In retaliation some irate Nigerians have attacked MTN offices and in panic the South African Ambassador in Nigeria has closed his nation’s embassy until ‘the situation improves ‘. Similarly, the Nigerian government has sent a special envoy to the S African government in protest at the killing of Nigerians while also stopping the Nigerian Vice President from attending the World Economic Forum conference going on in S Africa.
In the xenophobic patriotism displayed by both Nigerians and S Africans, social media played a major escalation and provocative role that made diplomacy almost impossible and almost ineffective.
In the case of the $9.6bn it is not an exaggeration to say that Nigerians are really worried. I was dragged into an educative discussion on the issue during the week by some well respected elderly Nigerians. My view is that the issue is a scam from the beginning to the end. Just look at the judgement award which was initially $6 .59bn initially with the proviso that Nigeria would pay $1.2bn daily as interest that the company would have realized had the project been implemented.