‘ How China can fit into Nigeria’s foreign policy mix’
THE Nigerian Institute of International Affairs ( NIIA) has called on China to make more efforts towards understanding and implementing Nigeria's foreign policy trajectory, which majors on development, democracy, demography and diaspora.
Director General, NIIA, Prof Eghosa Osaghae, said China should begin to expand its horizon beyond state engagement, explaining that they should diversify their investment more to involve the private sector as against the public sector to drive the economy.
This was at the Lagos Forum 2024, themed, ' The Chinese in the Nigerian Economy - Deepening Development Cooperation: Towards A
Shared Future, A Better World', in Lagos and the book launch of ' The Chinese in the Nigerian Economy', authored by Mr Ikenna Emewu in Lagos.
The event was organised by NIIA in partnership with the Chinese Consulate General in Lagos, Africa- China Economy Magazine and Institute of African Studies, ZNU, China.
On demography, Prof Osaghae said the country should seek ways to partner with Nigeria in reducing poverty levels through investments in manufacturing, while stating the need to mainstream the Nigerian diaspora into the organic framework of foreign policy.
Speaking on Nigerian Perspective of China- Nigeria Relations, he said the struggle has always been about deconstructing past structures so that hegemony and superpower, which would destroy multilateralism, are not reproduced.
"It is known that hegemonic competition and rivalry is a counterforce to multilateralism because it makes it almost impossible for the system to have its full expression in the areas of collaboration, partnership and shared prosperity," he said.
Osaghae sug gested that it's time to determine how far China can help Nigeria deconstruct the global power structures using continuous decolonisation as an instrument to ensure the global order works for Nigeria.
Consul General of the People’s Republic of China, Yan Yuqing, said that with the current challenges, there is a need for an equal, orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation.
She explained that China advocates that the multipolarity of the world should be equal, through which all countries, regardless of size, are treated as equals, hegemonism and power politics are rejected, and democracy is truly promoted in international relations.
She stated that in 2023, China- Nigeria bilateral trade reached $ 22.56 billion while reiterating that the progress toward greater multipolarity should be stable and constructive, and the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter must be observed by all, and universally recognised.
She explained that China desires a universally beneficial economic globalisation, that meets the common needs of all countries, especially the developing countries, and properly addresses the development imbalances between and within countries resulting from the global allocation of resources.