4th April, 2017
Participants at a two-day international conference on China-Nigeria relations holding in Kaduna, have decried the imbalance in Nigeria’s relations with China, and called for measures to change that tide.
The participants declared that the relationship was lopsided in favour of China, and challenged Nigeria’s leaders to take advantage of its closeness with the Asian giant to shore up its economic fortunes.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference was organised by African-Asia Studies Association (AASA), and hosted by the Department of History, Kaduna State University (KASU).
The participants, who made the observations on Tuesday, the second day of the conference, stressed that the partnership has put China on a more advantageous spot at the expense of Nigeria, who had become “a mere market for Chinese products and expertise”.
One such participant, Dr. Bello Ibrahim, of the Department of Sociology, Bayero University, Kano, said that Nigeria must review its economic, cultural and social policies with China, if it hoped to make any gain from the relationship.
“There are lots of opportunities for growth. Nigeria must capitalize on the mass potential for such growth.
“A lot needs to be done in the areas of policy design, institution building, human capital, entrepreneurship and leadership capabilities, so as to tap the potential.
“Nigeria needs to develop a comprehensive strategy to effectively balance her engagement with China; the focus should be on plans for sustainable development that resonates with its citizens,” Ibrahim said.
Another participant, Prof. Ibrahim James of History Department, KASU, regretted that substandard Chinese products flood Nigerian markets, and blamed that on poor economic policies in Nigeria.
“Nigerian importers connive with some Chinese companies to produce and import substandard goods into the country.
“This is only possible where policies are either not strong enough or implementation and enforcement are marred with corruption,” he said.
Dr. Zara Kwaghe of the Department of History and International Studies, Federal University, Lafia also regretted that Nigeria had yet to tap the potential of its cordial links with China.
“Nigeria’s relationship with China dates back to the early 1970s, but we are yet to fully tap from the potential of such partnership.
“We have been relating with the Chinese government in the area of education, economy and infrastructural development, but the partnership has remained permanently lopsided in favour of China.
“Nigeria has remained a huge market for Chinese products. It is time to look beyond just consuming Chinese products to something much more beneficial,” she said.
She stressed the need for government to come up with policies to balance the lopsided relationship through technology transfer.
Also speaking, Air Cmdr. Emmanuel Jekada (rtd), who is the Chairman, Management Board of Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital, urged Nigeria to initiate measures to tap from the opportunities provided by its relations with China.
Jekada, former Director of Studies, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Jos, pointed out that Nigeria had consistently remained at the disadvantage in its partnership with China.
“But, we can do better, if we can effectively make the best out of the relationship, particularly in the area of infrastructural development and industrialisation,” he said.
On his part, Prof. Abdullahi Ashafa of History Department, KASU, attributed China’s success to huge investment in education, and urged Nigerian government to do same.
Dr. Terhemba Wuam, Head of History, KASU, explained that the purpose of the conference was to bring together intellectuals, academicians and the wider society to a round table to take a deeper look at the steps China took to become a great nation.
“We also want to look into China’s role as a major player in world economy and its development strategy so that Nigeria could learn from that,” he said.
KASU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mohammad Tanko, in a remark, said that the conference was timely, considering the place of China in global economy.
He said that the university would continue to promote such academic discourse as part of efforts to draw the attention of policy makers toward effective strategy that was very crucial to national economic development.