Prominent Political Science Professor, Bolaji Akinyemi, has urged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to exercise caution in handling deals with China.
Prof. Akinyemi, a former Director General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), voiced his concerns during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme.
“Of course, we should be careful, but don’t isolate the debt to China. There are also debts we owe the United States and even some medium-power countries,” Akinyemi stated.
“We need to be careful about two things: first, we shouldn’t default on that debt. Just a month before this African-Chinese Summit, Nigerian sovereign goods were being impounded worldwide at the instigation of a Chinese company.”
He stressed the importance of Nigeria fulfilling its obligations to all countries to avoid damage to its status, pride, and the seizure of sovereign assets due to non-compliance with agreements.
Akinyemi pointed at the ongoing competition between China and the United States for global economic dominance and stressed the need for Nigeria to demonstrate discipline in repaying borrowed funds on time.
President Tinubu recently visited China, where he held talks with President Xi Jinping and signed bilateral agreements during the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
Tinubu’s visit came weeks after a French court ruled in favour of a Chinese firm, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, allowing it to seize three Nigerian presidential jets undergoing routine maintenance in France as security in a long-standing judicial dispute with the Ogun State government.
Prof. Akinyemi also cautioned against agreements between state governments and sovereign entities, stressing that Nigeria, as the sovereign state, would be held accountable if any state defaults on its commitments.
He stated, “Nigeria as a sovereign country should keep an eye on the types and contents of agreements being signed by sub-nationals. States are not entities in global systems, they are not; Nigeria is the sovereign entity.
“Therefore, it is Nigeria that would be held responsible if states default in fulfilling agreements signed.”
Akinyemi criticised state governors for entering into and subsequently cancelling such deals, warning that it could create problems for the entire nation.
“The emperor in Nigeria is not the President in Abuja. The emperors in the political system in Nigeria are the governors because there is nobody who controls them. They have the state assemblies and the judges in their pockets, yet internationally, it is Nigeria that they get into problems,” he said.
