By Owei Lakemfa
The primary reason a group of Nigerians had a meeting in Abuja with embassy and trade officials from Vietnam on Wednesday October 30, 2024 was to explore business opportunities for cooperation and development.
Why should Nigeria which five
decades ago had thriving granaries exporting cotton to Europe and, integrated
modern textile companies in places like Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Aba and Asaba be
begging Vietnam for textile expertise?
How come Nigeria in 1976 with a population of 64.658
million had over 500,000 textile workers, now with 234 million people, it has a
little over 20,000 workers in that industry?
Retired public servant, Suleiman
Haliru who comes from a family of cotton growers and, worked in that industry
as a boy, lamented that many of the thriving cotton and textile companies in
Kaduna are now beer parlours.
The participants at the meeting
which included retired diplomats, representatives of the ruling All
Progressives Congress, APC, former civil servants, journalists, businessmen and
women, the representative of the Kano State Government, Mr Nazir Haliru and
that of the National Assembly, Paul Gowon Haruna, struggled to find answers.
Even so, more questions
continued to pop up. Why is Vietnam so food-sufficient that it not only feeds
its population but also exports so much food, while the Nigerian populace is
crying: “We are hungry”? How come the Vietnamese population living below the
poverty line is 4.2 per cent while that of Nigeria is above 80 percent?
Ambassador Sani Bako, MFR,
the pioneer Nigerian Ambassador to Vietnam who is also the Chairman of the
Nigeria-Vietnam Economic Trade and Cultural Association, made a critical
observation. He noted that Vietnam which was razed to the ground during its
20-year war of independence against the United States with the latter applying
chemicals to ensure the lands were unusable, is today exporting rice to scores
of countries. He added: “Prayers are very good, but we should also stand up to
make our country work.”
The Vietnamese team led by its
ambassador, Mr Bui Quoc Hung, said after the war, the United States for years
imposed blockade and sanctions on Vietnam, but that the country survived and
has thrived because the people are united and, have a focused leadership which
sees itself as part of the population. The politics of Vietnam, he said, is
quite stable under the leadership of the Communist Party which is now the sole
political party.
On international
relations, he said: “In terms of ideology, we are socialists. But we have to
trade with the capitalists; we have to shake hands with the capitalists. We
have enjoyed international co-operation, support and solidarity.”
Its Bamboo Tree Diplomacy that
draws inspiration from the bamboo plant which is of cultural significance, he
said, emphasises open and independent relations with all countries. This, he
said, has seen world leaders visiting, including “Bush the Father, Bush the
son” and Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.
The Vietnamese economy, he explained, has been so diversified that just as it is assisting the United Arab Emirate develop food sufficiency, so it is importing cashew nuts from Nigeria, building chips for Artificial Intelligence entities, manufacturing electric cars, and producing 35 per cent of the Samsung mobile phones. He said all the while, Vietnam stayed true to its agricultural roots which sees it utilising bamboo and the banana tree for all sorts of products, including textile, and planting rice everywhere, including the mountains.
The Vietnamese, he said,
have turned planting rice to an art form, so well that it has become a tourist
attraction. He said rice requires just four basic needs to grow: water,
fertilizer, good seedling and hard work, adding that despite the rich varieties
available, his country is still engaged in rice research.
Vietnam, he said, has developed due to the
resilience, hard work and collective determination of the people.
In answering the questions, the
ambassador said everything he was wearing was produced by his country and that
unlike Nigeria, the Vietnamese have their cultural textiles and national brand.
As the discussions continued, Mr
Hung decided to speak frankly. First, he said there are practices in Nigeria
that cannot happen in his country. He gave the example of the Vietnamese Trade
Consular NguyenChi Mai who came in from Lagos and had her return time
unilaterally changed by the airline.
Secondly, he said, when
Vietnamese businessmen hear about kidnappings and terrorism in Nigeria, they
are reluctant to come. Thirdly, that the Nigerian business environment is not
friendly. Fourthly, he said it is difficult for Vietnamese investors to cope
with an ever-fluctuating foreign currency system, especially when Nigeria relies
entirely on the dollar rather than also use alternative currencies like the RMB
(Yuan) or Russian Ruble. He also thinks Nigeria’s infrastructure needs
updating, adding that there are no power failures in his country.
Nigeria, he suggested, needs to
invest in education so that issues of lecturers in tertiary institutions
protesting about pay would no longer occur. He said the prevailing unfavourable
situation is making many Nigerian children go abroad for studies.
He also noted that a lot of food
is wasted in Nigeria due to lack of food processing, saying: “You take
pineapple in the morning and in the evening, you throw the rest away.”
He said he could not easily move
around in the first year of his posting as he had to wait for long to present
his Letter of Credence. He said he has been to Lagos and looks forward to
visiting other parts of the country to explore business opportunities for his
country. Vietnam, he said, has good and clear policies on small and medium size
enterprises, making them blossom.
The Ambassador said he has to go
with his car and driver to places like Wuse Market and the mall to make
purchases but that in Vietnam, he walked because virtually in every corner one
can purchase what he needs.
Talking about diversity, he said
his country has more than 50 nationalities speaking different languages, but
that the citizens are conscious that they are one people.
Ambassador Bako, in his closing remarks, said: “The
Ambassador has been quite frank, but unless you are frank, you are not going to
make it.” I concur, but need to add that when your friend tells you the truth,
you don’t need to quarrel over it as you have the democratic right either to
accept or reject it. Both have consequences.
*Lakemfa is a commentator on public issues
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