While the Igbo, Yoruba, and Fulani continue to quarrel over political crumbs and tribal pride, a far more dangerous and silent conquest is taking place across Nigeria. It’s not waged with guns or tanks—but with pen strokes, bank loans, and real estate acquisitions. If nothing changes, in fifteen years, the real landlords of Nigeria may not be Nigerians—they’ll be Chinese.
Across the South-West, Chinese nationals are purchasing land at an alarming rate. In cities and towns, Chinese investors are sealing land deals with little to no resistance. The very soil our ancestors fought to defend is being traded in quiet transactions, buried in legal paperwork and political indifference. At this rate, the day is coming when our children will be forced to rent their futures from foreign landlords.
The Abuja-Kaduna railway gleams like a badge of progress, but few Nigerians know what lies beneath the steel and cement—a spider web of hidden loan agreements, sovereignty waivers, and debt traps. What was presented as development is looking more like a masterclass in quiet colonisation. China has made itself indispensable to Nigeria’s infrastructure: roads, railways, power plants, airport terminals—all courtesy of Chinese financing. But what are we mortgaging in return?
Investigations by The Streetjournal reveal alarming clauses tucked inside loan agreements—clauses that allow China to take over key national assets in the event of default. One such clause, signed under the Jonathan administration, practically waives Nigeria’s sovereign immunity. In other words, if we default, China has legal grounds to claim what it financed.
The major problem with our indebtedness to the Chinese government is that most of the loans collected on behalf of Nigerians ended up in private pockets. Let me stir your thoughts with a particular contract that was bid for at the NNPC during the tenure of a former Group Managing Director. I remember clearly that the company which won the contract proposed $1.4 billion, yet, surprisingly, the same contract was awarded to the second bidder, who proposed a lesser-quality solution. Even more shockingly, the contract was awarded at a cost of $2.9 billion. An additional $400,000 was paid as a consultancy fee to a non-existent consultant.
Most of the contracts awarded in Nigeria were given to companies operated by the directors and permanent secretaries in those same ministries. They opened many company offices all over Nigeria and awarded contracts to themselves by proxy.
These were loans borrowed in the name of Nigerian citizens from China. And we must repay them—both capital and interest—for the next 35 years. This is evil perpetrated by a few wicked public servants against their fellow citizens.
And with our public debt now ballooning beyond ₦97 trillion, default is no longer unthinkable—it’s a looming inevitability.
But it doesn’t end there. Step into any market—from Lagos to Enugu—and you’ll find shelves flooded with Chinese products: cheaper, mass-produced, and omnipresent. From electronics to kitchenware, phones to textiles, Nigerian businesses can’t compete. Our once-booming manufacturing hubs in Aba, Kano, and Nnewi are being choked out of existence. We’re no longer producers—we’re middlemen hawking Chinese goods in Nigerian markets.
In construction, Chinese contractors dominate the skyline. From roads to bridges, hospitals to high-rises, Chinese companies win the contracts, import the materials, and even fly in their own labour force. The jobs meant for Nigerians are handed over without a second thought. Our economy is being outsourced—and with it, our future.
So what does China want? Everything. Nigeria isn’t just another African country. It’s Africa’s largest market, its most oil-rich frontier, and its most strategic geopolitical prize. With each new loan, each real estate purchase, each project takeover, China is embedding itself deeper into our national fabric. This is not a partnership. It is a slow-motion capture.
The Nigerian political elite, meanwhile, is either complicit or completely clueless. Administration after administration has welcomed Chinese deals without transparency, accountability, or concern for long-term consequences. Loan terms are kept hidden. Oversight committees are neutered. Civil society is ignored. Nigeria is sleepwalking into servitude.
In 2008, I warned that Nigeria would become the Pakistan of Africa—torn apart by terrorism and lawlessness. That prediction was dismissed then, but today it reads like prophecy. Mark my words again: if we continue on this path, Nigeria will not be governed by her tribes—it will be owned by her creditors.
This is a battle for economic survival and national identity. We may repair roads and rebuild railways, but lost sovereignty? That’s a wound that may take generations to heal—if it can be healed at all.
The writing is on the wall. The question is: who among us is still willing to read it?
Mogaji Wole Arisekola writes from Ibadan.
