Daily Trust - the online edition
| Asians and Kano people |
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| Sunday, 27 April 2008 | ||||||
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Generally, Kano State has for long been the choice of many Asian nationalities but especially the Lebanese and Indians. It is today the Chinese. We have a proof that Kano State has been the choice of many Asians. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has for long maintained a consulate-general here. Lebanon too has one. Turkey and Syria have since established their consulates-general in the state. Surprisingly, the Indians are yet to establish their own despite the fact that they too have a lot of business in the state. I wonder why the Chinese are yet to establish a consulate in Kano. Why is Kano the choice of many Asians for long? According to historical facts, almost 11 decades ago, the Lebanese had begun to arrive here on business mission. We have seen in recent years they even celebrated 1st century of their arrival in the state. Many of them were born here and they fluently speak our language. Many of them have had opportunity to see their ancestral country only once or twice in life! The Indians too have lived here for long. But in their case, they came here as expatriates in the state civil service particularly as teachers or medical doctors. Others came here but purely as businessmen and women. Who is next? But in recent years we have witnessed a rapidly growing number of Chinese businessmen and women coming to our state. What do they want in our state? We have however, seen them in restaurant business. On the streets of Kano, one can see quite a number of Chinese restaurants. But I don’t really known why they prefer bakery business and they are making it. As a diabetic patient, I have made this discovery because I buy on daily basis a better and sugar-free wheat bread. To find a good one, I must go to Chinese bakeries. I am reluctant to do this because they may hardly buy any food or drink from an African bakery in China if there is any! I don’t want to mention Indians who will not and can never come near it! But Kano is full of rich men and women who can establish better bakeries in order to keep the state economically alive. But why are they reluctant to do so? The Asians are here as investors. They provide employment opportunities to Kano indigenes. They even pay tax to our government. They work hard with a high sense of determination in order to succeed. Can’t we emulate their good examples? To the Asians themselves, I say you should behave in line with our culture as well as realities of our environment. In particular, the Lebanese, there have been complaints about reckless driving on our roads. This has at times resulted in fatal accidents. In fact, there have been cases in which the Lebanese are reluctant to stop in order to comfort victims of the accidents that they were involved. Some of them are said to behave that way believing that they have money which can be used to bribe any one in this country in order to cover up their misdeeds! Can I misbehave like that in Lebanon and get away with it? What type of country is Nigeria? We have again heard that life is not easy for their local employees most of whom are factory workers, housemaids, drivers, cleaners or messengers. They complain of little pay despite the hard labour which they do. Others have complained of racial prejudices against them. Well, they are here for long; they know us well culturally and psychologically. They speak the language fluently. Does that mean they are free to go against our laws? There have been no reports of reckless driving by the Indians or the Chinese on our roads. But life has not been easy too for their local employees. The Indians and the Chinese don’t know us as much as do the Lebanese. But don’t you know that they at times cooperate in Kano to serve their interests? I am not, and will never tell you that all Asians here are bad. Some of them are innocent. Some of them are really bad especially in their interactions with local employees. But the fear in Kano now is that the Chinese too may learn from the Lebanese or the Indians. We still welcome them and we in fact, welcome their investments into the local economy. We cannot however, welcome their reckless driving or other corrupt practices. Some of the Lebanese are good. Some of them are naturalised Nigerians. They behave satisfactorily. They even contribute in many ways to the development of our society. China-Nigeria development fund I have just come across this fund officially named "China-Nigeria Development Fund". I have done my best to secure more details on the fund via internet but things were not so easy. Is this different from the already existing Nigeria China Friendship Association? I would like to know all this. Can any one or appropriate authorities from China or Nigeria send more details to me? I guess the fund is all about the two countries’ investment cooperation on solid minerals particularly from Nigeria. No wonder in the middle of this very month, a huge delegation of investors from China came to discuss the same issue with Chief Sarafa Tunji Ishola, our Mines and Steel minister. Kano is a home to some of Nigeria’s 34 solid mineral deposits. This means we may soon expect more Chinese investors to Kano who should be encouraged to behave satisfactorily. Views: 1720
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