•Confucius Institute, NICAF mull strategies for Nigeria’s participation
Emma Emeozor ( [email protected] )
The expectation on February 10, 1971, when Nigeria and China formally established bilateral relations was that win-win cooperation would exist between the two countries. But, 47 years after, the relationship seems to have degenerated to Nigeria’s dependence on China. This was the worry expressed by participants’ at a one-day symposium on China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative (OBOR) organised by the Nigeria-China Friendship Association (NICAF), in collaboration with the Confucius Institute (CI), based at the University of Lagos.
The symposium was held to highlight “the impacts of OBOR and examine the strategies of the Confucius Institute for the implementation of the scheme in Nigeria in particular and Africa in general.”
The team of discussants included the director of CI, Prof. Wang Yongjing, NICAF president, Chief Jacob Wood, president and director-general of Bolytag Centre for International Diplomacy and Strategic Studies (BOCIDASS) and member of the NICAF board of trustees, Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, Prof. Segun Awonusi of the University of Lagos, former vice chancellor of the University of Lagos and pioneer director of CI, Prof. Duro Oni, Prof. Chimdi Maduagu of the University of Lagos and director of CI, Mr. Alex Ekeanyanwu, Dr. Babatunde Emmanuel, former Nigerian Ambassador to China, Sola Onadipe, and the executive director of China Food and Packaging Machinery Industry Association, Junxiong Wang.
OBOR is the brainchild of China’s President Xi Jinping. It was launched in September 2013 with the objective of “building trade routes between China and the rest of the world.” It is the result of Xi’s vision of how to marry ancient and modern ideas to promote “One world, One family,” with all participating countries benefiting as equal partners.
For the purpose of implementation, OBOR is divided into two sections: the “Belt” and the “Road.” The “Belt” is land-based and it is called the “Silk Road Economic Belt.” It connects China with Central Asia, Eastern and Western Europe. The “Road” is called the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road” and it is sea-based. It connects China to South-East Asia, Africa and Central Asia.
As part of efforts to create international awareness and also to demonstrate the seriousness the government attached to the project, Xi had in May 2016 invited world leaders to Beijing for an inaugural summit at which he pledged $124 billion in funding for the plan and “enshrining it into the ruling Communist Party’s constitution.”
More importantly, China intends to use the project as a platform to “take a greater role on the international stage by funding and building global transport and trade links in no fewer than 65 countries.” Another goal of the project is the promotion of cultural exchange, academic development, media cooperation and personnel exchange.
China, has, through OBOR, demonstrated how visionary leadership can bring about the development and growth of a nation and the consequent improvement in the lives of the citizenry. Thus, the seeming imbalance in China-Nigeria relations. Nigeria was up the development ladder ahead of China when the bilateral relationship started. President of NICAF, Chinese-born Chief Jacob Wood, may have put in proper perspective the worry of participants at the symposium and indeed all watchers of Nigeria’s affairs when he said he saw “a coloured television for the first time when he came to Nigeria in the 1970s. Also, he “witnessed the construction of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos when there was no single bridge in China.”
Wood has been a committed ‘bridge’ between China and Nigeria. He shared with Nigerians their worry over the country’s slow pace of development. Whatever be the current development status of Nigeria, speakers at the symposium agreed that hope is not lost and the country’s future remains bright.
And as part of the way forward, NICAF and CI want Nigeria to join the chain of countries involved in the OBOR initiative. They believe the project provides a window of opportunity for Nigeria to tap from China’s development potential.
Yongjing was confident when she said her institute has the capacity to help Nigeria and Nigerians to benefit from OBOR. All over the world, the CI has as its objective the promotion of educational and cultural exchange between China and countries where they are established, to strengthen friendship, further bilateral advantages, carry forward the multicultural communication and advance the development of China and the host countries. Summarily, the vision of CI is “Friendship, cooperation, development, and win-win.”
Already, CI is offering training to Nigerians just as it enjoys a robust relationship with Nigerian institutes as well as Chinese companies in Nigeria.
Yongjing may have been further inspired by the realisation that though Nigeria was not yet part of the project, OBOR’s implementation “has been in the form of the establishment of free trade and industrial zones in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.”
Interestingly, China’s international economic cooperation focuses on trade and investment as well as infrastructure development in the areas of technology, transportation, energy, telecommunication and agriculture, among others. It is, therefore, certain that Beijing would willingly carry along Nigeria, being Africa’s largest market.
