INTERVIEW with His Excellency Toshitsugu Uesawa, former Ambassador of Japan to Nigeria

H.E. Toshitsugu Uesawa,

former Ambassador of Japan

to Nigeria

At the invitation of the Embassy of Japan in Nigeria, I once took part in a press tour in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (in Ibadan) to observe the works of a Japanese researcher, Dr Hidehiko Kikuno, who was doing extensive research in yam propagation using modern technology. In line with the Press Tour, I did an interview with the Japanese ambassador at the time (2010), His Excellency Toshitsugu Uesawa. The interview was first published in the 4th Edition of INSIDE TRACK MAGAZINE (Print Edition) that same year. Ambassador Uesawa’s tour of duty in Nigeria ended the following year and he has left the country...

Towards the end of my interview with His Excellency Toshitsugu Uesawa, Ambassador of Japan to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he smiles when I ask what is his favourite Nigerian food. After two and a half years in the country, he must have developed a taste for some Nigerian dishes by now. We are in his office at the Embassy of Japan in Maitama, Abuja, when I pose this question – and that’s when he smiles and says, “Ohh, I’m a very conservative person. I have a Japanese chef, I have a Japanese wife...they can easily prepare Japanese food, so I am isolated from Nigerian food. Nevertheless,” he adds, “I like the spicy taste of jollof rice. I think the spice in jollof rice is good for an aggressive person like me.”

Ambassador and Madam Uesawa 

at the Japanese Emperor's Birthday 

Reception in December 2009.

Photo by Araceli

Born in Osaka Prefecture, Japan, in 1955, Ambassador Uesawa first visited Nigeria in 2000 when he accompanied the then Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori, for an official visit to Nigeria. At the time, Ambassador Uesawa was the Senior Coordinator (Country Assistance Planning Division) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and 23 years had passed since he joined the Ministry. As a diplomat, he has been posted to Tanzania, Kenya, Canada, Bangladesh, USA and India. He has also visited many countries in Africa and in 2007 he was appointed Ambassador to Nigeria, his first assignment as an Ambassador. This year he was also appointed his country’s Permanent Representative to the ECOWAS.

Answering a question on why he became a diplomat in the first place, he says the first reason is that his father always talked to him aboutthe former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and his advice to the American people about asking what they could do for their country, which deeply impressed and motivated the young Mr. Uesawa. “At the time,” the Ambassador says, “I thought that going into business is just for seeking profit. I asked myself if I could do something for my government, then what would that be? That’s the number one reason. And second, I thought that just being in Japan is boring. I was young. I wanted to see something different. I wanted to visit many countries. And finally, I had a discussion with my wife and she too shared the same feeling, so these were the reasons why I chose this kind of job.” And what does he enjoy most? “There are many things,” he says. “I have seen a lot of things.” He makes a pause and recalls the time he went to see his wife’s father to ask for his permission to marry his daughter. “He flatly objected because he said he didn’t want his daughter to get married to a diplomat who, he said, is like a migrant. My wife is the eldest child, so her father wanted someone to take over his business, but fortunately or unfortunately, I and my wife have really been enjoying this kind of diplomatic life. I have made a lot of friends. They are my treasure. I have good friends, I have bad friends,” he chuckles, “but they have become important part of my life.” 

Ambassador Toshitsugu Uesawa with recipients 

of Japanese grants at the

Japanese Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria.

Photo by Araceli

Ambassadorial post 

So what was his first reaction when he learned that he was going be appointed as Ambassador to Nigeria? “Oh I felt challenged,” he replies. “I knew it was a big responsibility for me. This is because we always take the relationship between Nigeria and Japan not only in the bilateral context but also in the global context. The relation that we have may have a very big impact on global issues as well. The issue of Africa itself is not an elementary course but an advanced course for diplomats. Africa is a very dynamic and diverse continent, and Nigeria in particular is a dynamic and diverse country. I don’t say I have completed building a perfect relation with Nigeria. It’s a long way. It takes time to build a relationship because Japan is a giant in Asia and Nigeria is a giant in Africa...we can’t build a relationship in one day. I took over from my predecessor and I will hand over my experiences to my successor,” he says. 

There are several embassies in Nigeria whose jurisdictions cover several countries in West Africa at a time, so I ask if this is also the case for the Japanese Embassy. “I don’t like to compare the importance of each country in Africa,” Ambassador Uesawa replies, “but we give high priority to Nigeria, therefore my embassy here in Abuja covers only Nigeria.” He adds that there are 31 Japanese embassies in Africa.

Diplomatic and personal lives 

As a top diplomat, Ambassador Uesawa is surrounded by people who assist him both in the office and at his official residence. That is why, when asked about the problems he has encountered while doing his job, he says, “Frankly speaking, I have no serious problems. That’s because others are helping me; they are the ones who have problems,” he laughs. “For example my wife. I am a very conservative person when it comes to food. I eat only Japanese food. And also I bring Japanese culture into my house, so can you imagine how we can maintain Japanese culture here in Nigeria? She has to work hard; for example she has to ask assistants to bring Japanese movies, etc.” The father of two daughters who are now adults and have careers of their own, however, admits that moving from one country to another posed some problems in keeping his young family together. “You have to make extra effort,” he said. His daughters, while growing up, “had to change school often” therefore they suffered from the difficulties of making new friends in a new place each time he got a new posting. He also adds that getting home from office, it was customary for him to talk about his work, the government, poverty, official development, etc. He says his children got fed up with these topics and, although he knew that at heart they understood what their father was doing, neither of them followed in his footsteps. Both his daughters are now happily working in the private sector.

