By Zik Gbemre

With recent reports that the administrator of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), Michael Yigao, has disclosed that the fifteen Chinese doctors who arrived in the Federal Republic of Nigeria on April 2020, are with the CCECC, I cannot help but why then would the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, come out publicly some weeks ago to tell Nigerians that the Federal Government does not know the whereabouts of the said Chinese doctors?

To me, this looks like a child’s play and shameful development concerning any Government. For a supposed Federal Government official to speak out, that the Chinese doctors are at large somewhere in Nigeria, and all of sudden the Chinese company involved are coming out to tell us that they have been found in the country – it all looks stupid. This makes one wonder if these supposed Federal Government Officials deserve to be appointed at the local government council level as supervisory councilors or elected as a ward councilor, not to talk of being at the Federal level of Government. This is unheard of in any part of the world, except in Nigeria. Are these people taking Nigerians as fools, that they think we can be told anything, and we would swallow it? What exactly do they take Nigerians for?

I have noted how it is the height of irresponsibility, dereliction of statutory function and gross carelessness, for Nigerians to be told by its Federal Government supposedly elected to protect the well-being and welfare of its people, that they do not know the whereabouts of the Chinese medics team who were given the red carpet when they came into Nigeria some weeks back to offer assistance in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

We are told in the reports, according to Yigao, that the said Chinese medical team came specially to assist CCECC fight the Covid-19 pandemic and defend its workers. But the question is, are the Chinese doctors qualified to practice medicine in Nigeria without being certified by the Nigerian Medical Council in the first place? Who certified them to practice medicine in Nigeria? Is this not enough reason for one to believe that Nigeria has been sold out to China for a dime and a farthing.

In my own opinion, the existing Nigerian-China diplomatic relations is very uneven and not genuine. It is a relationship that depicts the picture of: he who pays the piper dictates the tune. Otherwise, why would these Chinese come into Nigeria to do whatever please them, and they still mistreat and discriminate against Nigerians in China.

Sadly, our Nigerian political leaders are towing their path and encouraging this situation because of their selfish interests and gain in the whole modern-enslavement relationship with China. Now that it seems like Nigerian politicians cannot easily export misappropriated public funds to the UK and US, and keep same in their banks for themselves and their families because such funds are likely to be seized and repatriated to Nigeria; so they formulated/developed a this new relationship with China, who are obviously good at covering up for them. And this is because China on their part, is only interested in what they will gain from Nigeria, hence they are being patronized to construct poor quality infrastructure, at the same time encourage Nigerian business people to bring in fake goods from China into Nigeria.

I have repeated myself severally that China cannot be trusted one bit. But unfortunately, the Chinese are trusted by Nigerian politicians and business people because of their alleged shady trade deals. It is no news that the UK and US are more likely to arrest Nigerian politicians for money laundering. But with China, they will be encouraged to loot every public fund to keep same in China, and also be used in to buy their inferior goods to import into Nigeria. Do we blame China? Obviously not! We blame our Nigerian politicians who have allegedly sold our country to China for their personal gains.

Zik Gbemre.

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