The Director General and Global Liaison, Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP), Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe, has said the relationship between Nigeria and China is not exploitative in any way.
Mr. Tegbe, who was speaking at a book launch on Wednesday in Abuja, said Nigeria’s relationship with China has been mutually beneficial.
The three books, The Diplomatic Correspondent, Author’s Blueprint: How to Write, Publish and Succeed, and Balancing the Narratives: China-Africa Relations in the 21st Century, were written by Mr. Raphael Oni.
The NCSP boss, who was represented by the Head of Media and Public Relations at NCSP, Mr. Adeola Adelabu, said Nigeria should leverage the opportunity of its current relationship to learn from China because where Nigeria aspires to be, China has been there.
While congratulating the author of the books for providing some clarifications on some misconceptions about China-Africa relationships, especially the concept that China is pursuing a debt trap diplomacy in Africa, Tegbe said the concept of debt trap diplomacy was a cheap propaganda from the West to distract from the developmental strides of China in Africa.
The Director, Centre for China Studies, Dr. Charles Onunaiju, who acknowledged that there is a lot of misinformation about the true mission of China in Africa, said the only way to counter the propaganda in the Western media was by building a closer collaboration between the Chinese government and the Nigerian/African media.
He said the book Balancing the Narratives will surely be an invaluable resource material for people interested in understanding what China is doing in Nigeria and indeed Africa.
The reviewer of the books, Professor Sheriff Ghali Ibrahim, charged media professionals to be guided by fairness and objectivity in their reportage of China-Nigeria relations and to seek clarifications where they are in doubt.
The author of the books, Mr. Oni, while thanking his guests for honouring his invitation, said he was motivated to write Balancing the Narratives after a four-month media training trip to China.
He noted that there’s a need for closer collaboration between Chinese and African media, adding that China has been doing a lot for Nigeria, but the report has not been very positive. He said, “China is not pursuing debt trap diplomacy or a slave driver, it is a supportive ally.”
The book launch attracted members of the diplomatic corps, including representatives of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, the Sierra Leonean High Commission, the Embassy of Malaysia, among others.
THE GUARDIAN
