How Taiwan-Nigeria bilateral relations can end reliance on crude oil- Official

Nigeria and Taiwan are on the verge of entering into bilateral trade and technology relations that will enable Taiwan to stimulate agricultural, technological and industrial developments in Nigeria, an official has said.

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A Taiwan Representative in Nigeria, Andy Yih-Ping Liu, disclosed this on Wednesday when he appeared as a guest on Channels TV’s The Morning Brief.

Mr Liu said the bilateral relations will help Nigeria utilise some of its resources to end its reliance on the crude oil economy and also encourage the exchange of machines, raw materials, and technologies between the two countries.

“This is what Taiwan can offer to Nigeria because we know how to survive without any natural resources,” he said.

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Mr Liu said that although the agreement was yet to be finalised, the specific aspects of the bilateral relations to be utilised in different states of Nigeria will depend on the states’ existing resources, interests, and priorities.

‘Why we envy Nigeria despite our superior brain power’

Mr Liu also said Nigeria is an enviable country because of its abundance of natural resources, such as oil, gas, and salt.

He stressed that although Taiwan has superior brain power, the country has no natural resources, unlike Nigeria.

“On one hand, Taiwan has all the know-how in technology that the world really admires. And in Nigeria, you have all the natural resources that we (Taiwan) don’t have.

“We envy you (Nigeria) so much. Because Taiwan is an island, but we have no natural resources at all,” Mr Liu said.

“But we have all the natural disasters that you (Nigeria) don’t have: earthquakes, volcanoes, typhoons, and tsunamis. We have no resources, but we have the brain power,” he stated.

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The official stressed that Taiwan, recognising its lack of resources, invested heavily in education to stimulate technological advancement and build the country’s workforce.

“Now, I can proudly say that our illiteracy in Taiwan is less than two per cent. This means that 98 per cent of our people can read and write and can work.

“This is the only way we can keep ourselves sustainable in way to develop ourselves for agriculture, industry – from heavy industries to high technology industries,” he said.