By Lucy Omakpo
The Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representative Rt Hon. Abbas Tajudeen has described the just concluded 9th Biejing summit of the Forum for China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) as beacon of hope that would further deepen the collaboration between Nigeria and China, promising that the National Assembly would deploy necessary legislative tools to ensure that all agreements signed are implemented.
Hon. Tajudeen spoke at the reception marking the 75th year anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja organized by the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria.
“The recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held a few weeks ago stands as a beacon of hope for our continued collaboration. The agreements reached during this forum with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signify a renewed commitment to strengthening our bilateral ties. These agreements will pave the way for further investments in critical areas such as energy production and technology transfer—areas that are vital for Nigeria’s sustainable development”. He said.
To underscore the importance of the agreements, he further promised that the, “National Assembly would deploy the necessary legislative framework to support the implementation” of the agreements signed between China and Nigeria during the summit.
The Speaker also attributed the success story of China to the power of effective governance and legislative action in driving national progress promising that the Nigerian House of Representatives will be actively engaging through the China-Nigeria Parliamentary Friendship Group to explore various areas for collaboration and cooperation between China and Nigetia. . “By learning from China’s experience in leveraging its legislature for national advancement, we can better position ourselves to address the challenges facing our own country.” He said.
In his remark, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria his Excellency Ambassador Yu Duncan said that China and Nigeria have a lot in common noting that the upgrade of China Nigeria relationship to Comprehensive Strategic has opened up a new era of cooperation between both countries.
“Our two Presidents agreed to upgrade China-Nigeria relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This is yet another important milestone in our bilateral relations after we established the Strategic Partnership in 2005. President Tinubu’s visit to China has heralded a new era in our bilateral relations and opened up a new prospect for our practical cooperation”.
“Our two sides also signed more than 10 cooperation documents, which will facilitate greater synergies between Belt and Road and FOCAC cooperation with Nigeria’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the Eight Priority Areas. Going forward, we aim to jointly build more roads, railways, airports, power grids and base stations, and will witness their extensions to your beloved communities and hometowns. We will also have more blue and green projects targeting future development, which will contribute to a happier and brighter future for Nigerians”. He said
