The High Commissioner of Nigeria to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Ambassador Dauda Danladi, says the bilateral relations between Nigeria and Pakistan have yielded $500 million in trade volume within just two years from a paltry sum of $100 million.
In this interview with a group of journalists recently in Abuja, the envoy highlights the joint areas of collaboration with Pakistan especially in the area of counter terrorism, textile and agriculture, adding that the collaboration will benefit Nigeria as it tries to revive its moribund textile industries and agriculture. INNOCENT ODOH was there. Excerpts:
On the current level of bilateral relations between Nigeria and Pakistan
We must start by tracing the historical relationship between Nigeria and Pakistan which dates back to the sixties. We established relationship about 30 years ago with Pakistan, and in the sixties and the seventies, Pakistan contributed to the man power development of Nigeria. We had science teachers, medical doctors that were working in Nigeria.
However, over the years as a result of negative media narratives it has kept our people apart. Now let me again remind you that Pakistan and Nigeria are both members of the Commonwealth, they are members of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC), they are also members of the Developing eight countries to deepen the South-south cooperation and of course we are members of the United Nations, and we belong to various international organizations.
On the volume of trade between Nigeria and Pakistan
The trading volume between Nigeria and Pakistan prior to my assumption of office in 2012 was just 100 million dollars. So what we did was to bring to the fore to Nigerians the capabilities that exist in Pakistan in terms of agricultural development, I am talking about the ability of the Pakistanis to produce massive tractors, simple farm implements, fertilizer plants, factories and at the same time, we brought the capabilities of Pakistan in the textile area.
Pakistan is the third largest exporter of textile in the world. Nigeria in 2012 spent about 6 billion dollars to import textile materials. Nigeria had 1,200 textile factories but they are now moribund. So we are looking at the capability of the Pakistanis to see how we can partner to resuscitate some of the textile industries that can produce millions of jobs to Nigerians.
On the area of pharmaceuticals
In the area of pharmaceuticals, Nigeria imports pharmaceutical drugs from China, from India while in Pakistan; they are producing high quality drugs that are comparatively cheaper than some of these countries. So what we did was also to invite NAFDAC and the Director General last year visited Pakistan with his team. They have accessed the capabilities of the Pakistanis in the production pharmaceutical drugs and they have given a clean bill of health to some of the companies to start exporting their drugs here.
But we are looking at the domestication of some of these drugs here in Nigeria and already they have expressed interest to partner with Nigeria in producing these drugs.
Now let me say this, that for the first time in 30 years, we were able to mobilize 41 industrialists that visited Nigeria in the August and September last year. We covered about seven states of the federation and as a result of that single activity; we were able to raise the trading volume from 100 million dollars to about 500 million dollars now.
Defence cooperation
Now in the area of military cooperation, a lot has been achieved; there have been high level visits, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Air Staff, the Defence Intelligence Agency were all in Pakistan. And similarly we made sure that some of them also visited Nigeria like the chief of air staff of Pakistan was here.
Last year, over 120 military officers had undergone training in various military institutions in Pakistan. And recently just about 2 weeks ago, the Inspector General of Police, MD Abubakar, was in Pakistan on a three-day visit. We visited a lot of formations, training institutions, he was amazed at the level and competence of the training institutions in Pakistan and we have now got slots for police officers to be trained on counter terrorism in Pakistan.
We took him to the ordinance factories where Pakistanis have domesticated the production of uniforms, boots, production of armaments, armoured personnel carriers and for your information, recently Pakistan launched the GF17 Thunder Jet which some countries like Saudi Arabia and other Asian countries have already placed orders for these GF17 aircrafts.
Now we are trying to see how we can have a defence procurement that will collaborate with Pakistan so that it will impact on the development of our local defence industries to conserve our foreign exchange, and at the same time, provide employment opportunities to the teeming unemployed youths of Nigeria.
What we lined up for 2014 is very critical and it is in line with the transformation agenda of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which is anchored on economic diplomacy. This year, in April, for the first time in 30 years, the Pakistani minister of petroleum, is leading a team of experts that will be coming and there will be a joint ministerial committee meeting with Nigeria scheduled for 7 and 8 April 2014.
That ministerial committee will be looking at agreements in the area of agriculture, we are talking about having rice mills because we want to achieve rice sufficiency, and if we don’t have credible and efficient rice mills, there is no way we can have good quality rice for or local consumption and for export.
We are looking at the issue of fertilizer, we are also looking at the issue of tractors and farm implements because in Nigeria we have only 30,000 tractors and we need about 10 thousands tractors annually. We are also looking at the area of textile agreements to see how we can resuscitate the production of cattle and the value chain of the textile industry. We are looking at the area of surgical equipment, which Pakistan has comparative advantage and they are exporting to Germany, Europe and we go there to buy them at exorbitant prizes to equip our hospitals.
So we are also looking at the area of educational and scientific cooperation and youth development, so it is quite a huge agenda that has been lined up for the joint ministerial meeting.
Once that meeting takes place between 7 and 8 and we are able to perfect some of these agreements, I am also pleased to inform you that for the first time in the history of our relationship, we are bringing the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Nigeria. He is due to be in Nigeria at the end of April. He is coming with a huge number of industrialists and businessmen and the agreements that will be perfected by the ministerial committee will now be signed between the two presidents, and we will now have our hands on the handle to boost trade and investment between the two countries.
