Nigerian Migrants Return From South Africa Only to Confront the Same Economic Hardships They Fled

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — When the flight carrying hundreds of Nigerians fleeing South Africa touched down in Lagos last week, passenger Iniebong James felt an initial wave of relief. Then the familiar knot of worry tightened in his stomach.

Nearly two weeks after returning to a country he left a decade ago, James, 52, is trying to rebuild a life he walked away from in 2016. Back then, he packed his bags for South Africa on a six-month visitor’s visa, overstayed, and carved out a living as a car mechanic in the Eastern Cape Province. It was precarious but functional — until the attacks came.

In May, James was assaulted during an anti-immigrant protest, leaving him with a gash on his head, he told The Associated Press. That moment crystallised a growing reality: the anti-migrant sentiment that has simmered in South Africa for years was boiling over again.

Over recent months, marches demanding the departure of undocumented foreigners and reports of violence against migrants have surged. In response, governments across Africa — including Nigeria, Ghana and Malawi — have repatriated hundreds of their citizens, citing safety threats and mounting tensions.

South Africa has long been a magnet for African migrants, drawn by its relative wealth and opportunity. But the country’s economic struggles — high unemployment, poverty and strained public services — have repeatedly fuelled xenophobic outbursts, with migrants often blamed for problems they did not create.

Before leaving Nigeria, James drove trucks for a Lagos haulage company. That job evaporated in 2016 when Nigeria slipped into its first recession in two decades. What pushed him to emigrate, however, wasn't just unemployment — it was the grinding daily struggle with power outages that could last days. In South Africa, he survived by bribing community police officers 200 rands ($12.14) a week to keep his workshop open, and twice paid immigration officers after being arrested. (The AP could not independently verify these claims.)

Now back home, James says he is grateful for his “freedom” — but the economy that drove him away is in worse shape. President Bola Tinubu’s 2023 economic reforms, which removed decades-old fuel subsidies and allowed the naira to float, have sent inflation skyrocketing. Fuel, which cost 85 naira a litre ($0.10) when James left, now sells for 1,400 naira ($1.03). The price surge, compounded by global conflicts including the U.S.-Iran tensions, has ripple effects on nearly every good and service.

“Everything is too expensive,” he said.

Nigeria’s government promised that returnees would “receive the appropriate assistance and support” before being reunited with their families. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to questions about long-term plans. Experts warn that the problems migrants face are not solved by a plane ticket home.

“Repatriation is not transformation,” said Margaret Monyani, founder of OLAM Africa Research Institute, a Johannesburg-based migration think-tank. “Returning is not always as straightforward as it sounds. People just think, go back home and start again. No, what is home?”

For Omotola Adeniyi, home feels like a foreign land. She joined her mother in South Africa at age 8 in 2015. She finished high school but could not find work or afford university. “After I finished high school, that’s when I saw real life, because everywhere I looked for a job, all I could get was, ‘No, we don’t want to employ foreigners,’” she said. She saved for a year for a flight home, only to accept the government's repatriation offer. Now 19, she says she feels like a stranger in her own country.

The latest wave of anti-immigrant protests has set off diplomatic alarms across the continent. Nigeria and Ghana summoned South Africa’s diplomatic officials and issued strong public statements. “The price of your peace, and the safety of your children, is worth any sacrifices you have to make, or any assets you have to leave behind when fleeing a conflict zone or hate-infested environment,” Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu told returnees in a statement delivered by her representatives.

Despite the violence and hostility, analysts say South Africa remains a prime destination for African migrants because of its relatively advanced economy and infrastructure. “It doesn’t mean South Africa has the perfect institutions, but they’re working to a large extent,” Monyani said.

For James, the calculus is painfully simple: stay and risk another attack in a country that sees him as a problem, or return to a homeland that can’t offer the stability he once hoped to find.

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