Tsiya:

as far u know, we are Nigerians now, anytime we talk about contract, we mean govt is paying for it. ppl sometime forget that just an agreement is a contract

Contract is not AID!!! It Implies there is some business agreement, that probably should not be broken.

@Tsiya

I do not understand you.This is contract meaning it is biz.Aid from China Think again.

@ kobojunkie

You really can't expect to get away with making statements like 'the Jakande primary schools cost less and worked fine!'
What exactly are you on about? Would you allow your  own kids to attend Jakande schools?

Furthermore, considering the lack of rural infrastructure in Nigeria any such aid is to be gratefully welcomed.
You say $250,000 is too much for a primary school.  Have you got a detailed breakdown of costs of the project?
You don't reason that included in the costs are not just classrooms and administrative buildings but computer systems as well as staff training costs.
Moreover  considering the rural location you don't envisage that they will have to set up electricity generating plants as well as modern water supply and disposal systems. (The most important requirement is for these systems to be sustainable)

What rural areas in Africa need is practical help not empty slogans from aid workers.

@Kobojunkie

why you wan come do yourself like this for this thread?

So you don't know an agreement is a contract?

If you say I'm anti-west, then I'm sure you believe Canada is in the East.

nex:

@Kobojunkie
If you say I'm anti-west, then I'm sure you believe Canada is in the East.

hahahahaha lol
so kobojunkie thinks canada is in the east wat a dunce!

tensor777:

@ kobojunkie

You really can't expect to get away with making statements like 'the Jakande primary schools cost less and worked fine!'
What exactly are you on about? Would you allow your own kids to attend Jakande schools?

I was schooled in Jakander buildings. I am not sure what you are trying to make this, but I suggest you read my post again to understand what the message really is.

tensor777:

Furthermore, considering the lack of rural infrastructure in Nigeria any such aid is to be gratefully welcomed.
You say $250,000 is too much for a primary school.

Could you please post the exact line from my own posts so far where you get the above in bold from?

tensor777:

Have you got a detailed breakdown of costs of the project?

May I suggest you consult the very post where I highlight the fact that we have no plans to go by? Cause I am starting to think you are just reacting without even thinking to follow the conversations so far.

tensor777:

You don't reason that included in the costs are not just classrooms and administrative buildings but computer systems as well as staff training costs.

Do you claim to have the detailed plan then for you to make the claim above? Cause you also mentioned that non one has it on here.

tensor777:

Moreover considering the rural location you don't envisage that they will have to set up electricity generating plants as well as modern water supply and disposal systems. (The most important requirement is for these systems to be sustainable)

What rural areas in Africa need is practical help not empty slogans from aid workers.

Again, this is not about ME but about you making assumptions that are not included in the article. I tghink you ought to read the thread/discussion before responding.

What is one miilion dollars in comparison with all our money that politicians steal everyday?We need eagle eyes chinese to spend one million dollars to build our schools,we are like destitutes,in all endeavours of life,we lack.

@ kobojunkie

Yes we appreciate your honesty in telling us where you schooled, but it doesn't really answer the question about whether you would send your children to such schools and more pertinently how you envisage such  schools would meet current national 21st century developmental goals.

You are the one coming up with all these negative ideas about the project and yet you have not even bothered to read its terms and conditions.

To be fair, you can talk generically about the Chinese in Africa and question what their overall strategy is, but  before  you  come out with negativisms about a particular, sorely needed aid project , you should at least be acquainted with the accompanying contract document.

China!! china!! copywrite  maybe dey wan teach us the way to, C:

Whats there that an indigenous contractor cannot do? Theres no way its going to be cheaper after probably importing raw materials from china. Must we spend money unnecessary

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, una don even chook head inside the jackey nyash.

This is not only messed up, there's something suspicious about this.

Why can'tthe Govt. give the job to graduate engineers looking for job in Nigeria? Are these ppl thinking?

This is CRAP!!!

If they collect the N100billion stolen by Bode George, they will build enough school!

If they collect the $16billion stolen by OBJ, they will build enough universities and equip them.

So we should tell China to go away with their N107 million because we will recover our billions from Bode George and OBJ and till then we should wait?

Why do people just mention billion dollars as if it is moi-moi?

There is no Nigerian or group of Nigerians that has $16 billion.

tensor777:

@ kobojunkie

Yes we appreciate your honesty in telling us where you schooled, but it doesn't really answer the question about whether you would send your children to such schools and more pertinently how you envisage such schools would meet current national 21st century developmental goals.

You are the one coming up with all these negative ideas about the project and yet you have not even bothered to read its terms and conditions.

To be fair, you can talk generically about the Chinese in Africa and question what their overall strategy is, but before you come out with negativisms about a particular, sorely needed aid project , you should at least be acquainted with the accompanying contract document.

