BIG SHAME: (VIDEO) Tinubu snubbed at Rhamaphosa’s inauguration in South Africa
It was a big shame and unparalleled embarrassment for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria on Wednesday as he was publicly shunned by President Rhamaphosa of South Africa during the latter’s inauguration ceremony for a second term in South Africa.
A viral video online shows Rhamaphosa greeting and exchanging pleasantries with other Heads of State who had come to grace the occasion but ignored Tinubu even when he ( Tinubu) tried to get his attention.
The Nigerian leader who was tucked at the back row of dignitaries could not do much to save the situation. He was captured in the video scratching his ears and later rubbing his palms in anticipation of an handshake with Rhamaphosa, all to no avail.
The leaders of other African countries such ad Kenya, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Malawi were kept on the front row where they had ample opportunity to interact with the celebrant. Tinubu who wore a blue coloured agbada and his popular designer cap to match looked thoroughly humiliated in the video.
There are speculations that Nigeria had one of the largest delegations to the inauguration ceremony. Tinubu must have expected a special recognition at the event being the leader of Africa’s most populous nation and arguably the largest economy on the continent but none of those credentials counted for him.
In the 1970s and up to the 1980s, Nigeria played major roles in the struggle to liberate South Africa from the shackles of apartheid before Nelson Mandela the hero of that struggle was released from prison after 28 years. Nigeria was accorded the recognition of a member of the Front Line States during the anti- Apartheid struggle even though she is located thousands of kilometers from the battle front line.
However, after the apartheid regime was dismantled and Nelson Mandela became the President of South Africa, he and the successive leaders of that country had continued to express disappointment about political developments in Nigeria and how it had rubbed off negatively on the image of the black race.
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