His Excellency Dr. Elijah C. Onyeagba the Nigerian Ambassador to Burundi in this interview with Eze Nkechi a senior correspondent of Newspeg Magazine speaks on life as a diplomat, his work in Burundi, politics in Burundi and politics in Nigeria.
His Excellency holds a degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and also an MBA in Finance from the University of Calabar. He holds a Master’s in Applied Economics from the American University in Washington DC, USA, and a Ph.D. in Economics (Public Policy).
A member of Board of Trustees (BOT) of the IgbaK’Igba Foundation. Onyeagba sits on the Advisory board of Democracy Youth Roundtable. An Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellow of the African Leadership Institute, he is also a Senior Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIB) and a Fellow of the Institute of Treasury and Financial Administration (FITFA).
He is an expert in the structuring and advisory on construction finance deals, with a specialty in residential/affordable housing projects with over 20 years of experience in mortgage banking, real estate, commercial, research, marketing, corporate, retail, and leadership.
He has worked as Head of Commercial (Sales and Marketing), Northern Operations of the Nigeria Securities, Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC) Plc.
Onyeagba worked with Equitorial Trust Bank (presently Sterling Bank) as Head of Business, Platinum Bank (Now Keystone Bank) and Bond Bank (Now Skye Bank) as a relationship manager as a relationship officier and customer service officer. He has also worked as a research assistant with the Policy Analysis and Research Group (PARG).
An alumnus of the International Housing Finance Program and Securitisation of the Wharton Business School in Pennsylvania, Onyeagba has undergone several leadership and management courses at Harvard Business School, USA – High Potential Leadership Program (HPLP) – 2008, Leadership Development (LD) 2009; Wharton Business School, USA – Strategic Marketing – MT 2010; Said Business School, Oxford, UK, 2012 and INSEAD Business School, Fontaine Bleau, France – Leadership Transition LT, 2013.
Kindly give an insight into the Nigeria-Burundi Bilateral Trade Relations.
Before I came to Burundi, there were no economic relations between Nigeria and Burundi. But we had relations at the political level. If you have good relations with any country bilaterally, you can open missions. Because Burundi has always been a country that has had a lot of crisis in the past, up until 2015. What Nigeria was doing then was, they opened the mission at CDA level (chargé d’affaires level) which is a mission, but not at the ambassadorial level. It is like the head of a small mission, a grade C or grade D mission, who is not sent by the president, but by the minister of foreign affairs and given what you refer to as letter of commission. But what was given in my case is a letter of credence and it always comes from one president to another.
I was the next full ambassador that was sent here in 2021. The chargé d’affaires that was here before I came, was deployed to Brussels as the Ambassador of Nigeria to Belgium and of course the permanent representative to the European Union. When we came in, we felt it is good to have a proper government to government relations, so we set up what we call a joint commission, which is basically a memorandum of understanding that allows working relations of two countries at bilateral level. We inaugurated the maiden edition of our joint commission. Once that was done, signing of other agreements followed.
We signed very important bilateral agreements on political consultations between both countries, a bilateral agreement on education cooperation; we then set the ball rolling on discussing bilateral agreements on economics, trade, and investments, as well as on technical aid assistance to Burundi. We kick-started the discussion and signed two agreements. The Nigerian team was in Burundi for about a week to basically look at the agreements and in the end, inaugurated and signed the agreements. We wanted to trade investments, but at that time, there was already Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AFCTA) Agreement that both countries were signatories to. We felt both countries should rectify Afcta, then we can see what we can add. Because Afcta makes it easier for goods and services to move across both countries, which is what we would rather do under specific economic trade agreements.
We set up Nigeria – Burundi business council, headed by a Nigerian businessman, deputized by Burundi business person as well, that’s the head of Burundi Chamber of commerce and also a member of the parliament.
We organised the maiden edition of the Nigeria – Burundi business summit. The idea behind the summit was to get the private sector to come in and see how they can align with what we are doing. While at it, a lot of Nigerians came in the private sector to Burundi. We had people from education, fashion industry, ICT. We sat together, had proper dialogue and one of the take home from that meeting with was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by a Nigerian company to supply a Burundian company $20 million worth of Urea as a raw material for fertiliser production.
I can boldly say that quite a lot of Nigerian people have taken a liking to speaking to Burundian business people to further strengthen and improve on ourselves. When we had the maiden edition of the summit, the president of Burundi His Excellency, Évariste Ndayishimiye, came himself to declare open the event. This is a major feat because the president doesn’t really attend events of this nature, but because of the relationship we have, he came himself to declare the event open.
At intervals, we have had individuals and agencies, including security agencies visit Burundi. Two sets from the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Study (NIPSS) came to visit Burundi, The Nigeria Defence College, people from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) also came, we have had the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) people come, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have also been to Burundi, the former first lady has also visited Burundi as well. A lot of work has been done to project the country and I am sure most Nigerians now know that there is a country called Burundi.
