China is no longer responding to our loan request, we are soliciting for loans now in European countries ~ Mr Rotimi Amechi, Nigeria’s minister for transportation.
The Nigerian Minister for transportation has claimed that the reason why they have been unable to finish some of the railway projects they have at hand is due to the unavailability of funds. In his words, China has stopped giving out loans to Nigeria to fund Nigerian projects and the best alternative is to shop for loans now in the European nations.
The Nigerian government has a knack for constant borrowing and running to countries and world financial institutions for financial help. The problem is not borrowing or seeking out for financial help, the problem has always been the proper utilization and management of the funds borrowed.
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For a country that is in debt to the tune of 38 trillion naira, no project or capital investment(s) can the government point at to justify the spendings and utilization of those loans collected from World Bank, United States, the UK, China, Japan, Switzerland etc.
The bitter truth is, whether the government likes it or not, the Nigerian government will definitely repay back every dime they owe or have ever borrowed; even to the last kobo of it. When countries of the world throw money at you or other international organizations give you money, it is not a free gift, nobody is Father Christmas, although some of the loans could be written off but it should be noted that if you don’t pay back in cash you will definitely pay back in kind.
China for example has been accused of debt trapping diplomacy in Africa. What this means is that China is using loans and monetary gifts to entrap African countries and gain political and economic influence in those countries for colonization. China has also been accused of using loans and the so-called free money to gain so much influence, harvest intels, swing votes in their favour in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The Nigerian government should be careful of always running to countries for loans without reading to the last prints of the terms and conditions. One of the terms and conditions of some of those loans granted is that the lender will take over the national asset if the borrower fails to repay back at a particular time. This was the case in Uganda when the lender (China) was accused of trying to take over the only international airport in Uganda for the Ugandan government’s failure to repay back the 200 million dollars loan they got from China for the building of the airport.