The people and Government of Taiwan are pleased, and we honestly congratulate His Excellency President Bola Tinubu for his vision and concrete actions of extending Nigeria’s connection with the Caribbean Island state, just like Taiwan has done diplomatically with St. Lucia. Taiwan (ROC) and St. Lucia, as well as three other Caribbean Island nations, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Haiti, have long-established diplomatic relations with Taiwan and set up full-fledged embassies in one another’s capital. Our diplomatic presence of embassies, together with Development and Technical Aid of medical, agricultural, women and youth empowerment, trade and investment strengthening, sustainable development, etcetera, have truly assisted St. Lucia as well as other Caribbean nations to grow well economically and socially. We’re proud to offer our helping hands that produce fruitful results, and we certainly welcome wholeheartedly that Nigeria will also be joining this humanitarian and economic collaboration in the Caribbean area. We are extremely delighted to witness President Tinubu visiting and graciously receiving the conferment of Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Lucia (K.C.O.S.L.) in recognition of his efforts to strengthen ties between Africa and the Caribbean. This has showcased His Excellency’s visionary exploration and escalation of Nigeria’s ever-growing international status, and his grand movements in deepening the collaboration with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
What do you think Nigeria can benefit from Taiwan given that your country has advanced in technology?
We appreciate very much that President Tinubu had recently mentioned openly that he would like to make the southeast of Nigeria become the Taiwan of Africa. And he does not just mention that he wants to make the southeast become Taiwan of Nigeria, but Taiwan of Africa. That means he has a vision, he has the ambition to utilise Taiwan as a model to develop Nigeria, at least one part of Nigeria. And what we have seen is that Taiwan can be such a useful reference and model because Taiwan has nothing, we have no natural resources; we have only the brain power that we want to develop ourselves. So if Taiwan, such a small island with 23 million people, can be successful in using our own human resources to develop and be successful, any state here, we have 36 states in Nigeria, will be rich in natural resources far better than Taiwan. If Taiwan can be successful, any of your states, with your creative people, with your free mind and your devotion to becoming a good development, can be successful. As long as Taiwan can conduct itself as a good model, why not Nigeria or any of your states in Nigeria? You have much better natural resources and human capital than Taiwan. And we are not as brilliant as you.
Having been in Nigeria for so long, how can you look at the political development in the country since 1999 and how do you think Nigeria can sustain it?
Well, you have been quite successful from 1999 till now, right? You have been so successful in keeping that for every four years of having a democratic election, following your constitutional ideals. This is why we admire Nigeria so much. You are the biggest nation, the biggest democracy in Africa, and I wish you would continuously keep that core ideal in Nigeria. No matter how many military coups around you in other countries, you never went back to that old regime. That is something we in Taiwan really appreciate. Something we really appreciate, Nigerian for, you are so brave, you are so creative, but at the same time, you have the courage to keep that core idea, core value in Nigeria. You are so dear. No other country can change you. When you have another election in 2027, we give you our best wishes, because we are going to have our own election in 2028. So we will see you as an example of keeping democratic values dear.
There is a relatively huge Nigerian population of those doing business in Taiwan. How have they been able to help in their host country’s economy? Through characters, how can you rate the Nigerian population in Taiwan?
Well, your Nigerian business people are really, really active and doing great business in Taiwan, because they export our fine Taiwanese automobile parts, motorcycle parts, and also our reliable machinery into Nigeria to help your economy grow. And exporting out of Taiwan means that we Taiwanese people earn money. Earn the money from Nigerian traders, from Nigerian investors in Taiwan. So they are very active and very good business people in Taiwan now. Of course, we still see there’s a lot of space for us to expand in terms of trading. So that’s why I said the Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (IPPA) is for both Nigeria and Taiwan. You have to encourage your investment in Taiwan to do more business, exporting more of Taiwan’s stuff to Nigeria. At the same time, we encourage our Taiwanese investors to come to Nigeria to do more trading, which is a mutually beneficial way. So, there are many, many Nigerians doing good business in Taiwan. Not necessarily staying all the time in Taiwan, but maybe doing a lot of trading. I cannot tell you the exact number, but there are quite a lot of people in Taiwan.
What is your impression of President Tinubu’s bilateral efforts and our relationship with Taiwan?
We are happy to see that President Tinubu has done so much in promoting Nigeria internationally with a good image. For any country that collaborates with us, we discuss youth empowerment, women empowerment and capacity building because they go hand in hand, and this is done in terms of computer literacy, information technology and capacity building. This is why we see all youths as our own youths, and like you said, Taiwan is so advanced in technology, but it took 30 to 40 years to develop what we have. Like I said, we have no natural resources, but the only thing we have is our brain power, education and continued education. This is why we have an over 98 per cent literacy level. We have only about two per cent illiteracy, and this is the guarantee for our country to continually have a workforce not just for industry but for advancement into research and development.
How easy is it for Nigerians to go to Taiwan?
For the moment we have three major visas for Nigerian visitors. The first is a business visa because business is the core idea for any Nigerian visiting Taiwan. We have a study visa because more and more people want to go to Taiwan to study. The third one is the family reunion visa. Like if a Nigerian lady is married to a Taiwanese man or a Nigerian man marries a Taiwanese lady, there is essence for reunion and we provide opportunities for reunion
