to go.
