Predictably, it was only a matter of time for the wider cross-section of Nigerians to come to terms with the stark reality of sell-out clauses, in most of the off-shore commitments which the country is often yoked on to, in the name of foreign loans and sundry treaties.
For some time, untoward developments associated with sundry treaties and loan deals involving Nigeria and foreign interests as well as authorities, have spawned suspicion in several quarters over the contents and implications of such commitments by the country to foreign interests. The Bakassi conundrum which has put the country in the ugly scenario of ceding part of Nigeria’s territory to Cameroon is still fresh in mind. There is also the case of the Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) deal which the country is still battling in foreign courts to save it from losing $9.6 billion in a judgment debt.
Perhaps the most immediate of these offshore threats to the country remains the ongoing scenario featuring the revelation of a sell-out clause in the terms of a $400 million loan from China, which empowers that country to confiscate any of Nigeria’s national assets in case the latter defaults on the deal. The loan was for developing the Nigerian National Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure (Galaxy) Backbone Phase 2 project, and was signed on September 5, 2018, under the administration of President Muhamadu Buhari.
The highlights of the issue manifested with the ‘discovery’ and launch into the public domain of the toxic clause by a House of Representatives Committee in the course of a session with the Minister of Transportation Chibuike Amaechi. His rather off-handed response to a question over a matter of grave national concern – fear of loss of national sovereignty, generated a cascade of reactions across the spectrum of various shades of public opinion in the country. Presently the matter has progressed beyond the admission of the administration’s indiscretion by Chibuike Amaechi that such a sell-out clause actually exists, with the implication that the administration had all along played it down. Among the trending angles now is the hollow defence of the situation by the administration, which many Nigerians see as an outrage. When cornered by journalists to clarify the offending clause Amaechi, had prevaricated and only volunteered the position that the wordings of the clause qualified as an international standard expression for denoting the obligations of a borrower to the lender.
To accentuate the stand of the administration over the matter, Amaechi’s position was reinforced with the enterprise of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami. Appearing along with Amaechi on national television, the duo had deployed the logic of clarification between commercial and diplomatic immunities to debunk any insinuation of Nigeria losing its sovereignty in the circumstance of it defaulting on the loan terms. According to them, commercial immunity is about the commitment of a debtor nation to pay its debts as and when due, while diplomatic immunity concerns a nation’s sovereignty.
Against the backdrop of Malami’s status as the country’s chief law officer, contending with him on the pages of a newspaper over a matter he exercises official leverage ordinarily provides little relief beyond that from an academic exercise. However if the two ministers had allowed themselves the indulgence of empathy with the wider cross-section of Nigerians, they would have come to terms with why there was a huge stir in the country’s public space over the incidence of that toxic clause or any other one in any of the several loan deals with China. Perhaps, these gentlemen, along with most of the leading lights of the present administration are yet to appreciate the imperative for the government to be seen as being on the same page with Nigerians at all times, especially in the present circumstances, when government action is seen – rightly or otherwise, to threaten public good and mere rhetoric falls short of serving as a panacea.
Among the reasons for the widespread public misgiving over the issue is the now disturbing, universal perception of indebtedness to China, as the gateway to a debt trap by any country that is so disposed to fall in it. With tales of how China has through the debt trap taken over the national assets of some African countries like Zambia, and Sri Lanka in Asia no knowledgeable Nigerian – except of course Amaechi, Malami and their co-travellers can sleep with two eyes closed, at the mention of Nigeria’s mounting debts to China. As at the last count, China has taken over three of Zambia’s national assets comprising the national broadcast facility, the country’s international airport as well as the power utility. Hence China now controls Zambia’s voice, its international gateway and its electricity – the backbone of its economy. Considering that Zambia may have like the Amaechi's and Malami's, also adopted the clause granting China lien over its national assets under the aegis of commercial immunity, its default as so denoted has transcended into loss of its hard-earned sovereignty. Zambia is now an official African colony to China.
In the context of China’s geopolitics in Africa, there are many reasons to consider Nigeria as a primary target for colonization by the Asian giant. First is the soft state of governance in the country, whereby there is no effective administrative structure to mobilise its public sector towards harmonised traction in providing leadership and service delivery. Secondly, the country is under the firm grip of a largely, viscerally corrupt leadership community with elements that are not only malleable but can be bought over with peanuts at any time. Thirdly the Chinese have already penetrated the country to the point of saturation, that even dirty water from a Chinese gutter, can be sold in Nigeria today as a miracle healing syrup. That is the extent of brainwashing Nigeria has been reduced to with respect to China. That is also why Amaechi and Malami, along with some of the officers in the administration can throw caution to the winds and talk down to Nigerians, in defence of the deluge of indiscretions of the administration top.
