First and foremost,what is xenophobia?xenophobia is dislike of or prejudice against people from other countries.It is similar to racism,it is a phobia that can result in violence and abuse towards others.I’ll talk about what causes xenophobia.The most common one is about the increase in competition for jobs because of foreigners coming from their country,so foreigners become a problem or threat to them simply because of jealousy,envying them because the foreigners are being progressive in their business which is very wrong.
Not all foreigners come with good intentions,some come for the growth of the country while some to destroy the economy,because of the bad ones doesn’t mean we show anger to all the foreigners by burning and killing them.In life if we want to do something negative we should always think deeply about the positive ones before we move into any action,this is what leads to xenophobia before we are aware of it.The xenophobic citizens find it difficult to relate to foreigners due to their way of living other wise called CULTURE which is strange to them for example a Yoruba man traveling to USA and what he wears every time is agbada (traditional attire)the USA citizens will feel uncomfortable living with him,what I’m saying is that the citizens (xenophobic ones)are eager to deal with the foreigners thinking that they’ve come to take their heritage because of the strange culture,so what the citizens think is to stop the strange way of living my hating them.
What are the effects of xenophobia or How does it affect the country?
One of the effects is that it leads to bad relationship between countries,there won’t be trust again,it will also involve in the reduction of the number of migrants within the country having the intention that the foreigners are coming to destroy their country,this has a negative impact on the economy for example the Nigeria citizens hearing about the killings of their fellow citizens outside,so what they think they would do to hurt them is to destroy their business in Nigeria e.g shoprite,MTN offices and so on.
Another critical example is that the Nigerians over there may think of destroying their tourist center which my never be discovered forever again.Let’s not relate xenophobia with racism.Racism is the hatred towards the people on different race while xenophobia is the hatred towards people who are strange,we can also define it as hatred towards strangers.Xenophobia may cause war between countries which may affect the whole continent because some countries have allies which may later take part in the war.
How will we end xenophobia?
The most important solution is that all the Africa leaders should come together and think of what they can do together to put an end to it.My personal opinion of putting an end is solution to job unemployment,if there’s job employment people won’t have the intention of hating each other,what am I saying,we should employ the citizens seeking for job,if there’s job employment,the citizens won’t think of leaving their country,I can say the number one reason why most citizens are traveling out of Nigeria is that they don’t have job.Most of us think it’ll be easy for us to secure other jobs.
Our political leaders should also stop the habit of investing business and building industries in other countries,they should think of how they’ll make the country a better place,lots of graduates are outside there seeking for jobs but they are not being granted that’s why some end up being fraudsters,kidnappers,thieves and so on.People are really suffering, if not the xenophobia issue won’t arise like I said what most of us think is that traveling out of the country the only solution,if there’s good economy in Nigeria,people won’t want to travel out of the country rather they’ll stay,work and earn their money instead of bing slaughtered in someone else’s land.
Therefore I insist that all Africa leaders work together in a better way to end up xenophobia because if actions are not taken,the hatred will continue to grow within us towards the foreigners and before we know,the AFRICA we are cherishing and honoring will be worthless.I feel the pain of our murdered citizens over there,all we need is the solution to xenophobia,I believe we are all going to make our continent a better place,we all have a role to play.We say no to xenophobia,AFRICA! We unite.I’m proud to be an african,what about you?
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