Guests at the Japanese Emperor's Birthday 

Reception in December 2009, 

Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton Hotel

Photo by Araceli

Nation-building

In his speech at the annual gathering of recipients of Japanese assistance under JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency) last March in Abuja, Ambassador Uesawa said: “The attainment of goals for nation-building is not an easy task. In fact, there are still many Nigerian people left behind in their miserable life conditions. We have to renew our commitment to fight against the enemies such as conflicts, diseases, and poverty which prevent Nigeria from developing. To this end, Japan has been and will be working together with the people of Nigeria. In particular, to save the weak, such as the poor, women, and children from such conditions should be the first priority of our efforts, because it is indeed the foundation of nation-building.” 

I make a comment that without oil, it may be take time for Nigeria to develop. Ambassador Uesawa replies: “You are right, but historically speaking you are not completely right.” And using his country’s epic rise from utter poverty to become the 2nd largest economy in the world as an example, he reaches for a large book and opens it, showing me two pictures, one depicting an overview of a city in ruins (that’s Tokyo) immediately after the Second World War and the other at present, effectively portraying without any need for words the enormous changes that had taken place in Japan for the last 50 years and how far his country has gone in terms of practically everything. “As you can see, we built our country without natural resources. We have nothing but human resources. But the point is, we have developed our human resources. How? Education. Education is the foundation for nation-building. Nigeria has a huge population and many of them are doing very well in the international arena, like in the World Bank, the UN, in the financial and oil sectors. Nigeria has unlimited potential.” 

Expansion of Japanese business in Nigeria 

Ambassador Uesawa says there are currently 130 Japanese nationals in Nigeria, forty of them in government-related occupations while the rest are in the business sector. This is quite small compared to other countries whose nationals in Nigeria could run into thousands, so I ask him why this is so and what is really stopping Japanese businesses from expanding in Nigeria. He says he’s been to many developing countries and he gets the same question every time, adding that “My government is really promoting the expansion of business in Africa and many Japanese companies are showing interest in expanding here. We take time to decide, but once we make the decision, then the speed is very quick. Nigeria is a very attractive market, but historically speaking, the market is in a sense dominated by European companies. And also nowadays, India and China have joined in the competition. There’s a very strong competition between these countries. Japan will come and you will see it. Now is the time for warming-up.” 

Ambassador and Madam Uesawa 

at a reception hosted by the

Ambassador of Spain.

Photo by Araceli

Japanese assistance to Nigeria 

According to the Ambassador in his speech last March, since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, Japan has extended substantial amount of assistance to Nigeria, the total of which has exceeded N600 billion to date and there have been more than a thousand Nigerians who have benefitted through training in various fields under the sponsorship of JICA. “Our contribution to Nigeria reaches 5 billion naira annually,” he says. 

Ambassador Uesawa has made education as one of his focus. “When I started my job at my office in 2007, I promised myself that the first thing I should do as an Ambassador in Abuja is to construct classrooms in FCT area for 5,000 students who wish to study but cannot do so simply because of poverty. While I have succeeded in providing 69 classrooms for 3,457 pupils in the FCT, I am still on the way to accomplishing my goal.” 

In 2006, the Government of Japan provided funds for a project called Improving Livelihoods in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria Through Adoption of Improved Agricultural Technologies. Another project, Yams for Food and Wealth in Africa: Profitable Mass Production of Healthy Seed Yams, is on-going and also funded by the Government of Japan. Both projects are conducted by Dr. Hidehiko Kikuno, a yam Physiologist from Japan, who just recently succeeded in propagating yams through vine cuttings and who has been is working with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan, Oyo State, since 2003. For this year (2010), the Japanese government committed 570,000 US dollars worth of donations to the IITA. 

After work 

Japanese art on display at the
Japanese Emperor's Birthday reception,
held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.
Photo by Araceli

While bearing the enormous task (three years at most is the usual length of tenure for a Japanese Ambassador to stay in a country) of strengthening the relationship between the giant of Africa and the giant of Asia, and ensuring that it does not run into glitches (think of the time when Nigeria was accused of violating human rights by many Western countries), how does Ambassador Uesawa relax in the midst of all these challenges and responsibilities? “I am very vocal in my duties, but I am very quiet in my private life,” he says. “I read and listen to music with a glass of whisky in my hand.” 

Finally, on friendship 

At the end of the interview, I asked Ambassador Uesawa if there were other things he wanted to add and he said, “We don’t make friends with Nigeria just because we want to take something. That’s quite against Japanese philosophy. We want to build real friendship even if it takes time. We don’t expect short term or instant relationship.” In his speech at the JICA Alumni Association event last March, he said: “The value of Japan’s contribution should not be measured by the amount only. The primary reason why we want to help the people of Nigeria is because they are good friends of ours. We want the Nigerians to share the spirit of Japanese cooperation and friendship. We also recognize that people may forget how much you have given to them, but they will remember how sincere you were to them. Japanese cooperation’s motto is to trust, and to respect, just like we do to our friends.” ■