Some Nigerians are expressing concerns over the increasing number of educational scholarships and cultural exchanges being offered to Nigeria by China saying the development spells doom for the country.
They were speaking at a Town Hall meeting held on Raypower FM in Abuja, the nation’s capital on Monday.
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Secretary General of the Art Galleries Owners Association of Nigeria, Dr. Cornel Agim said China has over 11 cultural exchange agreements with Nigeria with government officials failing to implement safeguards that will protect Nigeria’s national interest. He identified selfishness on the part of government officials for their inability to implement the agreements in a way to protect Nigeria.
Former Director of Performing Arts at the National Council for Arts amd Culture, Dotun Osusanya called for streaming of government institutions involved in implementing foreign agreements as a way of ensuring Nigeria’s cultural interests in exchanges with China.
A political economist, Dr. Abu Hamisu said China is presently making efforts to become a global power and so, is desirous of achieving a global presence and one of the means of achieving this is through spreading of its culture across the world. He said Nigeria can counter this and protect its culture and heritage by improving the capacity of its thinktanks.
Demian-Mary Adeleke of the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education For All also expressed concerns about the establishment of Chinese Conficious institutes in some Nigerian Universities.
He also demanded more openness on the process of selection of beneficiaries of Chinese scholarships in Nigeria.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
