Coordinator of Nigeria in Diaspora Organisation, NIDO, in Guangdong Province, China, Mr. Festus Mbisiogu, in this interview, speaks on reported maltreatment of Nigerians in China. Mbisiogu, whose jurisdiction is at the centre of the accusations, urges the Federal Government not to treat the matter with laxity.
By Charles Kumolu, Deputy Editor
There are conflicting stories about Nigerians who are being maltreated in China on account of COVID-19. What is the true story?
What happened was that after celebrating zero outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China started witnessing new infections from Chinese returnees and foreigners. In a bid to curtail it, the Chinese government introduced stringent measures and policies. Doing so is not bad given what they experienced during the peak of the outbreak. The videos online about Nigerians who were said to have been thrown out of their hotel are the videos of an incident in Guangzhou. We are not discouraging the Chinese authorities from going ahead with these measures.
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That was the question that the Consular General asked Chinese officials in the video that trended online. Most of the blacks had tested negative but they keep testing them. As a result of the move by the authorities, hotel owners started rejecting blacks. In addition, landlords also started refusing blacks from having access to their homes. The blacks who could not access their homes were stranded on the streets. 50 percent of Nigerians in China are importers, who visit Guangzhou for business purposes. 80 percent of our imported items are from China and the first point of call for Nigerian importers is Guangzhou where the incident happened. It is a commercial city in China. It is in Guangdong Province. One of the Nigerian officials said those affected were roaming the street, which is not true. They were only evicted from their hotels.
What is the residency status of those affected?
Majority are not based in China. They are only visiting for business purposes. The law of Guangdong says that if you don’t have a residence visa, no landlord will allow you to rent an apartment. The people affected only stay in hotels when they visit. Anyone coming in with a business visa, no landlord allows the person to rent an apartment.
That is why those affected were stranded on the streets when they were asked to leave their hotels. That was why we saw the Consular-General giving them food on the streets. Majority of them are Nigerians on business visits, not Nigerians living in China. But our government does not seem to understand this. The Chinese government indeed paid for their hotel bills but after the quarantine, they won’t continue to pay.
They paid for some people, not all. What we are saying is that people should not be victimised. Afterall, it was even a foreigner that imported the virus into Nigeria and he was not stigmatized. We treated the Italian without victimising other Italians in our country. That should be the standard practice. I want to believe that the Guangdong authority may not be aware of what is happening because they are friendly and accommodating. However, before now most of us in China do not find renting apartments easy in the city. For instance, I have resided in four apartments. You may live in a place for two years after which the landlord would say that blacks are no longer allowed to stay in the apartment. In so many gardens no black is allowed.
A garden administrator can just wake up and say that blacks are no longer allowed in the garden. When such happens, the affected black would start looking for an apartment again. What I am saying is that we find it difficult to rent apartments in China. Almost all Nigerians in Guangzhou live in the outskirt of the city.
The Chinese authorities are probably doing this because of the bad attitude of some Nigerians in the country, but we keep telling them that not all Nigerians in China are bad. In Nigeria, we have China town and the Chinese have liberty to do whatever they are doing in Nigeria. The Chinese live like kings here without being stereotyped. Our relationship with them should be a win-win affair. In two major markets in China, Tanshi Market and Carnal Market, the daily transaction between Nigerians and Chinese is about $10 million. And 80 percent of what we use in Nigeria is from Guangzhou. Since Nigeria is China’s biggest trading partner in Africa, we shouldn’t be having this kind of issue. I learned Beijing has sent a delegation to Guangzhou to address the matter alongside the Nigerian union in China.
What is the fate of the people outside?
The biggest challenge is that some of them are not allowed to have access to their homes. Various town union leaders have all called me, complaining that some of their members were not allowed into their houses and even shop at supermarkets. In China, residents of various states have their unions and leaders. Some of the people affected are wandering about. There was one that happened and the person affected called me at 2 am, complaining that he was not allowed into his house. I sent his number to some media houses so that they could speak to him. I also told him to call the Nigerian Embassy. Our people paid rent for the houses but they were denied entrance.
Are these people on business visits or they reside in China?
They are Nigerians, who have been living in China for many years. They complained that they went out and were not allowed into their houses. I was told by various stakeholders in China that Nigerians are being unfairly treated. I am going to inform the embassy so that they can intervene. The Chinese are not bad. I am suspecting that there may have been a misunderstanding of directives by junior Chinese officials. The Chinese are well treated in Nigeria. That should also be the case for us in China. We want to appeal to them not to jeopardise the good relationship between Nigeria and China.
Is it true that stranded Nigerians flouted Chinese laws?
At a meeting held in China with one of the stakeholders, who is the leader of Anambra State Union in China, he told them that Nigerians are not comfortable with the way their blood samples are being collected. Nigerians are afraid. Since they are scared, is it not better for the Chinese to invite Nigerian doctors resident in Guangzhou to work them to reassure Nigerians that nothing wrong would happen to them? Lack of trust is also at play here.
What are the blood samples meant for?
Everybody is being tested. That was why the Nigerian Consular-General asked why they were testing all Nigerians. He told them that they should have informed the Consulate that they were going to the houses of all Nigerians and some people had been tested more than twice. Apart from that, cameras are being installed in their houses. That is the information I got. We are not against their measures at containing the spread of COVID-17, but they should not be unfair to blacks. We have also cautioned our people to be law-abiding. What we are saying is that they should not stereotype Nigerians.
What has NIDO in Guangdong done on the matter?
NIDO has embarked on sensitisation using all platforms. The acting President, Mrs. Justina has been telling our people to be law-abiding. She tells them that the best way is to channel our complaints to our government. The Federal Government should not think that we have done the wrong thing by complaining to them. They should investigate the matter and address the issue with the Chinese authorities. If we don’t cry to government, who do we cry to? NIDO is assisting stranded Nigerians. The names of the stranded Nigerians have complied and hotels have started accepting some of them. Government should evacuate them without delay because it is raining already in China. Government should set up an independent investigation that would include all stakeholders to ascertain what is truly happening. There is more to this than government knows. They should not rely on secondary information in addressing the issue. It should work with NIDO, town unions and other stakeholders to permanently resolve the issue. On the positive side, the Fonshan authorities in Guangdong, gave one month grace to some Nigerians to regularise their papers. We have to commend them for the magnanimity and also urge our people to use the window in making sure that their papers are validated.
{Vanguard}
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