Let me start by reminding everyone that this is just a Forum. Lets be respectful and Courteous. At least thats the intention. Please lets be civil and Candid.

I want to know the opinions of People about the Chinese Community (Businessmen, Enterprenuer) in Nigeria in particular and Africa at large. Are they helping or hurting the progress of the country?

My personal opinion or ( Bias ) is that in general, they tend to be more money focused hence little attention is paid to enviroment, pollution, Good treatment of workers etc. I hope im wrong.

In a country with barely functioning healthcare system. Can we really afford these negative things? My purpose is to hear from people with first hand knowledge especially people in Nigeria who are at the fore front of things who know whats going on.

Please don't hijack the thread and lets be civil.

Thanks

Take a step into China where they come from to get a clue what we MIGHT be heading towards if we are not careful. I do wonder, with all the reCalls in the USA, I am hoping China does not end up dumping all that crap down there in Africa. I mean, now more than ever, I feel we need standards put in place for all imported goods. I mean we need to have a testing lab of some kind put in place. It is bad enough that the average Nigerian child can not get good education, we do not need to add lead and other horrible things to his life.

Courtesy, Dollarjunkie, ( KoboJunkie's Alter ego)

A lot of misinformation has gone on about this product recall brouhaha. Almost everything exported and sold worldwide has a major component of its manufacture in Japan. If it were all bad, then nothing would work anywhere or be safe by now. The toothpaste thing occurred as a result of unscrupulous business men, as can be found anywhere.

The bulk of the recent recalls - most notably toys and the like due to lead contents, was as a result of the implementation of a new standard on lead content, the products were manufactured to specification, but because the rules had changed, the companies (Western - UK, Europe owned) needed to comply. In the aftermath of the entire drama Mattel (one of the largest product recalls) apologised to the Chinese govt, saying they went overboard with the recall, and that most of those products were safe.

How many Chryslers, Jeeps and other products are recalled in the US annually due to some faulty part or the other? A lot can go wrong during manufacturing, that may not even be detected till much later. The fact that issues such as these come up show that there is tight control in general, some people will always try to break the law, but they will get caught.

Interesting but how come the recalls continue? And how come the recalls include toys from 4 years ago ??

The air in many cities throughout mainland Chinese is the most heavily polluted in the world, since that country has paid little or no attention to the control of industrial and automotive emissions.   It is therefore unlikely that any Chinese-run industry located in Nigeria will take any meaningful measures to reduce dangerous air or ground-water pollutants.

On a more worrisome note, the Chinese have an INSATIABLE demand for forest timber, and have no scruples whatsoever about clear-felling tropical rain-forest wherever on the globe they can gain access to it.   A Chinese company was expelled from the forests of the Niger Delta some years ago due to the unrestrained and unsustainable plunder they visited on the land there, with no re-afforestation programs contemplated or implemented on the vast areas they laid bare.

If the Chinese can at some point buy or bribe their way into Nigeria's dwindling forest reserves, they will only leave after  they have comprehensively decimated every last standing tree and turned all forest areas they can find into barren and dusty waste-lands.   Since climate change and forest coverage are inextricably linked, the devastating climate change consequences of wide-spread deforestation in Nigeria are truly frightening to contemplate, and for this reason above all others, the Chinese need to be very closely monitored as they stealthily infuse themselves into Africa.

On the subject of labor relations,  Chinese industrial concerns in Nigeria have proven themselves to be exploitative, harsh and vindictive employers who tread roughshod on workers' rights in a manner only outdone by the Indians who basically treat their African employees like livestock.

These Gung-Fu guys need to be watched REAL close in Nigeria.

The "chinese" people are nobody's friend or foe.  They look out for only their individual and collective best interest. Can you blame them? Something for Nigeria to learn in the next lifetime---not this one.  Way too late to teach an old goaty new tricks!

It all depend on what we want friend/foe because sincerely speaking they can be both.