Nigeria-Vietnam: When your friend tells you the truth, by Owei Lakemfa

The primary reason a group of Nigerians had a meeting in Abuja with embassy and trade officials from Vietnam on Wednesday October 30, 2024 was to explore business opportunities for cooperation and development. That quickly changed to nagging questions such as why Vietnam which was a physically flattened country back in May 1976 when it began diplomatic relations with Nigeria is, today, fast developing, while Nigeria is fast degenerating and steadily under-developing? Why is the Vietnamese Foreign Exchange Reserves $92.3 billion and that of Nigeria $39.07 billion?

Why should Nigeria which five decades ago had thriving granaries exporting cotton to Europe and, integrated modern textile companies in places like Lagos, Kaduna, Kano, Aba and Asaba be begging Vietnam for textile expertise?

How come Nigeria in 1976 with a population of 64.658 million had over 500,000 textile workers, now with 234 million people, it has a little over 20,000 workers in that industry?

Retired public servant, Suleiman Haliru who comes from a family of cotton growers and, worked in that industry as a boy, lamented that many of the thriving cotton and textile companies in Kaduna are now beer parlours.

The participants at the meeting which included retired diplomats, representatives of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, former civil servants, journalists, businessmen and women, the representative of the Kano State Government, Mr Nazir Haliru and that of the National Assembly, Paul Gowon Haruna, struggled to find answers.

Even so, more questions continued to pop up. Why is Vietnam so food-sufficient that it not only feeds its population but also exports so much food, while the Nigerian populace is crying: “We are hungry”? How come the Vietnamese population living below the poverty line is 4.2 per cent while that of Nigeria is above 80 per cent?

Ambassador Sani Bako, MFR, the pioneer Nigerian Ambassador to Vietnam who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria-Vietnam Economic Trade and Cultural Association, made a critical observation. He noted that Vietnam which was razed to the ground during its 20-year war of independence against the United States with the latter applying chemicals to ensure the lands were unusable, is today exporting rice to scores of countries. He added: “Prayers are very good, but we should also stand up to make our country work.”

The Vietnamese team led by its ambassador, Mr Bui Quoc Hung, said after the war, the United States for years imposed blockade and sanctions on Vietnam, but that the country survived and has thrived because the people are united and, have a focused leadership which sees itself as part of the population. The politics of Vietnam, he said, is quite stable under the leadership of the Communist Party which is now the sole political party.

On international relations, he said: “In terms of ideology, we are socialists. But we have to trade with the capitalists; we have to shake hands with the capitalists. We have enjoyed international co-operation, support and solidarity.”

Its Bamboo Tree Diplomacy that draws inspiration from the bamboo plant which is of cultural significance, he said, emphasises open and independent relations with all countries. This, he said, has seen world leaders visiting, including “Bush the Father, Bush the son” and Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.

The Vietnamese economy, he explained, has been so diversified that just as it is assisting the United Arab Emirate develop food sufficiency, so it is importing cashew nuts from Nigeria, building chips for Artificial Intelligence entities, manufacturing electric cars, and producing 35 per cent of the Samsung mobile phones. He said all the while, Vietnam stayed true to its agricultural roots which sees it utilising bamboo and the banana tree for all sorts of products, including textile, and planting rice everywhere, including the mountains. The Vietnamese, he said, have turned planting rice to an art form, so well that it has become a tourist attraction. He said rice requires just four basic needs to grow: water, fertilizer, good seedling and hard work, adding that despite the rich varieties available, his country is still engaged in rice research.

Vietnam, he said, has developed due to the resilience, hard work and collective determination of the people.

In answering the questions, the ambassador said everything he was wearing was produced by his country and that unlike Nigeria, the Vietnamese have their cultural textiles and national brand.

As the discussions continued, Mr Hung decided to speak frankly. First, he said there are practices in Nigeria that cannot happen in his country. He gave the example of the Vietnamese Trade Consular NguyenChi Mai who came in from Lagos and had her return time unilaterally changed by the airline.

Secondly, he said, when Vietnamese businessmen hear about kidnappings and terrorism in Nigeria, they are reluctant to come. Thirdly, that the Nigerian business environment is not friendly. Fourthly, he said it is difficult for Vietnamese investors to cope with an ever-fluctuating foreign currency system, especially when Nigeria relies entirely on the dollar rather than also use alternative currencies like the RMB (Yuan) or Russian Ruble. He also thinks Nigeria’s infrastructure needs updating, adding that there are no power failures in his country.

Nigeria, he suggested, needs to invest in education so that issues of lecturers in tertiary institutions protesting about pay would no longer occur. He said the prevailing unfavourable situation is making many Nigerian children go abroad for studies.

He also noted that a lot of food is wasted in Nigeria due to lack of food processing, saying: “You take pineapple in the morning and in the evening, you throw the rest away.”

He said he could not easily move around in the first year of his posting as he had to wait for long to present his Letter of Credence. He said he has been to Lagos and looks forward to visiting other parts of the country to explore business opportunities for his country. Vietnam, he said, has good and clear policies on small and medium size enterprises, making them blossom.

The Ambassador said he has to go with his car and driver to places like Wuse Market and the mall to make purchases but that in Vietnam, he walked because virtually in every corner one can purchase what he needs.

Talking about diversity, he said his country has more than 50 nationalities speaking different languages, but that the citizens are conscious that they are one people.

Ambassador Bako, in his closing remarks, said: “The Ambassador has been quite frank, but unless you are frank, you are not going to make it.” I concur, but need to add that when your friend tells you the truth, you don’t need to quarrel over it as you have the democratic right either to accept or reject it. Both have consequences.