What China Said About the Clauses Ceding Nigeria’s Sovereignty to China.

Recall further that the Minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi had tried to explain the sovereignty clause stating that the clauses were meant to guarantee that the Nigerian government has the capability to pay back loans collected for the construction of rail projects within the stipulated period of 20 years. But Amaech’s explanation still does not go down well with many Nigerians who still believe that there is a hidden agenda in the said loan.

The Foreign Ministry, explained that the Chinese Government follows a ‘five-no’ approach in their relations with Africa.

The ‘five-nos’ according to him are:

1. No interference in African countries’ pursuit of development paths that fit their national cWhat China Said About the Clauses Ceding Nigeria’s Sovereignty to China;

2. No interference in African countries’ internal affairs;

3. No imposition of China’s will on African countries;

4. No attachment of political strings to assistance to Africa; and 

5. No seeking of selfish political gains in investment and financing cooperation with Africa.

Recall that the federal government of Nigeria had claimed that the said loan was meant for the construction of railway lines in the country.

Giving the increased reactions by many Nigerians to the purported obnoxious and controversial clauses in the $500M Chinese loan agreement which purports to concede Nigeria’s sovereignty to China, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has on Monday, denied that China had any clause in its loan contracts ceding Nigeria’s sovereignty to China.

The questions is, does the loan agreement really contain ‘sovereignty clauses’ and if it does, what does the lending country, China mean by the said clauses?