Obasanjo visits Ramaphosa

After his recent letter to Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South African politician and Zulu tribal leader about the demerits of xenophobia, former Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo has visited South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa.

Obasanjo also used the visit to present to Ramaphosa a new book that Obasanjo co-authored with Greg Mills of the Brenthurst Foundation in South Africa; Jeffrey Herbst, a celebrated Africanist; and Tendai Biti, the former finance minister of Zimbabwe.

The book is titled “Democracy Works: Rewiring Politics to Africa’s Advantage”.

Obasanjo and Ramaphosa with a copy of the book

President Ramaphosa thanked the former President for working hard and still having the energy to write and contribute to current debates about the development of Africa.

The two leaders also used the opportunity to reflect on recent events in South Africa which saw more than four hundred Nigerians voluntarily evacuated from the country.

“Former president Obasanjo expressed his sincere appreciation of President Ramaphosa’s recent appointment of a team of special envoys who have in the past few days visited a number of fellow African states to deliver a message from the president regarding the incidents of violence,” said Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko.

“In the meeting, the leaders engaged on misconceptions created about the situation in South Africa that gave the impression that Nigerian nationals in particular had been victimised. No loss of life was reported among Nigerian nationals in South Africa during this period.