Lumumba blames economic failures for rising xenophobia
Kenyan legal scholar and public speaker, Professor Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba, has blamed unemployment, poverty and poor economic policies for rising xenophobia in Africa, warning that countries cannot overcome economic hardship by turning against fellow Africans.
He urged African governments to tackle the structural causes of economic hardship through industrialisation, job creation and stronger institutions rather than scapegoating migrants for failures of governance.
*Professor Patrick Lumumba
Abimbola Joseph
Kenyan legal scholar and public speaker, Professor Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba, has blamed unemployment, poverty and poor economic policies for rising xenophobia in Africa, warning that countries cannot overcome economic hardship by turning against fellow Africans.
He urged African governments to tackle the structural causes of economic hardship through industrialisation, job creation and stronger institutions rather than scapegoating migrants for failures of governance.
Lumumba spoke on Thursday as the keynote speaker at The Bridge Club’s end-of-year event in Lagos, where he delivered an address titled Africa Must Not Become Foreign to Itself: Xenophobia, Pan-Africanism and the Future of African Belonging.
He argued that economic hardship, inequality, unemployment and pressure on public services often fuel hostility towards foreigners, who are wrongly perceived as competitors for scarce opportunities.
According to him, migrants frequently become convenient targets for public anger over problems that governments have failed to address.
“The foreign trader, worker or entrepreneur can be arrested. The failure to create productive employment over several decades cannot be arrested at a roadblock,” he said.
The legal scholar identified Africa’s dependence on exporting raw materials and importing finished products as a major contributor to unemployment and the continent’s economic difficulties.
He noted that African countries continued to export crude oil, cocoa and minerals while importing refined petroleum, chocolate, machinery, batteries and other manufactured products.
This economic imbalance, he said, meant that Africa was creating jobs in other parts of the world while millions of its young people struggled to find meaningful employment at home.
Lumumba also criticised the exploitation of migrant workers, arguing that employers who engage undocumented foreigners and pay them below legal wages should face sanctions rather than allow resentment to develop into violence against migrants.
“The appropriate response is not violence against the migrant. It is enforcement of labour law against the employer,” he said.
He further highlighted what he described as the hypocrisy of Africans who celebrate the success of their compatriots seeking opportunities abroad but become hostile when migrants from other African countries arrive in their communities.
He cited Nigerians travelling to London, Kenyans moving to Dubai, Ghanaians relocating to Canada and Zimbabweans seeking opportunities in South Africa as examples of people driven by the same desire for better living conditions.
“We therefore understand perfectly well why human beings migrate when opportunity is scarce. We simply become less understanding when the migrant arrives at our own door,” he said.
Lumumba maintained that African governments must accept responsibility for creating employment, protecting workers’ rights, improving public services and enforcing immigration laws without subjecting foreigners to humiliation or collective punishment.
He called for greater investment in industrialisation, agriculture, infrastructure, education and technology, insisting that sustainable economic development was essential to reducing hostility towards migrants.
He also challenged African leaders to translate Pan-Africanism from political rhetoric into practical economic cooperation, arguing that the prosperity of one country should create opportunities for others across the continent.
Earlier, The Bridge Club President, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), condemned discrimination against Africans in other African countries, describing it as a contradiction of the principles of continental unity.
Mustapha said Pan-Africanism should be demonstrated through everyday conduct, institutional policies and the treatment of citizens from other African countries.
“How can we preach Pan-Africanism while tolerating attitudes and practices that diminish the humanity and dignity of fellow Africans?” he asked.
