The Minister Of State For Education, Hon Opiah, Calls For Intensify Efforts Towards Deepening China Bilateral Ties With Nigeria
On Thursday, August 4, the Minister of State for Education, Hon Goodluck Nanah Opiah received Mr. Li Xuda, the Cultural Counselor of the Embassy of China in Nigeria, and his team who were on a courtesy call to the Federal Ministry of Education at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja.
Issues of diplomatic interests to Nigeria and China were discussed.
Opiah in his welcome address, used the opportunity offered by the visit to appreciate China for its bilateral agreements with Nigeria and called on the country to intensify efforts towards deepening its bilateral ties with Nigeria, such as in the areas of building capacity for educational policies, planning and research through effective utilisation of financial and statistical information.
He said “We want to see exchange of scientific publications, information and teaching materials between our two countries. We expect to see concerted efforts in the area of collaboration on access to information on research findings as well as administrative structural systems of universities and colleges of technology in China. We want to also have the sharing of experiences on the development of innovation enterprise institutions at the tertiary and secondary levels for professional skills training for Nigerian youths, as a strategy for reducing unemployment and curbing insecurity in Nigeria.”
“I recalled that Nigeria and China enjoy cordial bilateral relationship. Not long ago, Nigeria and China signed cultural and educational exchange agreement. Some of the content of the agreement include: development programmes, technical, vocational and trading activities, award of scholarships to students of both countries, establishment of Chinese Language Centre in Nigeria, and many other areas of cooperation. I am happy to say that the bilateral agreement on culture and education is working.”
“Recently, following the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari on the establishment of linkages between Nigerian and Chinese universities, a ministerial committee was set up, coordinated by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to draw up a framework of cooperation between universities in Nigeria and China. That framework has been developed and we are anxiously awaiting China’s action on the document through our diplomatic channels.”
“I also recalled that the Chinese private sector has indicated interest in various sectors of Nigeria, and urged them to do more in this regard.” He concluded.
Mr. Li Xuda who led his team on the courtesy call as well appreciated the robust bilateral relationship between the two countries and called for stronger ties between Nigeria and China.
He assured that he will facilitate the resumption of academic activities for Nigerian post graduate students who got scholarships to study in China in 2020 and 2021 but were not able to travel for their studies as a result of COVID-19 restrictions.
