Unpopular side with Thomas Oti
Email: thomasoti@qed.ng
A time there was when Made in China meant all things fake. Any made in China product was anathema. To be described as a ‘made in China’ person was the ultimate fake insult. You couldn’t rely on the Chinese to produce goods of any good quality. Their toys were the worst. As children, made in china toys were all our parents could afford (those who could afford toys that is). The toys never lasted past the first day. Yes, it was sometimes because we were so violently active with them that the toys trains and toy cars came apart speedily under our rough play. But some more ‘original’ toys ‘made in USA’ or ‘made in England’ lasted much longer than our ‘made in China’ fakes. Anything China was bad news.
And then there were Chinese movies too. Bruce Lee was a character we all grew up watching to learn how to fight that most famous of Chinese fighting, Kung Fu! We enjoyed Enter the Dragon, Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger, Fists of Fury, Game of Death, Snake in the Monkey Shadow, Drunken Master, Shaolin Temple, etc. Then Bruce Lee died and we knew even human beings made in China didn’t last long. I mean, James Bond didn’t die all that time for instance. And he dodged bullets and all while Bruce Lee only had fists and the dragon chain to contend with. The fakeness of all things Chinese got reinforced.
Chinese image has been well laundered with time. Jackie Chan has helped a lot in that journey for some of us. He was modern, funny, good looking, Americanised, spoke stilting English we could relate with and understand as second speakers. His movies had hand combating guns. Which was fantastic. He did all his stunts himself. There was some film trick but it wasn’t so bad. You could still see the guy’s pain. And it was real. More recent Kung Fu movies were just as interesting. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and my favourite Chinese movie of all time, Kung Fu Hustle changed their perception even more for us. Chinese was now cool and more mainstream. They still continue to churn out fakery in all their glory to date but our perceptions of them are greatly softened and more widely acceptable.
The Chinese are also everywhere. They are cheap but good and hardworking labour. They have taken over as the labour capital of the world. They produce everything for everyone. All the big American companies head to them to produce en masse. Apple. Louis Vuitton. Versace. Tommy. Gap. Gucci. Name the brand, chances are that their products are produced in China. They have the people. They have the industry. (And the polluted unbreathable air to show for it too by the way!). Chinese food is also global. Cheap. Spicy, Sweet. Often nice. The Chinese have arrived. And why shouldn’t we join the bandwagon. Most of our products are still from China. They have made serious inroads into our infrastructure economy. The CCECCs of China have taken over. Huawei are doing so much business in telecoms that they probably own that sector without any iota of doubt. Cheap garments are also their trademark. Slippers that won’t last forever but which will last long enough to ensure you are ready for the latest models. The Chinese drive a hard bargain. How can we forget them?
The Americans and the Europeans have got nothing on them. And it is certainly time for us to change the partners we are in bed with. We have done so much with the Americans and our former colonial masters and what have we got to show for it? Next to nothing. They have milked us dry for so long. And they continue to feed our appetite so they can continue to milk us dry no doubt. No more jor! We are breaking away. No more dying on queues at the American embassy pleading for visas to visit God’s own country. We have found the next best place to visit. And it is not the Queen’s enclave either. The land of the emperor is virgin land enough for us to seek to conquer and do ever greater things with. We will not stop. We will go to China and conquer. We will soon start having children with Chinese passports. Not like the land is strange to us. Our Igbo brothers know the land like the back of their hands. Them and thousands of Nigerian traders who import a variety of life essentials from China. Including toothpick for instance.
We are all Chinese serfs now. But that is ok. We were once American serfs. And British serfs. And we were much the worse for it. It is time to try something new. The only time you should stop trying is when you are dead. Buhari is doing it all different. His policies are different. His mannerisms are different. His philosophies, different. We asked for change. Well, if this isn’t change, I don’t know what else is!
PS – Our own Ajala
They say this president does not sit in one place long enough. That he is presiding over a continuously failing economy. That he has not had time to sign the budget because he is in the air so much. That he feels better in the air than he feels on ground. That he has ministers who are clueless. That in the midst of all the austerity we are suffering now, he is still gleefully junketing around the world. Well, I say to them, what happened to the last president who didn’t travel that much but sat back instead and presided over the looting of our collective commonwealth? How do you build lost glory if you do not meet with and network with those who can help you? How do you find new partners to do business with or open new frontiers for your business by sitting, folding your hands and wailing and bemoaning your inheritance of a horrible economy? Give these guys a chance to do it differently. They at least deserve that much.
