An interview of the Nigerian ambassador
Nigeria and Pakistan are coming close like never before
We got to meet the Nigerian ambassador at Lahore’s Pearl Continental Hotel. The chief political correspondent came as well, and this time the traffic was really to blame for the negligible delay.
But it didn’t matter. The Nigerian charm offensive had caught on, and Ambassador Dauda Danladi was still busy with TV cameras. And even though his efforts have missed our news bulletins so far for some reason, he has done a remarkable job of bringing Pakistan and Nigeria closer in the year that he’s been here.
And he’s gone to the most basic of economic concepts – comparative advantage, natural endowment, coincidence of wants, etc. Nigeria, under Good Luck Jonathan, seems to have finally come to the realisation that it is far too well endowed for so much of the nation to have such poor standard of living. The corruption, dishonesty, and outright looting, especially of the country’s precious energy resources, had simply gone on far too long.
And it wasn’t long before very compelling results began emerging. Within a few years Nigeria has become Africa’s biggest economy and internal reform having been implemented to a satisfying degree, the new strategy is to reach out. Take what Nigeria has to offer to the world, and bring back what it needs – simple, progressive economics.
For Pakistan’s unimpressive export market, this means a giant, unexpected trade corridor that had not even been calibrated in recent trade estimates. And its good luck that Good Luck’s government is on the lookout for trade in fields of agriculture, textiles, defence equipment (and training), pharmaceuticals, surgical equipment, CNG and fertiliser expertise, and even some fruits Pakistan produces in abundance.
Global village approach
“The world has become a global village”, he keeps saying. And while that is not quite a novelty Nigeria’s leaders have just stumbled upon, it does suddenly seem strange that third world countries like ours continue to place political interests ahead of economic ones, even in trade matters. And the simplest of efforts to put matters in perspective suddenly yield encouraging results.
Pakistan, in turn, not only stands to benefit from much appreciated forex inflows, but also finds a valuable job market for its surplus workforce. The ambassador also remembers well the old days, when Pakistani bankers littered the Nigerian financial industry, especially in and around Lagos, in the now controversial BCCI days.
“Pakistani bankers did a lot for the industry over there in those days”, he says. “Now a more diverse workforce can establish itself in Nigeria, considering the vast array of fields we are getting ready to do business in”.
But what of the bad press? I tell him a story my old boss from Dubai’s financial industry used to tell international investment bankers on their way to Africa. Back in his Chase Manhattan days, once in Lagos some local bankers visited him in the hotel, to show him around. But they were surprised to see him booked on the sixth floor, not the first, which was unusual for foreigners.
“That so if they come for you in the night, you have half a chance of surviving the jump from the window”, they said, warning of criminal gangs always on the lookout for rich travelers.
“That’s more a bankers’ joke”, he says, “things were never that bad”. “But now these problems have been largely overcome, and travelers and investors are safe”.
But doesn’t the recent Boko Haram episode beg the ‘Oh Really’ question? “Not really”, if you ask him. “It’s not very different from the Taliban problem in Pakistan, although there are large points of divergence”.
The Boko Haram are an isolated entity that gained in prominence when weapons from Libya’s Arab Spring episode reached different parts of Africa. And because of porous borders, they have the option of melting into Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
But now the noose has tightened around their neck, and incidents like the school girls kidnapping will never be repeated. Plus Nigeria has an excellent army, and has helped settle conflicts across the continent, especially Sierra Leone.
And what about xenophobia? Like the South Africans pushing out foreigners once their economy took off?
“Ours is a very different policy orientation”, he quickly says. “This phase of our reorientation is meant to reach out to the world and integrate with the global village. That is the only way forward in the new global economy”.
President must come
There are encouraging signs of mutual trade enhancement. But it doesn’t say much that there has been only one joint ministerial committee meeting in 22 years. And this is where Ambassador Danladi’s charm offensive has made all the difference. Over the last year, he has mobilised chambers of commerce, business bodies, investors, governors, and political heavyweights across both countries.
Earlier this year Pakistan’s petroleum minister visited Lagos and set the ball rolling, a communiqué and draft agreements were made for industrial cooperation, initially eying cooperation in agro based industry, particularly textile and fertiliser, and moving on from there.
To cement this partnership, President Mamnoon Hussain was scheduled to visit Nigeria shortly.
“But Pakistan’s political climate has led to a delay”, says the ambassador. “We are really looking forward to his visit. This would be the first time a Pakistani president visits our country, and we would be honoured”.
It would indeed make much sense for the president to visit, even make some noise about it. Nigeria offers not only trade opportunities, but could also help overcome our gas shortage, and offer avenues other than controversial or unfeasible options that we have currently.
Also, Nigeria is now the launch pad for deeper penetration into the continent. Having already become the continent’s most promising economy, it is an encouraging sign that they are attaching immense importance to Pakistan.
As we left, the ambassador got on the phone with one of Pakistan’s cement (and various other) sector stalwarts, hinting that there might be some notable investment in the African cement industry as well.
Surely, the president must go to Nigeria.