As you are aware, Burundi is not a large country, therefore, Nigeria’s presence is noticed here. The way diplomacy is, sometimes you are required to take business from the country of tour of duty to Nigeria, but when there is nothing to take, we do it the other way round, just like we have brought Nigeria to Burundi.
The entertainment industry is also thriving in Burundi. Close to 90 percent of the music they play in their clubs, restaurants, pubs and parties are Nigerian music. Once you mention you are a Nigerian, they get really amazed.
What are the significance of these signed Agreements to Nigeria and its citizens?
Before I arrived Burundi, there were lots of agreements already signed by the Nigerian Government. It is pertinent to know that in diplomacy, it does not stop at only signing agreements. The bulk of the job is the implementation of those agreements. When I looked at the some of the agreements that have been signed, I discovered an opportunity to link the education institutions in both countries.
In this regard, the University of Uyo reached out to us through the Ministry of Education for an exchange programme. Some professors came to Burundi for programmes and contrariwise. The Vice Chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University came to Burundi to sign another MoU on students exchange programme and research. I made this happen.
I felt it was not enough to only sign agreements, I felt the need to follow those agreements up with action, in order to have things that we can say are the legacies we have built.
Moving forward, the signed agreement on education cooperation provided an opportunity to have a Nigerian university in Burundi. I brought in some investors and now, there is an English-speaking Nigerian-owned university, which is the first private university to offer Medicine, and Surgery, Nursing, Pharmacy, Engineering and Computer Science, in Burundi. The university is 100 per cent owned by a Nigerian.
As the current ambassador of Nigeria to Burundi, If I leave today, I know that Olivia University in Burundi is part of my legacy.
What did you find on ground when you arrived Burundi?
When I got to Burundi, I did not find anything on ground, but I had the determination to make the best of every opportunity. And so I began to look deep into the country. It is a small country, with a population of about 12 million and a size of about 27,834kms, which is maybe the size of Niger or Kogi State. It is not as big as Nigeria, and also piled high with lots of opportunities. There are opportunities across all sectors, from finance to tourism, infrastructure, education, to health etc. The country is like a virgin country because of their war history.
I knew there were many things Burundi and Nigeria could do. I noticed that a relationship had commenced in 2006, but other than the documentation, nothing concrete has happened between these two countries.
One of the things to know about Burundi is that they are a nation that has suffered. The Tutsi-Hutu crisis was a big problem for the country, they came out of that crisis with distrust for themselves. If you sit down to have a conversation with the Burundians, it is very difficult to get information out of them, I also got to understand that these are cultural issues, which are a result of what they had gone through in the past.
The Burundians hardly speak, you can’t have a meeting with a Burundian and walk away thinking you have gotten information. I came to terms with the fact that you have to do something with them over and over again before they can earn your trust and maybe begin to open up.
What is politics in Burundi like? What are the things to be learnt from their style of politics?
The political economy is stable, I find it very interesting, interesting so much that you can see through it. They have fought a civil war, so one of the things they did while amending the constitution was to address all the problems from the war.
Their constitution was amended, providing a 7 year tenure for the president and the president can run for two tenures. As I speak, the president is in the third year of his first tenure.
Give us your stand on youths involvement in politics?
Part of what the people that designed Nigeria had in mind was inclusion, which gave room for the federal character. Nigeria as a country is made up of over 250 tribes, we are not more than the tribes in America, over there, they speak over 300 languages. Irrespective of these differences, they have managed to find unity in the course of nation building.
I have seen a lot in diplomacy that opened my eyes to so many things.
We may not at the moment be competing with the world powers with regards to strong factors like infrastructure, technology and military, but we have something going on for us. We have soft powers in terms of our culture, music, movies, and even diplomacy. And it is these soft powers that we can deploy.
The O2 Arena in London is about 100,000 capacity, when Burna Boy is performing, it is filled to the brim and less than 5 per cent of the crowd there are Nigerians. About 120,000 people gathered in a place, they pay so much money to watch Wizkid, Burna Boy or Davido. That is a strong power which you can’t afford to ignore.
Take a tour around Africa, every country is in love with what we have done with our entertainment, Nollywood, and all of that. Nigerian music has taken the world by storm; Kizz Daniel’s Buga went viral globally. We are not where we can say we have all the technologies et military, but like I said, we have soft powers with which we can engage the world.
That is why I am of the opinion that as a young populated country, the leadership and governance structure must allow the young talents to feel comfortable to express themselves. It is why I always argue that the only way to get it right for us is to get the young people involved in governance. You can’t make policies for the young people when they are not on the table.
Give them an opportunity to be at the table and watch them speak to their people, their classmates and their age mates in the language that they will understand.
