Chinese Loans to Nigeria: Need to ascertain the validity of loans supposedly advanced to the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Peoples Republic of China.

by Eze Eluchie,

Your Excellency, President Xi Jinping,

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of China

c/o Embassy of China to Nigeria

Abuja.

Dear Sir,

CHINESE LOANS TO NIGERIA: NEED TO ASCERTAIN THE VALIDITY OF LOANS SUPPOSEDLY ADVANCED TO THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA BY THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

Firstly, kindly accept our heartfelt congratulations on the firm and masterly manner you have steered the affairs of your country, leading her to enviable heights amongst nations. Your unique achievements which have now served to position The People’s Republic as a global leader and lead advocate for Free Trade, International Commerce, shared prosperity and multilateralism, particularly in the face of increasing introspective stance of the United States, is most commendable.

Likewise, your leadership role in striving to create alternate structures for global commerce and international engagement, and increasing financial, military and technical resources available to diverse entities and countries across the world, increasingly solidifies China’s position as a rising constant in global affairs.

It is with regards to the item mentioned in the preceding paragraph, “making financial.....resources available to diverse entities and countries”, with particular reference to financial assistance and loans purportedly accorded the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that we now have cause to engage in this correspondence with your Office.  

There has been a noticeable spike in the reports and numbers of Loans and financial facilities advanced from your Government and Chinese financial institutions, ostensibly to the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The loans and Financial facilities announced to have been accorded the current Muhammadu Buhari-led government in the course of the past three years has been unprecedented in the annals of Nigeria’s history and probably attaining unmanageable proportions, leading to serious concerns being raised in informed circles in Nigeria regarding the utility, authenticity and legal status of such loans and facilities.

As Your Excellency may well be aware, or have been informed by the Embassy of China in Nigeria, there are peculiar Constitutional and administrative prerequisites which serve to accord validity and legality to and authenticate any agreements (inclusive of agreements according Nigeria international loans and financial facilities) entered into (or purported to have been entered into) on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. When such prerequisites are absent, agreements purported to have been entered into with the Federal Republic of Nigeria are non-committal and not worth the paper they are written on.

I will like to bring to your notice the fact that Section 12 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), clearly stipulates that for any treaty entered into by officials of the Nigerian State to be valid and obligate the Nigerian state, such treaty must be ratified and domesticated by Nigeria’s National Assembly. Sections 80 – 83 of the same Constitution also outlaws any withdrawal of funds from Nigeria’s national treasury without prior authorization from the national Assembly – inclusive of repayments for and servicing of financial facilities earlier advanced..

A combination of the twin provisions of the Nigerian Constitution highlighted above absolves the Government and peoples of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from obligations and liabilities of whatsoever treaties entered into by any individual or entities whatsoever (inclusive of any present occupant of the Office of President of the Federal Republic), purporting to act for the Nigerian State. The Federal Republic of Nigeria cannot be held liable or obligated for Loans and or financial facilities and any other commitments or covenants purportedly entered into on Nigeria’s behalf which said agreements/treaties were not ratified and domesticated by the Nigerian National Assembly.

The caveats being raised here are particularly germane when the increasing agitation for holistic restructuring and renegotiation of Nigeria and the skewed and opaque manner with which the loans and financial facilities sourced from The Peoples Republic are deployed, are factored in. 

Let it be clearly pointed out at this juncture that this is not a call to cease all bilateral relationships and developmental collaborations and exchanges with the Federal Republic of Nigeria, rather it is a call for increased diligence and adherence to due processes towards ensuring that in reality when agreements are intended to be entered into with the Federal Republic, it is indeed the Federal Republic that is a party in such agreement and not merely some smart alecs (in both China and Nigeria) who are lining their pockets whilst purporting to enter into non-existent, non-binding bogus loan agreements and financial dealings. With knowledge of your governments swift and resolute stance against corruption by officials, we have no doubt that issues raised here will be accorded the urgent attention they deserve.

Let it also not be mistaken that this correspondence, in any way, serves to encourage disinterest in or does not welcome Chinese investments in Nigeria and across Africa in line with the noise orchestrated by some reactionary forces who have themselves bled Nigeria and the African continent dry for quite awhile – all investment which profit the domestic population are welcome.

Remain assured of our high regards.

For: Alert Citizenry.

Eze Eluchie, Esq.

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Picture: The Nigerian and Chinese Presidents, Muhammadu Buhari and President Xi Jinping.

As Another Mass Suicide Staged as ‘a Syrian Government Chemical Attack’ looms.

