Nigerian Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has called on Nigeria’s immigration authorities to review visa applications from South African musicians and their teams, applying what she called the principle of reciprocity, meaning Nigeria should treat South African travellers the way Nigerians say they’ve been treated in South Africa.
In an Instagram post, the Kogi Central senator referenced the 2024 cancellation of Nigerian singer Ayra Starr’s “In The City” concerts in Johannesburg and Cape Town, after show organisers said she and her team were denied South African visas despite repeated attempts to secure them. Organisers at the time said similar visa denials had “happened numerous times with other artists from West Africa.” The senator said that if such treatment is confirmed, “Nigeria should respond with equivalent measures until Nigerian citizens and artistes are accorded fair and respectful treatment.”
She was careful to clarify her post was not an attack on Tyla, the South African singer whose recent online rivalry with Ayra Starr’s fans has reignited comparisons between the two artists. Instead, she framed her call as a matter of national dignity, saying “reciprocity is a recognised instrument of diplomacy,” and that “our foreign policy should protect the dignity of Nigerians everywhere.”
This comes at an already tense moment between the two countries
The senator’s post lands in the middle of a much bigger and more serious diplomatic rift. Since April 2026, South Africa has seen a wave of violent anti-immigration protests, with demonstrators calling for mass deportations of foreign nationals. Nigeria’s government says at least 98 of its citizens have been killed in xenophobic attacks in South Africa since 2022, and it has repatriated nearly 1,500 citizens in recent weeks amid the unrest. Nigeria’s Foreign Minister has accused South Africa of failing to forcefully condemn the violence, and at least one Nigerian senator has publicly called for Nigeria to cut diplomatic ties with South Africa altogether.
The two governments have since held high-level talks aimed at de-escalating tensions, with South Africa’s government condemning “all forms of xenophobia” and agreeing to pursue prosecutions and possible compensation for affected Nigerians.
The senator’s post lands amid a fresh celebrity-led backlash against a South African star
Days after the senator’s post, the tension flared again, this time over a different South African artist. Tyla announced a Lagos stop on her APOP World Tour, scheduled for December 22, alongside dates in Europe, North America, and South Africa. The announcement triggered an immediate backlash, with a number of Nigerian celebrities and online personalities launching a campaign against the show under the tag “South Africa thinks we’re fools.”
OAP Do2dtun told Nigerians online that anyone who attends the concert would be showing they “stand for” nothing. Digital creator Isa Bako went further, urging Nigerians to confront concertgoers outside the venue. Content creators Izzy Ogbeide and Sea King also spoke out against the show, with Ogbeide tying it directly to Nigeria’s government failing to protect its citizens abroad, and commentator VeryDarkMan joining calls for the concert to be stopped entirely. Much of the criticism centres on Tyla’s silence: critics say she has not publicly condemned the xenophobic attacks despite her large platform.
Not everyone agrees. Activist and presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore publicly defended Tyla, arguing that individual artists shouldn’t be held responsible for their government’s failures or for xenophobia they did not personally commit. Some social media users have echoed that view, suggesting much of the anger comes from Ayra Starr fans who see Tyla as a rival rather than genuine outrage over xenophobia.
Taken together with Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s reciprocity call, the Tyla backlash shows how the diplomatic rift between Nigeria and South Africa is now spilling well beyond government offices and into entertainment, with public figures on both sides of the debate increasingly shaping how ordinary Nigerians feel about engaging with South African culture at all.
A history of friction between Africa’s giants
Nigeria and South Africa have clashed before, despite Nigeria’s historical support for South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle. Xenophobic violence in South Africa killed at least 62 people, including foreign nationals from several countries, in 2008, and another wave in 2015 killed seven people after a Zulu king suggested foreigners should “pack their bags and go.” Visa friction, too, is not new: organisers of Ayra Starr’s cancelled 2024 shows said West African artists had repeatedly faced similar denials before hers.
Why does this keep happening, and who does it affect?
At the root of the tension is competition and resentment tied to migration. South Africa hosts around 2.4 million foreign nationals, and some South Africans blame undocumented migrants for unemployment and strain on public services, feeding support for stricter immigration enforcement. On the Nigerian side, years of attacks on Nigerian nationals, alongside perceived unfair treatment of Nigerian travellers and artists, have built up public frustration that politicians like Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan are now tapping into.
The direct effect of visa disputes falls on individual artists and their teams, who lose income and disappoint fans when shows are cancelled at the last minute. But the wider effect touches ordinary citizens of both countries. Deteriorating relations between Africa’s two largest economies could affect trade, business ties, and the safety of the hundreds of thousands of Nigerians living and working in South Africa, and vice versa.
Could a “visa war” actually happen, and is it a good idea?
Nigeria does have the legal and diplomatic tools to apply reciprocity, and it has used similar leverage in past disputes with other countries. But experts and diplomats generally treat retaliatory visa measures as a last resort, since they tend to escalate tension rather than resolve it, and often hurt ordinary travellers, students, and business people more than the governments involved.
A less confrontational path is already underway: continued diplomatic talks, stronger safety guarantees for Nigerians in South Africa, and mechanisms like the early warning system and increased police protection that Nigeria has already requested. Continuing to pursue compensation claims and prosecutions for attackers through the legal channels both governments have already agreed to could also address the underlying grievances without a tit-for-tat visa fight.
The Bigger Picture
I understand where the senator’s frustration comes from. Nigerians have watched their citizens attacked, sometimes killed, in South Africa for years, and it’s fair to ask why Nigeria keeps extending goodwill that doesn’t seem to be returned. But I’m cautious about a call for visa retaliation built around a two-year-old concert cancellation, especially while both governments are actively at the table trying to de-escalate a much more serious, ongoing crisis. Reciprocity might sound like strength, but it can just as easily become a distraction, or worse, another obstacle in talks that are already fragile. If Nigeria wants to defend its citizens’ dignity abroad, the more powerful tool right now isn’t a visa office in Abuja, it’s making sure Pretoria follows through on the safety guarantees and accountability it has already promised.
Published by Ejoh Caleb