I remember when Tinubu was declared the winner of the election, one of the first things he said was, “Nigeria youths, I heard you and I heard you very loudly”. He reiterated that like two or three times.
He also mentioned in his inaugural speech, that the young people of Nigeria would feature prominently in his government. I believe the youths are looking up to him.
With the visible changes, the naysayer that didn’t believe in him are beginning to be convinced that Tinubu is ready and indeed prepared for the job.
We are hopeful that he will give a lot of young people the opportunities they deserve, because he is a man we’ve known to be a driver for excellence, a man that identifies talent, nurture and groom them into something huge. We are rest assured that his government will also allow a lot of young people showcase their talents.
Kindly give an insight on specific issues addressed in their constitutional review
Part of the things they negotiated in their agreement is that their senate is split 50-50 in tribe and gender. Every political party know that they must, have two senators, for every province or state and one must be a Hutu, and the other one must be a Tutsi and it must be a male while the other a female. This is the way the candidates are presented.
They have achieved a balance of 50 per cent of female senators and 50 per cent of male senators in their senate. Also, 50 per cent of senators are Hutu, and 50 per cent of senators are Tutsi. Something else I found impressive is that after the elections, the party that comes second nominates three people for the president to choose a vice president.
The presidential candidate does not pick a running mate. They vote for only the president. After the election, the party that comes second in the presidential election, will nominate three people from outside the president’s tribe for him to pick the vice president.
I know you want to ask me what will be next if the president dies? Well their constitution has been structured that if the president dies, the leader of the parliament takes over power and he must come from the majority party. But that inclusion of having someone who is from the other tribe and the other party sorts of creates some level of balance. You lose an election but you don’t entirely lose out; there is some level of representation in the government.
Do they have religious influence in their politics?
Burundi as a country has a population of about 90 per cent Christians. Despite this large Christian population, they still have a Muslim community that respects themselves. I can say that everybody lives in peace in Burundi.
They are poor in the country, but they do a lot of running, they also exercise a lot too. It is normal in the afternoon to see people running. People run here anytime, even as late as 10pm in the night, you find people running. . In Burundi, people run even with bare feet. I tried to find out the history/reason behind the running and I found out that it was because of the war. The people need to exercise so that even if they don’t have a gun to shoot, they can at least run. So, this is the history of where the running comes from.
Also you know they have lots of hills, I can say that East Africans generally are very good athletes. I capitalized on that and decided to institute an event around running. It is also part of my legacy. I call it the Nigerian Ambassador’s Trophy.
If you come to Burundi, there is an event called “Run Buja” that we usually do around Nigeria’s Independence Day. We recently hosted the third edition of the event. Buja is a short form of Bujumbura, hence the name and there is a website for it.
People register online, we invite them, they come out and are given branded Tee-shirts. The event is been organised with the athletes. We have done it for two years now, back to back, and prizes are given to winners.
I sometimes get companies in Burundi to come in and sponsor the event.
How did you convince the citizens and sponsors to commit to this event?
I had a meeting with the athlete’s federation, through the Ministry of Sports, and we organised it. We did it this year and we intend to continue.
We organise events like this, to find a way to ensure that the name Nigeria oscillates around the Burundians.
I can say for sure that I am arguably the most popular diplomat in Burundi, across all countries. Here, we have America, the UK, and all, but I think the Nigerian Embassy has done a lot of programmes. The last time I was with the South African ambassador, he said to me, ‘Each time I see you, I feel like I am not doing any work, come and tell me how are you doing these things. I feel guilty that I am just being paid to do nothing.’
I must not forget to tell you that at the moment, I have brought a Nigerian that will do a big real estate project in the capital of Burundi called Gitega. His name is Dr. Chigbo.
Dr. Chigbo has some investors and they are talking to Burundians to do a project of about $20 million somewhere at the heart of Gitega. This is also part of what we are doing.
Another thing worthy of note is that in Burundi, they obey the rule of law. This is so because it has been militarised over the years. When a policeman blows a whistle, it signals something in Burundi and when a policeman stops you, you must stop.
They just introduced speed limits on certain roads. They are not there yet, traffic here cannot be compared to what you see in any part of Nigeria, because it is a small country. You can drive through the whole of Burundi in six to seven hours on the same day. The country is small, but they are yearning for infrastructure.
The interesting thing about the country is that it houses the second largest lake in the world called Lake Tanganyika, which is 760 km long and 75 km wide. Burundi is surrounded by Rwanda, Congo DRC, and Tanzania. They are part of the East Africa Community (EAC), which is about seven countries; Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo
These are some of our major strides. A lot of work has been put in to achieve these, which gives me a feeling of satisfaction, because what I have achieved here in the last two years is much more than what has been done since the embassy opened. I have done my quota, I expect the next person to come and continue with what we have done.