But how can Nigeria benefit from OBOR when it is not on its route? Discussants at the symposium reasoned that Nigeria’s exclusion from the route was not deliberate. Rather, it was the geographical location of Nigeria on the side of the Atlantic that made it to be out of the loop. However, what is required is for Nigeria to express its interest to be involved.
Of particular interest to participants at the symposium was the understanding that OBOR was “aimed at pursuing economic prosperity, social progress and political stability.”
The Forum for China Cooperation (FOCAC) summit scheduled to hold this year may provide an opportunity for Nigeria and other African countries not on the OBOR route but would want to benefit from it, to initiate dialogue on the matter.
Meanwhile, NICAF, CI and Chinese groups in Nigeria have begun implementing an important aspect of the OBOR initiative. Guests at the event were told that “people-to-people relationship has been rigorously pursued through the platforms of HANBAN, CI, NICAF, the Chinese community in Nigeria and Chinese Women Association in Nigeria.”
HANBAN is the international headquarters of CI in Beijing.
Attention was also drawn to China’s active involvement in “the development of infrastructure in Nigeria in the areas of the air, land, water and railways.” The pursuit of the people-to-people ties and the active involvement of Chinese companies in the development of Nigeria’s economy, convinced guests at the symposium that “Nigeria cannot be said to be left out” in the OBOR initiative “on the basis of Nigeria’s geographical location.” Awonusi was emphatic when he said that “China recognises Nigeria as the greatest economy in Africa and has high investment in infrastructure, trade and financial loans and grants.”
The OBOR project is capital-intensive. What this means is that Nigeria must have the financial muscle to become an active participant. But Akinterinwa was quick to allay fears of financial hindrance to Nigeria’s involvement. He advised that Nigeria should harmonise its policies and strengthen its relationship with China. He drew attention to various agreements between Nigeria and China that Abuja was yet to implement.
He said China has set aside some fund for economic development in Nigeria but Abuja was yet to ratify the process that would enable the use of the fund.
China’s embassy in Nigeria has been reportedly quoted as saying that Beijing has made available huge credit for the development of infrastructure in Africa but Nigeria is not taking sufficient advantage of the generous offer by China.
Akinterinwa believes that Nigeria has the capacity to initiate an African version of OBOR. He said Nigeria can achieve this by enforcing the Chinese spirit and method and approach the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Noting that OBOR is about investment and infrastructure, Akinterinwa wondered why Abuja cannot initiate a transatlantic route from Mali to Nigeria. He called for bilateral understanding between Nigeria and China on the OBOR initiative. Through such understanding, Abuja could negotiate for Nigeria to become another strong partner in world affairs, he said.
But whatever be the arguments, Nigeria must put its act together first if it wants to achieve the goals of OBOR. Participants at the symposium were of the opinion that “in Nigeria, there is no deficiency of natural and human resources.” Instead, “what is lacking is strong and consistent political will to develop because there is a very thin line between political will and economic development.”
The chaotic situation at the Apapa Port, Lagos, was cited as an example of the crisis that lack of political will and foresight can create for a nation: “It is lack of political will and foresight that will make Nigeria to consistently continue to congest the Apapa Port when it can boast of at least five sea ports.”
They observed that “deep-rooted domestic distrust” and “lack of ideas and resources” are largely responsible for Nigeria’s failure to develop. In contrast, “China’s success is the legacy of deep thinking, strategic calculations, consistence and good governance.”
Interestingly, participants noted that “Nigerian academic and research scholars have done their bit in the areas of research,” adding that research outputs have been presented “to government for implementation but more often than not there has been failure at the level of implementation.”
Therefore, the “OBOR initiative is practical example of excellent and efficient national development planning which Nigeria should learn from.”
The tag of imperialism being tied to China’s quest for dominance in world affairs was also addressed by participants at the seminar. It was noted that “China’s success has been predicated on dint of hard work and it has never been known to be part of imperialism and, therefore, the fear of imperialism from the OBOR initiative is needless.”
However, they charged China to “engage in political advocacy to reduce suspicion and fears of new economic imperialism, by treating participating countries as equal partners.” This is in addition to the need for China to “engage more in positive diplomacy to boost mutual trust and forestall possible undermining of the OBOR initiative by the West.”
Since China launched the OBOR scheme, there had been ‘uproar’ in parts of Europe and Asia. Some countries have, indeed, moved to counter Beijing’s bid to link up countries of the world. The United States, Australia, India and Japan are reportedly considering alternative to the OBOR initiative. According to reports quoting the Australian Financial Review, the four countries are considering a joint regional infrastructure scheme in order to check Beijing’s spreading influence in the region. The quad has however denied the allegation.