Reps to probe Jonathan’s trip to China

The House of Representatives is set to probe the various agreements signed with the Chinese during President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent visit to China, when members resume from their two-months break.
Nnena Ukeje, the Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, who disclosed this to newsmen at the weekend, said the investigation would commence immediately after the House resumes sitting.
Justifying the lower chamber’s resolve to look into those agreements, Ukeje, said previous experiences had shown that Nigerians’ interest were not always protected.
It will be recalled that President Jonathan had visited China on a five-day official trip with a large delegation, which included 13 cabinet ministers and several heads of government agencies.
Ukejenoted that a country like Brazil had a policy in place that protects Brazilians’ interest, saying Nigeria should also be conscious of that in signing agreements with foreign governments and investors.
Her words: “A case in point is the Brazilian economy where they insisted that everybody on the oil rig must be Brazilian. That created 80,000 jobs. This created and protected Brazilian jobs and Brazil now has a 5.6 per cent unemployment rate as compared to Nigeria’s 23 per cent.
“Lesson is that we must look at, aside the issue of reciprocity, which is a part of international diplomacy, we must start to take a critical look at the agreements and the facts that Nigerian jobs are protected as well as tighten our immigration laws, so that we can protect Nigerian jobs for Nigerians.”
Ukeje also said it was high time Nigeria adopted the principle of reciprocity to the fullest and to be backed by legislation. She said the Federal Government should treat foreign nationals the exact way Nigerians are treated in their country.
She added: “So, we are trying to look at reciprocity as regards other countries’ ventures and their property in the country. We don’t have the Sovereign Immunity Act as a law in Nigeria for now. So we are looking at bringing it on. The bill is about to be gazetted. Once that is done, we go from there at full blast. We should have it.”