Re-Nigeria’s slave call by China

The article under the above title published in the esteemed “Weekend Trust”, written by Monima Daminabo, a regular columnist of the weekend title of the Media Trust Group, is curious, not only because it greatly exerted itself to undermine the outcomes of the recently concluded summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, (FOCAC) held in […]

The article under the above title published in the esteemed “Weekend Trust”, written by Monima Daminabo, a regular columnist of the weekend title of the Media Trust Group, is curious, not only because it greatly exerted itself to undermine the outcomes of the recently concluded summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, (FOCAC) held in Beijing but because it is largely riddled with inaccuracies and innuendos. Without the slightest exertion of a columnist of such credible and widely respected newspaper, Mr. Daminabo thrilled himself that “given that plunder of the African continent is the name of the game for China”, it evokes his concerns “that every three years, China summons all African countries to Beijing, in a seeming slave call and under the bogus auspices of FOCAC.”

For a start, Africa and China and importantly Nigeria have had vigorous cooperation culminating in high level exchange of visits, including the visits of former Chinese presidents, Jiang Zemin (2002), Hu Jintao (2006) to Nigeria and also former Nigerian presidents- Olusegun Obasanjo,  Umaru Yar’ adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, visiting China at various times.

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) founded in 2000 and held its first ministerial meeting in Beijing in October, the same year, was a culmination of broad cooperation between the two sides. It was actually, some African countries, with the experience of multilateral engagements with such frameworks as TICAD (Japan and Africa), the European Union – Africa that suggested a multilateral institutional mechanism for Africa and China. The Chinese foreign affairs ministry took the suggestion very serious and the rest is history.

Contrary to Mr. Daminabo’s insinuations of “summons of Africa to Beijing”, the ministerial conference venues of FOCAC has rotated between China and Africa countries. Just to take a few, the second summit was held in Johannesburg, South Africa 2015, with the 3rd summit in Beijing in 2018 and the 8th ministerial conference was held in Dakar, Senegal even amidst COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. The 9th ministerial conference which was upgraded to summit held this month in Beijing and without doubt, the next in 2027, will take place in any of the 53 countries in Africa. Without delving into the substance of the FOCAC, which is the main issue, how would any commentator fairly familiar with the subject of his commentary brand the 9th ministerial conference, which was upgraded to summit and held early this month, “summon” or “a slave call”?

On the charge of neo colonial intrigues, China has fundamentally no aspiration to such practice. From the hallowed rostrum of the United Nations in 1974, the then vice premier, Deng Xiaoping told the global audience that “If one day China should change her colour and turn into a super power, if she too should play the tyrant of the world, and everywhere subjects others to her bullying, aggression and exploitation, the people should identify her as social- imperialism, expose it, oppose it and work together with the Chinese people to overthrow it”.

The FOCAC platform is essentially a process of consultations and dialogue, and far from been an empty chatter, is a vigorous mechanism that has over the years delivered tangible outcomes to both sides. In 2017, a top U.S management consortium, Mckinsey & Co published a report titled “Dance of the lions and dragons: how are Africa and China engaging and how will the partnership evolve”. According to the report it “evaluated Africa’s economic partnership with the rest of the world across five dimension: trade, investment stock, investment growth, infrastructure financing and Aid. China is in top four partners for Africa in all these dimensions. No other country matches this depth and breadth of engagement”.

The columnist claimed “the unrelenting assault by the Chinese on Nigeria’s local enterprise, jobs and resources” as of his “immediate concern”. Yet his fathom “concerns” did not lead him to find out that of nearly one hundred Chinese enterprises operating in Nigeria, more than 300,000 Nigerians have gained employment in these enterprises. Some of the leading Chinese enterprises have scaled up the skills of young Nigerians in preparing for higher responsibilities. Repeating old and discredited clichés about Africa-China cooperation and its important track of Nigeria-China cooperation is to fall into the trap of those who want to see and maintain Africa as only a theater of humanitarian tragedies.

Nigeria’s participation at the recently concluded FOCAC summit with 13 agreements signed in various sectors relevant to Nigeria’s economic recovery and sustainable development has been rightly described as a momentous and historical new starting point. The investiture of this cooperation as “comprehensive strategic partnership” is not mere rhetoric and the document setting out the new era framework of the two countries bilateral relation is very clear on the tangible outcomes, it vowed to achieve. Meanwhile, the freshly arrived Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Yu Dunhai has vowed to work assiduously to ensure implementation of the mutual agreements between the two countries and help Nigeria realise the agenda of the President Tinubu government.

Columnists should hold the two countries accountable to their mutual commitment and possibly draw their attentions to any lapses in schedules and timelines.

To be clear, Nigeria-China and more broadly China-Africa cooperation is not a package of finished product but a work in progress that may even encounter difficulties which can only be resolved by more cooperation and not less. It is not for nothing that African leaders take the FOCAC process very serious. It supports the historic Pan-African vision of a continent that trades and engages more with itself as foundation for engaging the rest of the world. And the central theme in this endeavor is connectivity and China brings a considerable quantum of it both within and across countries in Africa.

Mr. Onunaiju is Research Director of an Abuja based Think Tank.