By Eze Eluchie

As the Syrian military and their Russian backers mass around the city of Idlib for what promises to be one-hell-of-a-dog-fight to retake the last remaining stronghold of the rebels in Syria, a battle that will, like others before in Allepo, Ghouta and Douma, end in favour of the forces of Bashir al-Assad, the rebels will as usual, try their oft repeated ploy to elicit a congregation of global revulsion against the Syrian Government by unleashing a suicidal attack against rebel held territories with the aim of eliciting global condemnation and blame for the attack on Syrian authorities.

When it is realized that slightly over 10,000 thousand Al-Nusra, Al-Qeida and other extremist Islamist terrorist are embedded with more than 2 million people in Idlib, terrorists who have shown a propensity for suicidal attacks and repeatedly exhibited no qualms in self-sacrifice and inflicting harms on self to spite the ‘enemy’, one understands the real possibility of the terrorists doing whatsoever they imagine would discredit the al-Assad regime – including recourse to using chemical weapons in rebel-held Idlib.

Threats by the US administration to strike at Syrian government forces in the event that chemical weapons are used in efforts at liberating Idlib can only serve to strengthen the resolve of the terrorists elements in Idlib to commit acts of mass suicide of epic proportions to engender global condemnation of  President al-Assad and set up a likely confrontation between US and Russian forces, who have rightly committed towards helping their Syrian allies to ensure territorial integrity of Syria is maintained.

It will really be ideal for safe-corridors to be provided for civilians and combatants who are willing to lay down their arms, trapped in Idlib, to exit the city, to allow for an expedited end to the now 7-year old Syrian civil war. The human catastrophe the Syrian civil war should be brought to an end as soon as possible to allow for the commencement of the rebuilding of this once great and historic territory.

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Picture: Children being fronted in protests against planned Syrian military efforts to liberate the last remaining rebel-held city of Idlib.

Saudi-Canadian Face-off: Exploring the Chink in the Western Armour.

by Eze Eluchie,

A few months ago, all that was required to get any errant ‘tyrannical’ State which had supposedly flouted recognized international human rights principles back on track, was for any Western Government to express concern over such violations. Worries expressed by relatively tiny Western countries such as Luxembourg or even the Principality of Liechtenstein, was enough to send chills down the spine of Governments across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and wheresoever. The Government being targeted with such outwardly expressed concern would, at the very least, roll out mechanisms to defend or justify its positions and except with the case of perceived extreme States such as North Korea, China and a few others, strive to explain its position or

That was before Donald Trump happened.

Nowadays, the pendulum has shifted. The ideological unity that made the West a formidable global force has waned. A chink has appeared in the all-for-one-and-one-for-all armour that once served to embolden otherwise minion States to talk down on other states far removed from their immediate geographical spheres. The spectre of a unified Sword of Damocles, personified in the likelihood of economic and political sanctions and international ostracization, hanging over errant States, which had hitherto served to keep non-Western countries on edge and ‘in-check’, was no longer in existence. Countries elsewhere now feel at liberty to assert themselves in the face of ‘lectures’ on their economy, human rights and social issues. The genie was out of the bag.

Clearly, when it expressed ‘concern’ over the detention of Saudi human right activists, Samar and Rafi Bardawi, The Dominion of Canada had not factored in the new global realities – the fact that in the Trump-era, every Western State is on its own. Reliance on previous Western solidarity in addressing issues of concern in non-Western States was no longer the norm or a foregone presupposition. For each and every such moves, you either await the early morning views of the President of the United States as expressed on Twitter or risk going it all alone. This lesson, Canada is learning the hard and long way.

The robust aggressive response of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Canada’s ‘expression of concern’ was simply not anticipated. Sacking the Canadian Ambassador; stopping flights from the Saudi national carrier (Saudia) to Canada; withdrawal of Saudi citizens on scholarships to Canadian educational institutions and with any more escalatory measures set to be rolled out, the Saudi authorities appear intent to set a defining tone to interference in what it considers its domestic affairs by Western countries. The deafening silence from the European Union and EU member States and the ere advice from the White House that both Canada and Saudi authorities should handle the matter with care, has left Canada feeling terribly lonely and like an island.

The new development marks the onset of very worrisome and trying times for freedoms, activists and liberals across the globe, the protection of fundamental rights across the world is now very much in question. Tyrants will try to exploit the situation to undermine fundamental rights and the commonality of humanity. Western countries, using the instrumentality of their combined, unified and cohesive angst against infractions on human dignity and rights, anywhere in the world, had served, to a great extent, as a bulwark against the excesses of dictators and oppressive regimes.

The exchanges between Saudi Arabia and Canada will no doubt, be observed with great trepidation and concern by progressives and activists in emerging societies, and concealed joy and expectations by dictators in far-flung territories.

President Donald Trump is really changing, for the worse, the face and modus of international cooperation and relations as the world had known it.

Picture: Flags of Saudi Arabia and Canada