Dare Babalola
Politician and public affairs commentator Babatunde Gbadamosi has expressed support for Senator Adams Oshiomhole over calls for the confiscation and nationalisation of South African assets in Nigeria.
Gbadamosi made the remarks in a post on X on Wednesday, saying that although he often disagreed with Oshiomhole on political matters, he shared the senator’s position on the issue.
“I actually do not generally agree with Senator Oshiomhole’s views on most issues, especially relating to politics, but on this specific matter, we are in complete alignment,” he wrote.
He argued that the proposal was justified, citing historical precedent during the administration of former Head of State Olusegun Obasanjo.
“His suggestion to confiscate and nationalise all South African assets is perfectly justifiable on at least one ground,” Gbadamosi stated.
According to him, Nigeria had previously taken similar action in the 1970s when the country sanctioned apartheid-era South Africa.
“Black South Africans themselves have been the beneficiary of such a nationalisation of assets exercise in the 1970s by the General Olusegun Obasanjo government of Nigeria,” he said.
Gbadamosi recalled that Nigeria had imposed sanctions on the apartheid government, including an oil embargo, but alleged that British Petroleum violated the restrictions by secretly supplying crude oil.
“Nigeria had imposed sanctions on the Apartheid South African government, which included an embargo on oil sales. However, British Petroleum, which was then a major player in the Nigerian oil sector, was surreptitiously selling Nigerian crude oil to the apartheid government,” he wrote.
He added that once the violation was uncovered, the Obasanjo administration confiscated the company’s assets and transformed them into a Nigerian-owned entity.
“The Obasanjo administration found out and proceeded, in line with the law at the time, to confiscate BP’s assets and nationalise them, naming the entity that emerged from it, African Petroleum,” he said.
Gbadamosi concluded by saying stronger leadership in Nigeria would have compelled South Africa to act decisively against xenophobic violence.
“If anyone with Obasanjo’s sense of national pride and belief in the dignity of the ordinary Nigerian were in power today, the discussion would be about how South Africa would be arresting and convicting the xenophobes amongst them to try and secure a restoration of their seized assets in Nigeria,” he added.
