A former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode says China could never take over Nigeria even if the country defaulted in repaying loans owed to the Southeast Asian nation.
He stated this in a series of tweets in reaction to the controversy generated by the “sovereignty clause” purportedly included in Nigeria’s loan agreements with the communist nation.
The National Assembly had berated the Federal Executive Council recently for allegedly ousting Nigeria’s sovereignty to secure a $400 million loan from China in 2018 to finance the Nigeria National Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure Backbone Phase II Projects.
This is just as figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO) showed that Nigeria is currently indebted to China to the tune of $3.121 billion as of March 31, 2020.
This, the office said, represents 3.94 per cent of Nigeria’s total public debt of $79.303 billion, and 11.28 per cent of external debt stock of $27.67 billion.
However, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi denied that the Federal Government signed away Nigeria’s sovereignty through the loan agreements, a position backed by the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria.
Nevertheless, Fani-Kayode said China would never be able to take over Nigeria, should it come to that, without a long and bitter war.
He extolled the virtues of Nigerians as a bold and resilient people backed by God.
Fani-Kayode wrote, “People say China will take over Nigeria’s sovereignty if we fail to pay back their loans. China has denied this but even if they wanted to do so it can NEVER happen.
“Seizing assets for non-repayment of loans is one thing but taking over a nation’s sovereignty is another.
“You cannot take over another country’s sovereignty without a war. They would have to kill us all first before they can take over our nations sovereignty & independence.
“They would have to come here, conquer us by force of arms, remove our flag & raise theirs over our territory.
“I repeat this will NEVER happen. We may not have their wealth, strength, technology, knowledge or fire power but we have GOD and those of us that are decent & patriotic would DIE fighting for our nation, our dignity, our self-respect, our people & our motherland. No nation can take over another’s sovereignty without a fight, no lion can take over another’s territory and pride without a bitter and ferocious struggle and no man can take over another’s house or home without a bloody and cataclysmic conflict.
“We may not be perfect & we may have many problems as a people but we must never forget that we are still a nation of 200 million citizens who are bold, , strong-willed & irrepressible. No nation,no matter how big or powerful,can intimidate us. We are too big for that.”