This article is from WeChat official account: phase and not Institute (ID: buuuxiangji) , Author: rich adamantyl, FIG head Source: Tao hole twitter@Engr.Kong Tao

When it comes to African chiefs, many people will think of the primitive tribes on the savanna. The strong and dark Africans have feathery headdresses, and their faces are painted with totem tattoos that symbolize the spirit of the tribe. They are covered with animal skins. There are a large number of guards with shotguns and spears.

Maybe this is indeed the image of some tribal chiefs in Africa in the past, but now, this stereotype has to be changed.

Picture source: Kong Tao’s twitter@Engr.Kong Tao

The ancestors of black Africans did not expect that into the 21st century, yellow people from Asia will enter the African continent and stage their own power game.

Today, there are more and more yellow faces in the group of African chiefs who speak Mandarin and authentic Chinese English. The Chinese have taken up the chief’s scepter.

Picture source: Kong Tao’s twitter@Engr.Kong Tao

The 35-year-old Chinese boy Kong Tao from Puyang, Henan is one of the newly emerging African chiefs.

On April 21, 2019, Kong Tao put on the costume of the Nigerian chief, and under the watchful eyes of the local tribes, he accepted the certificate and scepter of power from the Turkish Emperor Musa of the Jiwa region of Nigeria, And crowned him as “WAKILIN AYYUKA” chief, meaning “engineering leader”.

After the coronation ceremony, surrounded by tribesmen, he rode around the fief. The news came back to China the next day and made headlines.

Picture source: Kong Tao’s twitter@Engr.Kong Tao

In the era of overwhelming success in learning, Kong Tao reinterpreted another kind of success with his own personal experience, called the chief of Africa.

This leap in identity across countries and nations has broadened the imagination of countless domestic netizens. Many people are also wondering why he can become a chief in Africa.

In the past, chiefs did have supreme power in African countries, but now Nigeria has a modern administrative system, chiefs are mainly reflected in their influence, especially in rural areas enjoying high prestige.

The chiefs are divided into three levels. The first-level chiefs are approved by the head of state, the second-level chiefs are approved by the cabinet territorial minister, and the third-level chiefs are approved by the governor. Nigeria has a tenure for chief.

In 2010, just graduating from Beijing Jiaotong University with a master’s degree, Kong Tao, who was only 25 years old, was hired by China Railway Construction China Earth Corporation. Soon after joining the group, he was stationed by the company to the Akka Railway Project and the Abuja Urban Railway Project.

For ten years, he regarded Nigeria as his second hometown, following the company’s projects, building roads, building bridges, laying railroad tracks, building houses, and participating in local railway operations. In order to thank him for his contribution, the locals awarded him the title of chief.

On the land of Africa, Kong Tao and