Please try to go back and read the conversation, so you can better ask questions that apply to what this has been about. Thank you!!

vivian 1:

Whats there that an indigenous contractor cannot do? Theres no way its going to be cheaper after probably importing raw materials from china. Must we spend money unnecessary

Thank you for reading the article as is. This is OUR GOVERNMENT contracting the building of our schools to another GOVERNMENT. It just seems too ridiculous to be acceptable any way one tries to explain it away!!

Thanking the Chinese government for what she described as “kind gesture” and immense contribution to the development of the educational sector in the country, the minister recalled that the Chinese government had consistently assisted Nigeria with many projects in the education sector since in the seventies.

According to her, “this particular assistance is unique and significant because it arises from the forum of China-African Cooperation (FOCAC) where the Chinese President, Mr. Hu Jintao, magnanimously approved the construction of hundred rural primary schools in different African countries with four being allocated to Nigeria, the highest a single country received in Africa.”

I strongly believe this must be an aid from Chinese goveernment, If not why should Nigerian government give out the contract of building schools to a chinese government, Does it mean that Nigeria has no capable hands that can construct Good school, ?

A lot of people here are mixing up terms. Contract here means a written agreement by the chinese government and the Nigerian government to carry out specified services.(Nigerian services being things like consular/visa assistance, provision of land,etc)
It is not about the government awarding a contract to the chinese government. The nigerian government is not in any way funding the project
The prime beneficiaries of this project are the 4 rural communities where the primary schools are to be built.
Again the federal government would still be obliged to build primary schools throughout the country in accordance with its own budget.

That is simply what it is. I don't know where others are getting their own understanding from. The word contract as limited in Nigerian lingo is what caused this whole confusion.

Aid has to be agreed to by both donor and recipient. The document of the agreement is the contract. Chinese firms have won contracts what billions of dollars without their and consul making a fuss about it.

This one is aid or in Nigerian parlance, "dem dash us".

'but China’s assistance is sincere and unselfish'

- Does anyone believe this?

That is the policy they have worked with all over the world. Separating aid from politics and business, separating business from politics.

When we say aid is unconditional, that means there's no if, until or unless about it.

There was once a country that wanted to go to war in Iraq so much that they promised Guinea which was a temporary member of the UN security council, $4 billion of aid if it voted for the war. That is not aid. That is bribery.

Aid is for you to love a country more and make your relationship stronger as friends or allies, not to bribe, threaten or condition another country.

Today, ou see many countries, once they have misunderstandings with another will threaten to cut aid. Then it wasn't aid in the first place, it was a tool of control and enslavement.

Aid in itself simply means help. So is help not sincere and unselfish? Abi the "Good Samaritan" had ulterior motives?

Farrang:

'but China’s assistance is sincere and unselfish'

- Does anyone believe this?

Lol . . . . let's wait and see what comes next. I just hope this will not move our government to sign over the re-construction of all or majority of our schools to other governments in the future.

Well, I guess the Chinese goverment is one of the very few on this planet that is so sincere and unselfish in their relationship with others. However, it will be good if our leaders and those who are being led would resist the subtle way in which we are being re-colonized. While most people will agree in principle that nothing goes for free, we still cant understand that most of these aids are linked to some business interests (sometimes only associated with the subsidiary ventures they generate). Another undeniable fact is that it becomes difficult for us on the diplomatic arena to raise our voice as a nation against these foreign goverments when we have ideological differences because they have 'bought us over' by their aids, which unfortunately actually tie us down on the ladder of development. It may be difficult as individuals to appreciate some of these points because we see schools being built with the assistance of a foreign goverment-which is a wonderful thing. But as a state, particularly with the market and resources as Nigeria, one must be critical of the Chinese. Their not-so-impressive record at homefront and in places like Tibet gives litle doubt to what power means to them.  Also, the current drive of China to dominate the world stage and capture Africa (with the additional benefits of its cheap and substandard products), even if it means doing business with corrupt Nigerian officials should make everyone weary and think of what this generation and the ones unborn will be loosing if we settle for everything without a critical appraisal of real value, motive and the overall benefits to our dear country.

@ farrang

Are you for real? Where did you develop such a cynical mindset? So when the nigerian government helps its west african neighbours it is for selfish gain and to recolonise them??

It does not occur to you that the economic prosperity and development of Africa is in China's interests. Why?

1) There will be a new market for its exports

2) China would be able to diversify its investment portfolio

Or you think their leaders are so short-sighted as not to recognise that to sustain its economic growth the Chinese businesses must have new markets for their goods and services.

