Our activities are transparent ─ Nigerian Union in S’Africa

The President of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Ike Anyene, has said activities of the organisation are transparent and open to people, adding that it was not involved in any corrupt practices.

Anyene spoke while reacting to allegations of corruption levelled against the body by some Nigerians, who accused the body of collaborating with some officials of the embassy to fleece Nigerian citizens.

Although Anyene established a link between NUSA and the embassy because of the referral letter it issued to Nigerians as demanded by the embassy as part of the application procedure, he, however, noted that the body never extorted money from anyone.

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He called on anybody who had paid exorbitant amount to the union to confront its secretariat.

Anyene also disputed the claim that certain amount was charged before referral letters were issued to Nigerians by the union.

He said, “It only costs R100 to register with NUSA. Also, the referral letter given to Nigerians travelling from distant provinces is free. The reason for the letter is to identify the individual as actually living in the province to avoid abuse.

“It started some years back to give quicker service to Nigerians that live outside Gauteng to save them accommodation and other costs. We recently stopped issuing the letters because the services at the consulate have greatly improved.”

Anyene accused some members of the union who had issues with its leadership of spreading false reports about the union activities.

“The false allegations are capable of dampening the morale of NUSA officials at all levels, who work selflessly to protect the interest of Nigerians in South Africa.

“We are aware that there are individuals who are bent on destroying the organisation because of personal gains,” he said.