Nigerian veteran comedian and actor, Bright Okpocha popularly known as Basketmouth has stated that Chinese may become Nigeria’s second language in 10 years due to the sovereignty clause in Nigeria’s loans from China.
Earlier, a House of Representatives panel had raised alarm in an investigative hearing over a clause conceding Nigeria’s sovereignty in a loan agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China.
Abubakar Malami, the minister of justice and attorney-general of the federation (AGF), however, said that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration will guard Nigeria’s sovereignty as regards foreign loans.
However, reacting to the development in a short clip to address Nigerians who expressed concerns about the country’s repayment plans, Basketmouth charged citizens to dwell on the prospects of bilingualism.
“I understand that a lot of Nigerian are really upset right now especially with what’s going on with the $5.3 billion loan and the sovereignty clause hidden somewhere in that document,” he said.
“Nigerians, why are you getting upset for nothing? Our political elites are way older than us, which means they’re wiser. I believe they had options.
“The first would have been to call on China and have them invest in the rail track, run it for whatever duration of years, make their money back, and leave the trail for us.
“The other is to take the loan, build it ourselves, run it, and pay off the loan with the interest. And they went for the latter, which is the best actually, based on the fact that they have a TRACK record.
“They did it with NIPOST, NNPC—great, beautiful. NEPA—that investment is flourishing to date. NICON, Nigerian Airways.— yes! Also, they did it with the Nigeria Railway Corporation.
“…the same railway they’re doing. Do yourself a favour. Let’s look at the bright side. In the next ten years, the Chinese language will be our second language. I’ve always wanted to learn Chinese.”