On how Nigeria can revive its textile industry through collaboration with Pakistan
We live in a global village; most of the textiles in Pakistan are not produced for the local markets, it is franchised to some of the departmental shops in Europe. I am talking about Max and Spencer, JC Penny in US. All these huge multinational departmental stores franchise the production of their textiles to the Pakistanis. Pakistanis are interested in cheap labour, Pakistanis are interested in energy because you know that Pakistan is not an oil producing nation like Nigeria so the cost of energy is quite high. As you are fully aware most industries in US were able to shift their production to Asia where the cost of production is comparatively cheaper.
So collaboration hinges on the market and Africa has a huge market, Nigeria has a huge market for textile and we have not been able to domesticate and capture, not only the Nigerian market but the African market of which the Pakistanis are now aware that if they are able to produce for the Nigerian market, they will also capture the huge African market.
The collaboration is going to vibrant, it is going to be a win -win situation for both countries and at the same time it will resuscitate the production of cattle. You know that in the sixties and seventies Nigeria was a net exporter of cattle but over the years as a result of the concentration on the mono economy, that is oil, we have neglected that sector, but this is now an opportunity to revive that sector and therefore I can see us having a win-win situation.
In addition Pakistan is interested in Nigeria’s palm oil and in our hides and skin; Pakistan is also interested in our oil and gas and as you know the market of oil and gas is becoming porous because most countries have discovered oil. Therefore we need a lot of investors in the oil sector. It is going to be an added advantage if they can come and invest in the up or downstream sector of our oil industry.
The snag that has always been expressed is as a result of our experience in dealing and collaborating with European countries and that is why we now have the Developing 8 (D8) countries to deepen the South-South cooperation. We know where the shortcomings are, we know that technology transfer has been an illusion in this country and now we are trying to work with people who are genuine, people who are sincere from the D8 countries. We believe that as developing countries we will be able to share our knowledge in areas that we have comparative advantage among ourselves so that we can move forward.
The trading volume of the D8 countries in 2012 was around 150 billion dollars; it is about 3% of the total world trade. Now that is enough for us to develop technologically, to advance development in all sectors. I can see the D8 countries capturing up to 10 % of the total world trade if we are able to collaborate both within bilateral and multilateral levels.
On counter terrorism
I am also accredited to Afghanistan and I have been to Afghanistan, I have held brief with President Hamid Karzair, I have held brief with a repentant Taliban, who is now the chairman of the high peace council in Afghanistan, who was their ambassador to the UN. The Taliban have realized the futility of violence as a means of resolving political issues, they have seen the devastation of their country and they have equally admonished Nigeria not tow the part of Afghanistan, that we should learn from what has befallen Afghanistan.
Coming to the issue of combating terrorism, Pakistan and the US collaborated in arming the Mujahedeen to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan at that time, and when they ousted the Soviets there was no contingent strategic plan to disarm the Mujahedeen so that they can make progress.
The world at that time neglected Afghanistan when the Soviets pulled back. So what happened was emergence of various groups and these groups metamorphosed into insurgents who now tried to capture territories and govern themselves and it became cancerous, some groups metamorphosed into the al-Qaeda.
But Pakistan, having realized that they need to sort out insurgency, especially in their region if there was going to be stability, have launched a dialogue committee and this committee has been able to get the Taliban in Pakistan to agree to a cease fire, the talk is ongoing at the moment and the Taliban in Afghanistan have also embraced dialogue ad they are discussing with the Afghan government. In the coming election scheduled for April, Taliban are now part of the process and they have also put forward a presidential candidate.
So you can see that there is a change against the use of violence as a means of achieving political ends because it will only create a vicious cycle of violence and with no end with no results. So I am very pleased that today in Pakistan, the insurgents and the Pakistani Taliban have now agreed with government that the way forward is to sit down and have a dialogue and iron out grey areas , negotiate areas that can be negotiated so that there will be peace in Pakistan
The second thing is Pakistan has now mounted an aggressive economic agenda that will be all inclusive to cause mass participation in economic activities in Pakistan to eliminate to a large extent, unemployment which will make it very difficult for the youth to fall prey to or to be recruited by insurgents.
The collaboration with Nigeria is in the area of training and counter insurgency because they have more experience in that than us that is a very strategic part to provide good training. Secondly on the issue equipment for example, they donated some communication equipment which was presented to the Inspector General of Police and they are providing free training and free installation of these equipment.
Amnesty for Boko Haram
I think the present government has to be commended not only on the issue of Boko Haram but the militant of the Niger Delta which the Government have been able to come up with amnesty programme which to a large extent has stabilized the Niger Delta region. The government has also extended amnesty to the Boko Haram elements, of course there are some die -hards that have refused to embrace the amnesty and have continued to perpetrate heinous crimes against the people.
Now that government has come in full force and mounted an aggressive campaign against the Boko haram, I can see the complete disintegration of the chain of command of Boko haram, their hide out has been bombed, they have been smoked out of their hide outs and they on the run at the moment. I believe that with intelligence, their means or access to arms, to funds to logistic that will empower them is also being cut. I believe that at the end of the day, there will be a round table discussion to find lasting solution to this Boko Haram menace.
