Nigeria and South Africa, a team that could make Africa tops

One of the most hackneyed phrases to come out of any government department, anywhere, is the one favoured by the people who run the international relations ministries around the world and, as their heads of state meet to press the flesh (or elbow as it is these days), they trot these out.

As President Cyril Ramaphosa rolled in and out of Nigeria this week, predictably there was talk of “strengthening economic and political relations between the two countries”.

In reality, though, the relationship between Pretoria and Abuja has always been complex. In the years of the struggle against apartheid, Nigeria was a major supporter of the ANC and, after the release of Nelson Mandela and the moves to democracy here, Nigeria was happy to share the joy with us.

That was quite unlike the reaction from Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe was never a friend of the ANC and clearly regretted losing his position as the poster boy for African liberation.

Nigeria quickly began to assume the position of bogeyman in the eyes of many South Africans, as Nigerians were some of the first Africans to flock here after 1994.

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Some were genuine immigrants with skills to offer the country, others were con artists. Very few would have been able to claim genuine refugee status because they were fleeing from political or religious oppression.

South Africa’s steady economic decline has been matched by Nigeria’s rise into second position in Africa, after Egypt, in terms of gross domestic product.

Many Nigerians regard South Africans as the “Americans of Africa” – arrogant and out of touch.

Yet the two countries need each other as bulwarks against terrorism on the continent and as partners to build the dream north-south African partnership which could be the engine of continental transformation.

Nigeria and South Africa, working together, can make the world pay attention to Africa.