So many Nigerians has frowned over the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Jideofor Kwusike Onyeamathat the Federal Government of Nigeria will not finance the evacuation of marginalized Nigerians in China. Hence they are in search of a cheap flight to convey the 300 Nigerians that have accepted evacuation while he stated that the concerned will foot the cost of the flight. So many speculations expressed surprise because it was the same minister who said at inception of this saga that the Federal Government would immediately begin the process of evacuating affected persons and would ensure compensation for about 100 Nigerians who were evicted from their homes and hotels by Chinese officials in Guangzhou. Personally, I was very distressed when I heard that on TVC news on the 18th morning as the Minister boldly said that the affected people will bear the cost of the flight back to Nigeria. The questions out there are, how does this sound to the ear among committee of nations? How much does it take to evacuate our marginalized brethren in a foreign land? How difficult is it to show love to Nigerians destabilized in a foreign land for no fault of theirs’? Why would the Federal Government express that high level insensitivity on their own before the international community?
Addressing newsmen in Abuja on the 17th of April, the minister said he had summoned the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Zhou Pingjian, for the second time in one week since the reports surfaced in the media to register Nigeria’s displeasure with the incident. He equally informed that Nigerian Ambassador to China, Ahmed Jidda, as well as other African ambassadors in China had met with the Chinese Foreign Ministry and expressed their concerns as they made some demands from the Chinese Government, including respecting the rights and dignity of Africans in Guangdong. The minister added that the Chinese Government expressed commitment to look into the matter and ensured no maltreatment of any Nigerian or African in China.
Furthermore, he said, “after we had made a statement in the media, I have continued to receive information from Nigerians in China and I engaged directly with our officials in Guangzhou and people who were on the ground and contrary to what we believed, that the situation had stabilized and was fully under control, it became obvious that there were still very distressing incidences and that it was almost as if it was an institutional attack on the rights and dignity of Nigerians and Africans there.”
“So, I again, invited today the Chinese Ambassador and presented these facts to him. I said ‘look, contrary to what was agreed, promises made and guarantees given, the situation does not seem to have ameliorated and this is totally unacceptable.’
“That we have stories of Nigerians who had been evicted from their residences and were unable to get back in; that they had been moved from where they were into more expensive hotels and Nigerians not being served when they go to restaurants and shopping malls. I told him this was totally unacceptable and something needed to be done.”
“I spoke to some of our people there in Guangzhou; and quite a lot of them said they just wanted to come home and we are putting in place as quickly as possible the mechanisms to start bringing them home. That clearly is the immediate solution here,” Onyeama opined
