By Samuel Itsede
China,s military aid to Nigeria has reached a record high of 5. 5 billion naira in two years. This was the revelation made recently by the Chinese defense attache to Nigeria
Sr. Col. LIU Yongxuan,
at a dinner to celebrate the 92nd anniversary of the founding of Chinese Armed Forces, the People’s Liberation Army.
“Since I came here as Defence Attaché in 2017, we have signed two agreements of military aid to Nigeria, totaling 5.5 billion Naira. We are sending more and more Nigerian officers to China for military and security training.
And now we are ready to work with, the Nigerian government to improve the strategic partnership to the next level. With the steady progress of Belt and road Initiative, and under the principle of Mutual Assistance, we will reaffirm our support to Nigeria in capacity building in areas of national defense, counter terrorism and counterinsurgency, and the military and security cooperation between our two countries will be further strengthened. I strongly believe that China and Nigeria will build a stronger and closer community with a shared future and become a model of new type of international relations. He said.
The Chinese Defence attache noted that this year would mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the PRC.
“In more than ninety years, the PLA has been a strong pillar in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, an upholder of world peace and human progress”
He also revealed that the PLA is guided by Chinese President Xi Jinping’s thinking on strengthening the military, noting that Chinese military has entered a new era, and will be fully transformed into a world-class force by the mid of this century, based on a white paper on “China’s National Defense in the New Era”. The paper he observed emphasizes the need for China to remain committed to the path of peaceful development, and will pursue a national defense policy that is defensive in nature,
He emphasized China’s commitment to development and making greater contributions to the building of a global community with a shared future for mankind. “As we all see that the world today is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century. Humanity is faced with a lot of global problems of uncertainty and challenges. President Xi’s advocate to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
