Citizens lament as website of Nigerian embassy in China carries Jonathan’s picture as president

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MANY Nigerians on social media in series of tweets bewail the ineptitude shown on the official website of their country’s embassy in China that still bears the picture of former President Goodluck Jonathan as Nigerian leader, and former minister of foreign affairs, Aminu Wali as the incumbent minister.

Despite appointing Baba Ahmad Jidda, a former Secretary of Borno state government and former ambassador to Burkina Faso as ambassador to China in 2017, the website has been inactive since 2013.

Unlike Nigeria, the Chinese embassy in Nigeria keeps a well-documented and updated website as the website is flooded with photographs of the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, ZHOU Pingjian and Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari.

On the website, there are also updated information concerning Nigeria – China relations and events, a way at which citizens of the country can keep abreast of the activities of their government and the host nation.

It is noteworthy that there are over 20,000 Chinese living in Nigeria.

 Nigeria relationship with China

For decades, Nigeria and the People’s Republic of China have maintained a robust relationship as China is one of the many financial backbones of the Nigerian government.

The majority of Nigeria’s importation is from China, a situation that called for an earlier currency swap deal between Nigeria and China signed by President Buhari.

CGC Nigeria Limited (China Geo-engineering Company) and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) both Chinese owned companies handle major construction works in Nigeria, most especially major Nigerian roads.

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In 2016, Buhari spent one week in China on official duty which he eventually said yielded investment worth over $6bilion for Nigeria.

Also in 2018, Buhari’s administration borrowed $328 million dollars from China for the purpose of facilitating telecommunications as well as IT infrastructure in Nigeria.

Although there were concerns over the debt profile of the country which made the then governor of Ekiti state write to China not to grant loans to the Buhari government.

This signifies that there is a good and mutual relationship between China and Nigeria.

What Nigerians are saying

“American Embassy in China already has a huge ‘HEALTH ALERT’ banner on their website with info on provinces to avoid in China. They also put contact details to reach & info required, Canadian Embassy has an emergency contact for anyone in need of help, Well, I am just saying,”  Tunde Omotoye, a social media user commented.

Commenting on Omotoye’s reaction, another Nigerian, who identified himself as Aspirin wrote that, “remember when I said every damn sector is messed up”.

Mr. Talking Drum, while lamenting and questioning the situation said, “What did we really do to our leaders? What is our offense”.

“We are perpetually living in the past, a relic of an ancient catastrophe,” said a user who identified himself as Hoch-zeit1607.

Many other Twitter users tweeted uncomplimentary remarks about Buhari administration.