Esther Oluku
Nigerian scholars have harped on the need for first hand knowledge sharing and scholarly exchange to strengthen the growing diplomatic alliance between Africa and China.
This was the consensus reached at the one-day seminar organised by the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) themed ‘Bridging Africa-China Dialogue Through Scholarly Exchange’ which held in Lagos recently. The event also doubled as the launch of the 10th edition of the Contemporary World Nigeria magazine.
In his lecture, Director of Studies at the National Institute of International Affairs, Prof. Efem Ubi, stressed the need for authentic knowledge sharing in fostering international cooperation.
He explained that this gives room for mutual understanding and respect, deepens diplomatic alliances and improves economic outcomes for both parties.
Ubi opined that examining Africa-China relations through third party lenses of western powers often presents an inaccurate analysis of the subject, while urging the continent to look inwards towards what it hopes to achieve through its alliance with the second most powerful nation in the world.
“We need a China-Africa or an Africa-China dialogue. We also need scholarly exchange between the two parties for both parties to understand each other. Both parties need first-hand information and that means African scholars should visit China and Chinese scholars should visit Nigeria in terms of research and collaborate.
“It is high time we move away from propaganda, from what the western media want us to understand about Africa-China relations. Africa should begin to talk about their relationship with China. In doing that, we should also move away from the discourses on China’s expanding role in Africa or China’s interest in Africa.
“We should be looking at Africa’s interest in Chinese expansion across the continent. When we begin to do that, we will begin to maximise our relationship. When we focus on negativity, we might not see the positive aspect of our relationship,” he said. “The most important thing is having access to first-hand information not what one reads from the generality of the western media because sometimes they distort the information.”
Meanwhile, in his discussion of the lecture, lecturer at the Department of Political Science, Lagos State University, Dr. Tunde Oshodi, noted that while there exist inherent benefits in scholarly exchange, caution must be exercised to prevent negative outcomes. He explained that exchanges need to be backed by willingness on the part of the government to share important information.
“Cultural and scholarly exchange and intelligence sharing can be beneficial and deadly. If we don’t get things right, it would have a negative impact. Knowledge is not for use in isolation. Governments need to invest in what they want scholars to know because when people have access to certain body of knowledge, it begins to dispel their imagination.”
In his remarks, the Director General IPCR, Dr Joseph Ochogwu, stated that the meeting presents an opportunity to examine Nigeria, Africa and China’s relationship which, he said “is one of the most consequential for the 21st century.”
While highlighting the critical role of scholars in providing expert analysis on issues, he stated that the Contemporary World Nigeria magazine provides an opportunity for dialogue in political systems and supports initiatives for growth, local innovations, and people-to-people connectivity.
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