A former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gen Ike Nwachukwu (retd.), on Tuesday warned that xenophobia could reverse Africa’s gains against apartheid and colonialism.
This comes as South Africa’s Acting Consul-General in Lagos, Ms Kgothatso Xulu, disclosed that 364 people had been arrested over attacks on African migrants.
The exchange occurred at the 47th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Society of International Law, held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, where speakers also warned that the disregard for international law by powerful countries threatened global peace, justice and Africa’s collective interests.
The society’s 2026 annual conference, themed “From Obligations to Implementation: Re-assessing the Efficacy of International Law in Contemporary International Relations,” brought together diplomats, legal practitioners, scholars and other participants to examine the gap between international commitments and their implementation.
Nwachukwu, who chaired the opening ceremony, said Africans must not replace the racial oppression they fought to dismantle with hostility towards fellow Africans, recalling Nigeria’s contributions to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.
Addressing Xulu and her delegation, he said, “Today, Africans, a portion of Africans, not all of them, seem to be falling into xenophobia on our continent. Are we going to replace apartheid with xenophobia on our continent? We must live together as one. We must fight together as one.”
The retired general urged African countries to defend their common interests, rights and resources and deploy them to build an economically competitive continent.
“For goodness’ sake, all Africa, work together as one. Defend our interests, defend our rights, defend our resources and use them to build a stronger Africa, an Africa that competes with Europe, competes with America, competes with China,” he said.
Nwachukwu warned that divisions among African countries could undermine the sacrifices made to secure political freedom across the continent.
He recalled a statement attributed to Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah, that the freedom of individual African countries was inseparable from the freedom of the continent.
“One of our grandfathers, Kwame Nkrumah, told us that if any African state remained in chains, we are all in chains. The day we are all free, let’s not put ourselves back in chains,” he said.
Nwachukwu expressed concern over what he described as the weakening of respect for international law and the selective application of international obligations by powerful countries.
He said some nations demanded compliance from weaker states while disregarding the same rules when they conflicted with their own national interests.
According to him, such double standards could weaken confidence in international institutions and encourage countries to abandon treaties or disregard their obligations.
He also raised concerns about powerful countries influencing leadership changes in weaker states and exploiting their resources, warning that such practices could further destabilise international relations.
Despite these challenges, Nwachukwu said international law remained indispensable to cooperation in trade, diplomacy, security, environmental protection, migration, human rights and economic development.
“The world needs international law,” he said, stressing the need to strengthen compliance and improve the implementation of international obligations.
He recalled key milestones in Africa’s political and diplomatic history, including Namibia’s independence, the end of apartheid and the establishment of a non-racial democracy in South Africa, as well as the adoption of the treaty establishing the African Economic Community, popularly known as the Abuja Treaty, in 1991.
He said those developments had raised hopes for greater African integration, democracy and economic development, but cautioned that signing agreements was not enough without practical implementation.
However, responding to concerns about the attacks, Xulu rejected the portrayal of South Africa as a xenophobic country, insisting that the actions of some individuals should not define the entire nation.
“I wouldn’t be doing my country any justice if I don’t actually address and defend that South Africa is not xenophobic and we reject, we completely reject what is happening,” she said.
The diplomat disclosed that 364 people had been arrested in connection with the attacks, arguing that the incidents should not be generalised to characterise South Africa and its people.
“But we cannot be generalised with small pockets that are using the opportunity, which is a global problem that is affecting the continent,” she said.
Xulu acknowledged that irregular migration and service-delivery challenges were realities in South Africa but urged African governments to address the economic conditions driving migration and strengthen cooperation across the continent.
She questioned why Africans should leave their home countries out of economic hardship instead of moving across borders to trade, expand businesses and explore opportunities.
“If we want to really have an Africa that we see viable, it has to be that our people are not leaving our homes because of economic hardship, but rather we are leaving our homes to say that I would like to trade, I would like to extend our market,” she said.
She added, “Trade shouldn’t be about survival, but trade should be about creating a market.”
The consul-general linked the need for stronger economic cooperation to the African Continental Free Trade Area, which seeks to expand trade among African countries and establish a single continental market.
Defending South Africa’s constitutional protection of peaceful protests, Xulu said demonstrations had played an important role in the country’s struggle against apartheid.
“The Constitution says peaceful protests for South Africans are allowed. This is how we were partly able to win and be able to push the apartheid government, because our people protested,” she said.
She called for structured discussions on migration, xenophobia and economic cooperation, urging Nigeria to help facilitate such engagement among African countries.
Xulu also challenged Africans to take a more active role in shaping international rules and decisions affecting the continent.
“Entering into the space of international rules means that Africans can make decisions for themselves,” she said.
In his keynote address, a retired Nigerian ambassador, Ayoola Olukanni, also warned that the disregard for international law by powerful countries threatened global peace and security, urging African nations to use international legal mechanisms to defend their interests.
Drawing on his diplomatic experience, Olukanni said the possession of greater military or economic power should not allow countries to undermine established legal institutions and international agreements.
“Politics is a hard game. International politics is even harder,” he said.
He cited disputes involving international judicial institutions, military interventions and conflicts as examples of the challenges confronting the international legal order.
Olukanni also recalled Nigeria’s experience with the dumping of toxic waste at Koko, Delta State, in 1988, and the subsequent dumping of hazardous waste in Côte d’Ivoire in 2006 involving the Probo Koala, a vessel chartered by commodities trading company Trafigura.
He said Nigeria used its participation in the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal to press for international attention to the Côte d’Ivoire incident.
According to him, the Nigerian delegation insisted that the matter be included on the agenda of a meeting of parties to the convention, arguing that Côte d’Ivoire had suffered an environmental disaster similar to Nigeria’s experience.
Olukanni said the intervention demonstrated how African countries could influence international decisions when they understood the applicable rules, prepared their arguments and insisted that their concerns be addressed.
He urged African governments to strengthen the capacity of diplomats and legal practitioners to negotiate treaties, scrutinise international agreements and ensure that obligations were implemented.
He added that international law remained important in addressing contemporary challenges, including climate change, artificial intelligence, international trade and the exploitation of natural resources.
In her welcome address, the President of the Nigerian Society of International Law, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe (SAN), said the effectiveness of international law must be measured by actual compliance and its impact on people, rather than the number of treaties and conventions adopted by states.
“We have developed an impressive body of international treaties, conventions, principles and institutions, yet reality has shown that the existence of legal obligations does not necessarily translate into compliance, accountability or justice,” she said.
Omorogbe, the society’s sixth president and its first female president, said armed conflicts, threats to state sovereignty, human rights violations, climate change, technological developments and geopolitical tensions continued to test the international legal order.
She said the real test was whether countries, particularly powerful ones, respected their obligations and translated them into tangible improvements in people’s lives.
Omorogbe said discussions over the two-day conference would cover human rights, state sovereignty, artificial intelligence, digital governance, international criminal justice and sustainable development.
She also called for renewed commitment to the society’s growth, urging members to strengthen research, encourage younger scholars and professionals, and deepen engagement with government, the diplomatic community and the wider public.
“Institutions do not grow merely because their leaders wish them to grow. They grow because their members believe in them, invest in them and work collectively towards shared objectives,” she said.
Established in 1968 by the late Judge Taslim Olawale Elias, the Nigerian Society of International Law provides a platform for scholarship, dialogue and engagement on international law and international relations.