Obinna Chima
Nigeria’s anti-corruption war is once again at a defining crossroads as about nine months after he resigned as Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology over allegations of certificate forgery, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) this week arrested Geoffrey Uche Nnaji, following the execution of a bench warrant issued by a Federal High Court.
The ICPC’s Head of Media and Public Communications, Okor Odey, disclosed that Nnaji was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. He was apprehended with the assistance of the Department of State Services (DSS) and subsequently handed over to the anti-graft agency for further investigation.
According to the commission, the action became necessary after the former minister allegedly failed to honour invitations for investigative interviews served at his known addresses in Abuja and Enugu, as well as through his electronic mail.
Nnaji resigned from office in October 2025 after reports alleged that he forged his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate and his first degree certificate. Although he insisted that he graduated from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975, reports claimed the institution could not verify his academic records. The report also alleged that Nnaji’s forged NYSC certificate indicated that he served in Plateau State between 16 April 1985 and 15 May 1986.
Whether these allegations are ultimately proven or disproven is a matter for the courts. However, what is no longer in doubt is that the case has become a major litmus test of President BolaTinubu administration’s commitment to the rule of law and its repeated promise that no one is above the law.
Forgery is not a mere administrative irregularity. It is a criminal offence that undermines the rule of law, destroys meritocracy, devalues genuine academic achievements, and erodes confidence in public institutions.
In fact, Section 463 of the Criminal Code stipulates a three-year imprisonment sentence for forgery. Also, Sections 362 to 364 of the Penal Code address forgery offenses, with penalties reaching up to 14 years of imprisonment.
Nnaji, who while in office, was largely seen as a ‘sleeping minister,’ if found guilty, could be said to have drawn salaries, allowances and other perks of office on the false claims that he holds NYSC and UNN certificates. Therefore, if proven guilty, the federal government should ensure it recovers the salaries and allowances he received while in office to serve as a deterrent to others who may be tempted to obtain or retain public office through fraud and deception.
The federal government must also resist any temptation to allow political considerations, personal relationships or elite influence to derail the process. The ICPC must be given the institutional independence and backing required to conclude its investigation without fear or favour and if sufficient evidence exists, the matter should proceed to prosecution with dispatch and if the allegations cannot be substantiated, the outcome should equally be made public.
Ultimately, this case is about the credibility of Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions, the sanctity of public office and the rule of law and the federal government must see to its conclusion.
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African Unity, Xenophobia and Crisis of Leadership in South Africa
Obinna Chima
“They said they would start shooting at the remaining people who do not want to go home. Once they know you are a Nigerian, the police and other security agencies will come to extort you. Day in and day out, they are doing that.”
The above harrowing experience was recently shared by Emmanuel Nwachukwu, a Nigerian returnee from South Africa, who fled the country following intensified hostility in some parts of that country amid growing anti-immigrant campaigns that blamed undocumented migrants for unemployment, crime, housing shortages and mounting pressure on public services.
The Nigerian government has so far evacuated about 861 of its nationals from South Africa, with the promise of bringing back another 700 in the coming days.
Equally narrating his ordeal in South Africa, Kaunga Nyirenda, a Malawian said: “They asked me: ‘When are you going to leave the country? We want to fix our country. If you don’t leave now, you’re going to leave in a coffin because we don’t need anyone after 30th of June.”
Nyirenda’s statement goes to show that it is not only Nigerians that are being targeted. Some other African countries whose citizens have faced same level of hostilities in South Africa are Ghana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Zambia, Somalia, Lesotho, DR Congo, Burundi and Tanzania.
The deaths of three Nigerians, five Mozambicans, and five Ethiopians have also been linked to the current wave of attacks, with the latest being a Nigerian businessman popularly known as ‘Big Joe’ who was reportedly shot and killed by unidentified gunmen last Sunday, outside his shop in Witbank, Mpumalanga Province.
Regrettably, South Africa which is home to about 2.4 million foreigners (documented and undocumented) according to 2022 census data, has a long history of anti-immigrant violence.
Before 1994, when it gained independence from the apartheid regime, immigrants from other parts of Africa and beyond faced discrimination and violence in South Africa. After the attainment of majority rule in 1994, immigrants felt that the incidence of xenophobia would reduce but, on the contrary, it increased. Xenophobic riots in 2008 killed 62 people. Another wave of attacks in 2015 left at least five people dead.
Also, between 2000 and March 2008, not less than 67 people were reported to have been killed in xenophobic attacks and more than 150,000 displaced. In 2015, another nationwide spike in xenophobic attacks against immigrants, in general, prompted several foreign governments to evacuate their citizens.
A report had revealed that majority of South Africans view immigrants as parasitic and a burden on society because they had come to take jobs and social benefits and that they are responsible FOR criminal activities in their country.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has consistently condemned these violent attacks whenever they erupt. His government has repeatedly affirmed that foreign nationals have constitutional rights and deserve protection. But while statements like these by the President and his predecessors in South Africa are important, they have not been able to end the cycle of attacks on fellow Africans. The recurring nature of the attacks raises questions about whether official interventions have matched the scale and persistence of the problem.
This tragedy is particularly painful because South Africa occupies a unique place in Africa’s political imagination.
One wonders how the likes of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Samora Machel, Nelson Mandela, among several other pan-Africanists, who during their time on earth, championed Africa’s unity through the All Africa’s Peoples Conference, first in 1958 in Accra, and other similarly initiatives aimed at bringing the continent together would be feeling in their graves with the perennial xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
When apartheid isolated South Africa, African countries stood with its people. Nigeria became one of the loudest voices against apartheid, contributing resources to the liberation struggle and championing sanctions against the white minority regime. Zambia hosted liberation movements despite the enormous security risks. Many offered sanctuary to South African freedom fighters, funded the anti-apartheid movement and mobilised international support for the struggle.
Unfortunately, this is how history repays those who once stood with South Africa during its darkest hour.
A Human Sciences Research Council poll showed South Africans are now more hostile towards immigrants than ever, with only one in six adults saying they would welcome all foreigners and 42 percent saying they would welcome none, up from a third in 2021.
Also, an Afrobarometer survey showed that seven out of 10 South Africans see immigrants’ economic impact as negative, with 85 percent saying authorities should cut the number of refugees coming in, or stop them altogether.
South Africa’s economy remains largely controlled by a wealthy White Afrikaner minority, leaving many Black South Africans with limited economic opportunities. Unable to challenge the high-level political and corporate structures responsible for their poverty, many of their citizens instead direct their frustrations at defenseless black immigrants.
The attraction to South Africa for migrants is because employers see them as willing to work for lower wages and, as non-citizens, they are typically not protected by many labour laws. Employers also perceive them as having higher work ethics than some citizens of South Africa.
Indeed, no government can prevent every act of criminal violence. Every country grapples with crime and social tensions. But when attacks against foreign nationals recur over many years, resulting in deaths, injuries and destruction of livelihoods, leadership must be judged not simply by words of condemnation but by the effectiveness of its response. That is where political leadership matters.
The African Union also cannot remain a passive observer whenever xenophobic violence erupts. Expressions of concern are no substitute for sustained diplomatic engagement.
The greatest tribute South Africa can pay to Mandela, Lumumba, Nkrumah and to every generation that believed in African solidarity is the creation of a society where no African fears persecution because of the passport he carries, the language she speaks or the country from which they came.
Until that happens, the promise of African unity will remain incomplete, and South Africa’s remarkable liberation story will continue to be overshadowed by an avoidable crisis of leadership.