Ninety-nine
per cent of my time watching TV is spent on Chinese Central Television, CCTV.
This has changed my fundamentally Kungfu Image of China, helping me to appreciate the
much-talked about Chinese prosperity and seeing how modern, China is. In
addition to this, I have also come to watch, closely, the relationship between
China and Nigeria. I can say that what obtains between China and Nigeria is reflective
of the relationship between China and Sub-Saharan Africa, by-and-large.
Each time Nigeria
has a new leader, the West try to get as close as possible, showing its
willingness to support his administration and help harness the growth potential
there is in the country. It is believed that prosperity in Nigeria would serve
as a train, conveying prosperity to the rest of the continent. While western nations
play the umpire, China stands watching, hands folded. This is referred to as
The Non-Interference Policy. I find this policy position itchy.
Sadly, the
Nigerian political climate is designed to give political leaders disproportionate
power over the common man. This power is largely abused to the detriment of the
common man. This is why common people need the voices of the most powerful
nations of the world to nudge our leaders and compel them to be humane in their
official personas. The Non-Interference Policy is synonymous to a neighbor who
prefers to fold his hands and watch while an inferno consumes your house. The
implication of the Non-Interference Policy of China to Nigeria means that if
China was to be the only powerful nation, the excesses of our leaders would
have been boundless. I think that the Non-Interference Policy takes away fidelity
from the big Asian.
Across
Nigeria, Chinese goods have largely displaced goods from all other oversea
nations. The Sino goods are attractive, ‘affordable’, but of abysmal qualities.
So abysmal are their qualities that one could describe Chinese goods as The
Dracula, day-by-day sucking the nation of its blood until it is utterly
drained. You buy an item today, two weeks later it begins to malfunction,
compelling you to buy again. So you live your life buying one item a hundred
times, when you should have bought a better quality five times during a
lifetime. Most of the goods hardly come
with warranties, compelling one to belief that the manufacturers are conscious
of the unpredictability of their goods. My impression is that whatever China
offers Africa in foreign aid is usually withdrawn by Dracula trade in just
days.
There is a
place in Lagos called China Town. It is home to Chinese Small Scale Businesses
in Nigeria. Sadly, they flourish on piracy of intellectual property of
struggling Nigerians and the rest of the world. I have listened to news from
Ghana about Chinese “investors” illegally mining gold and causing problems to
the Ghanaian nation. In Nigeria and Ghana, we don’t hear about Americans
violating intellectual property rights or getting involved in any form of
dealing that hurts the host nation.
When China
talks about its policy of sitting on the fence, the impression it creates is
that it intends to set a new record ahead of the West, whose policies are
loathed only by the looming figures of Nigerian leaders, but embraced by
ordinary Nigerians. The Chinese authorities have a window with which it
communicates with the rest of the world. This window is the CCTV. CCTV works to
educate the rest of the world about the Chinese nation and its people, but also
to educate its own people about the rest of the world. I, however, see signs that give Africans
reasons to vacillate each time China opens its arms. This is because there seems
to be a conscious and frantic effort to ensure that Chinese people are not
properly educated about black Africa. CCTV camera lenses seem to focus only on
dirty corners of the continent. Abuja, for instance, is a modest but sparkling
city. Each time CCTV broadcasts a report from Abuja, though, I do not see that
brilliance that has made the city the pride of Nigerians. Often, I am left sad.
Based on CCTV footages of the city, one would conclude that Abuja is an
indistinct city.
If the Western
Press had failed in giving its citizens a balanced photo of the continent, it
is expected that the Chinese nation would learn from it and avoid repetition of
the same mistakes. Sadly, though, CCTV (and, by implication, China) seems to
view this mistake as one that must be made if a nation must become powerful.
It has often
been said that dirty corners makes and sells news. But CCTV is not an organization
that was set up to generate income for the Chinese nation. If it is so, then
the aim of educating the people within and outside of China will not be
attained.
One phrase
that has become popular in China these days is “soft power”. Soft power is the influence that one has by
virtue of his appeal and persuasion of others. This is what makes America the
most powerful nation on earth. The idea of soft power is a relevant topic
because the Chinese are aware they need it if they most change the global
political order that makes America the most powerful nation on earth. If there
is distrust of China in Africa, perhaps China would rise to become the most
powerful economic nation, but not the most politically powerful.
I envy Chinese
prosperity. It would, however, be incomplete if Africa feels it was unfairly
drained of its resources and reputation. After all, Africa is the cradle of
mankind.