Still on my point
I think I should first clearify that my use of the word 're-colonize' does not mean the old-fashioned practice where some immigrants establish themselves and take political control of the indigines (although that still happens today in some quarters). My assumption is that most people on this blog are knowledgeable enough to understand that neo-colonialism, to which I was referring in my earlier post, is the is the big stick they (foreign goverments) use to keep us in check.
Having understood the aforementioned, it may do us all some good to note that while goverments render to one another different forms of assistance to strengthen their relationships, there is also a critical balance of protecting individual political and economic interests, which unfortunately, is often bias against us. Curtesy of our Gana-must-go leaders. Consider China in her relationshp with the US for example.
@tensor777
If I take your points stated in (1) and (2) with all seriousness, then it would appear that both of us have reached the same conclusion (despite the misappropraition of 're-colonize') which is the fact that China is simply trying to gain market for her products (sometimes substandard though). Contrast this conclusion with 'but China’s assistance is sincere and unselfish' as carried by the report. If you factor-in some of the good points raised by @fayahsoul, you will have to agree that our nation's strategic interest is not at the heart of some of these aids. Or what stops our own leaders from being long-sighted and catapulting Nigeria into development by harnessing those human and material capital like China.
I will also like to put it to you that though Nigeria has been very active in other African countries on humanitarian grounds, some of these may not be unconnected with selfish gain and neo-colnialism. The slight difference would be that Nigeria has not optimised her production capabilities (shamefully still struggling with power supply), hence we can not capture those coutries for our economic advantage apart from those in goverment who will always get their cut from every deal. A very recent example is the $10 million loan saga to Sao Tome and Principe. You may need to do some research on what project the loan is to be spent on and the people in Nigeria who have some business connection to the execution of that project to get the right perspective here.
As per where I developed my cynical mindset, I will say respectfully without taking offence, that I have a woking knowledge of the economic dominance of China in a country in Asia, where most conglomerates are Chinese-owned, and as such they have almost killed small scale businesses and competition in the market. While I agree that this is a global phenomenon due to globalization, we may also need to understand that economic power, probably besides nuclear warheads is a key to political control. Hence, Nigerian leaders must wake up, shun corruption and develop our country rather than keep us perpectually at the mercy of other countries (not only limited to China)

Kobojunkie:

Lol . . . . let's wait and see what comes next. I just hope this will not move our government to sign over the re-construction of all or majority of our schools to other governments in the future.

of course nothing is free but the question should be does the advantages outweigh the negatives?
and i think it does until u prove to us otherwise.

why the hell do nigerians always have to bad mouth every good thing happening in the country if govt build bridge u will say no build school instead. if govt build school, same yeye ppl will say no built bridge instead. warrahell?? lol


i personally think it's good news.

Very good news. I've never heard anybody complain about re-colonization when the USA promise all their never-coming aid.

Have we now re-colonized Sierra Leone and Liberia. Some countries even Nigeria give sincere and unselfish aid.

@post
Everyday Nigeria and China signs multibillion dollar contracts, and yet we have not seen any completed project on ground, sincerely its disturbbing to me.

We may agree or disagree on many issues including this Chinese aids/contract, as that in itself is not as crucial as how we are able to gain wisdom from one another in moving Nigeria forward. Hopefully, contributors here share a common goal-to see a better Nigeria.  In that wise, maybe we should just use this case as a template to understanding the wider problem of leadership crises in our country.

oyinda.:

of course nothing is free but the question should be does the advantages outweigh the negatives?
and i think it does until u prove to us otherwise.

why the hell do nigerians always have to bad mouth every good thing happening in the country if govt build bridge u will say no build school instead. if govt build school, same yeye ppl will say no built bridge instead. warrahell?? lol


i personally think it's good news.

It will take a close examination of international politics vis a vis economic interests to put certain issues in the right perspective. I maintain that those of us at the bottom of the food chain may not easily decipher what the power players are up to in some of these things. But to save my breath, if the majority opinion is that the advantages outweights the disadvatanges, then let it be. That afterall is the beuty of democracy.

nex:

Very good news. I've never heard anybody complain about re-colonization when the USA promise all their never-coming aid.

Have we now re-colonized Sierra Leone and Liberia. Some countries even Nigeria give sincere and unselfish aid.

I think many people complain about the US domination and 're-colonization' through their aids, including loans. But whether or not we hear depends on the 'channel' to which we are tuned. At least I have heared reputable academics and ASUU point it out to successive Nigerian goverments that allowing the IMF and World bank to direct some of our fiscal policy isn't the best for our country. I believe we all know that the US is the biggest contributor to some of these international institutions. But again, if we fail to put things in the right perspective we might want to think that when the US send us rice (unlabelled, and genetically modified), computer hardware, drugs and vaccines, testbooks for use in our libraries e.t.c, they are doing us good. Yes they are. Who will debate that? But the truth of the matter is that we can not run a country like this and expect development. That the US is properous was not due aids from Britian nor was India stupid not to have developed her manpower. Even the Chinese, despite their problems have a strategy for deveopment. Rather than creating discussions about China building us schools, why cant our leaders put the resources we have to good use without and make us proud among other nations?
In the strictest sence of the workings transnational political equations, we should not only have colonized Sierra Leone and Liberia, but most part of Africa, except for the 'Nigerian factor' that has plagued us over the years.