Nigeria, Aug. 23 -- It began, unexpectedly, with a telephone call one evening in May.

I was at my desk in Abuja when my phone rang. On the other end was Kemi Yusufu, Publicity Secretary of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP). She had an unusual message. A friend had contacted her to say that the Chinese Embassy in Abuja was looking for a way to reach me.

Kemi had done what friends sometimes do when opportunity comes knocking in an unfamiliar voice: she passed on my contact.

The following morning, a message arrived from the Chinese Embassy. I was invited to an event scheduled for 2 p.m. that day. There was only one problem. I was in the middle of the week-long District Conference of Rotary International District 9127, and t...