China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) held a farewell ceremony on April 7 for a 15-member medical team to be sent to Abuja, Nigeria on April 8 to aid its battle against COVID-19. Photo: CRCC

 
The China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), a Chinese state-owned enterprise, sent a 15-member medical team, along with medical materials, to Nigeria on Wednesday to help the African country in its battle against COVID-19. However, opposition to the government's invitation to the Chinese medical team has become widespread in Nigerian media recently, especially in independent outlets. Some local media believe that the opposition reports are part of the Western media’s public opinion war against China. Meanwhile, Nigerian officials rejected these voices of opposition and expressed gratitude for China’s medical support.

This opposition came to the attention after the Global Times received a call from Dr Austin Maho, editor-in-chief of the Nigeria Pilot, on Tuesday. Maho got a newspaper sample from his editor Monday night with the headline "Nigerians to say 'no' to Chinese medical team" on the front page. He held off on publication out of respect for the facts, and said he was sure that more and more mainstream media would  make a big deal out of it.

The controversy seemed to have been sparked by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), which said that it was “profoundly dismayed to learn that the Federal Government is … inviting the Chinese” in a statement published by the Premium Times on Sunday. 

But a health official in Nigeria，who preferred to remain  anonymous, said the Chinese team was "innocent" on this matter. 

He said the NMA was just blowing off steam over China, but was actually angry about the federal and state governments’ decision to hand out special anti-pandemic funds only to health departments and the centers for disease control and prevention, not to NMA. 

But some local media outlets believed that the real reason behind the opposition to China’s medical support is that the Western media is launching a public opinion war against China. By spreading false information, they are trying to make people doubt the quality of medical kits and face masks and suspect the real purpose behind China’s donations of epidemic prevention materials. Some people have even asked to reject and return Jack Ma’s donations to African countries.


One media source said that the Western media have shifted their focus from mainstream media to social media such as Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp to make an impact on people, as they are realizing that the mainstream media is slowly losing its prestige. 

As a response to the rumors raging online, the chairman of Nigeria’s House Committee on Foreign Affairs in the House of Representatives, Yusuf Buba Yakub, said in a media statement on April 2 that the false information has had a great negative impact on Nigeria's overall anti-epidemic situation and on Nigeria-China relations, hurt the feelings of China as a sincere donor, and resulted in Chinese citizens in Nigeria receiving unfair treatment. 

Boss Mustapha, chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, issued a statement on Monday expressing thanks to the CRCC for its help with importing 1.3 million masks and 150,000 pieces of various kinds of medical protective gear, and sending medical teams to share their anti-pandemic experiences. 

He called on people to put aside unnecessary arguments and narrow-minded views and work together with China to win the battle against the pandemic. Each and every country, even the US, needs all the help it can get at this point, said Mustapha. 

Mosto Onuoha, president of the Nigerian Academy of Science, also said on Saturday that Nigeria welcomes medical personnel from China to come to Nigeria to provide help. 

The Global Times