Nigeria has gone to borrow $6bn from China. 20 years ago, can the Chinese afford to borrow to a nation $6bn? No. If you study how the Chinese structure their loans, they won't give you $6bn for budget support. You will come with your shopping list for infrastructure. For example, Nigeria is currently building new terminals in Lagos and Abuja airports. China's debt secured by Stella Oduah is building that. It is also constructed by a Chinese company. So the Chinese won't give you the money, you cost the project, and they give it to their company. It is loan-for-infrastructure.
Now think about it. Our future revenue has been shortened with the debt, and the part of our future taxes will pay back this debt. For what exactly? Will the Chinese import bitumen, cement or other raw materials to build roads and rails? We had that capacity, and God blessed us with limestone, crude oil, bitumen deposits. We even have iron ore and built a huge steel rolling plant in Ajaokuta. In fact, if you don't have steel, this is one of the cheapest product globally now.
What is the Chinese lending you? Just skilled labor. You own inability to organize your limestone, bitumen, and steel to build what is standard and good for use. On the back of your technology schools, yearly return of engineers, Professors and entrepreneurs, we can't mobilize resources within to do this.
Did the Chinese have the capacity to do this 20 years ago? Nope. They dug deep to find knowledge, updating them rapidly, building the nexus of science, mathematic and engineering. Now they offer it to you at debt. Here we are 170m people; we are not borrowing to build an airplane, Eiffel Tower or Empire State Building. We are borrowing to build roads, rails, and airports.
The world has never been led about those who have resources beneath their feet. It is about those who use their intellect to organize it. We have been collecting oil rent for years. Even the industries around oil, -petrochemical, plastics and refining industries - we failed to build.
A friend moved out of his former house recently in lagos. His former landlord died in old age and after fulfilling his rent, his son is asking him to pay up the contentious PHCN Bill. He has agreed an amount with him. He is adding nothing to the house, he just want to collect another rent. To even take from the house rent to fix the house and pay PHCN Bill, he won't. He sits in his house for wealth he didn't work for and he threatens him with a lawyer.
That's Nigeria. Our leaders deliberately added nothing, no extra skill to organize resources. We just stood by the gate and collected rent. To do anything extra is so much work. When we could not do it, we change our gaze from West to East, we call a new "colonial master" to help with 20th-century technology, he gives us a noose of debt.
Remember when you were saying Chinko, an euphemism for sub-standard project, is your Tecno phone or Xiaomi phone still Chinko? Are we getting Chinko roads or railways or what is world class from $6bn? They crept, the improved it and they keep working it and finally the lines of engineering between them and the West is getting blurred.
Our time to make this country truly great has to come by God's grace.
P.S Please I have not mentioned Buhari, GEJ, APC, PDP, Efik, Hausa. Just my reflections.
Akinnawo Oluwaseun
Convener,
Advocacy for Better Nigeria
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