Dear Editor,
The French language is an established field of study in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, Many Nigerian children of school age experience their exposure to the French language from their elementary school days.
The reason why there seems to be a spike in the number of Nigerians wanting to study the Chinese language is because of the erroneous opinion that their knowledge or mastery of the Chinese language will make it easier for them to emigrate to the China People’s Republic.
You may wish to recall that at the advent of the of the Russia – Ukraine War, the government of Ukraine advertised for foreign volunteers to help them in their war with Russia. Thousands of Nigerians besieged the Ukrainian embassy to register as volunteers to fight their own in foreign war. That should let you know that Nigerians can be desperate and that they will go to any length to emigrate to countries that they perceive as countries that will offer better economic opportunities.
China is financing gigantic multi billion dollars infrastructural project Africa. In Nigeria it is investing in the funding of rail projects, roads and airport terminal projects. The visibility of such projects have become pronounced in recent years.
China is busy building the African leg of the Chinese silk route. And like the earlier Chinese silk route, which Wikipedia Described as a network of Eueroasiain trade routes which the Chinese developed between the second and fifteen centuries, the objective of the current Chinese massive accross Africa, remains the improvement on the terms of trade between China and Africa; it is also meant to also spread and grow influence of chinese culture in Africa.
Like you correctly noted, China will remain a fringe player in the politics and commerce of Africa for the foreseeable future. The battle for the soul of Africa is still the West to lose.
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