When Cyril Ramaphosa sent his International Relations Minister, Ronald Lamola, to Abuja with an “urgent message,” they expected an audience with President Tinubu. Instead, Tinubu refused to meet them. The directive was simple: go speak to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Sola Enikanolaiye.
Insiders say Foreign Affairs Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu advised against the meeting. The timing was just wrong. You can’t shake hands at the Villa while Nigerian bodies are coming back home in crates and almost 1,500 citizens have had to be evacuated.
By Monday evening, MoreBranches confirmed the outcome of the closed-door talks:
- Pretoria promised to actually prosecute the vigilante mobs targeting foreign nationals.
- Nigeria is actively tallying property damage to hit South Africa with formal compensation bills.
- Both sides agreed to tone down public hostility—for now.
