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The Federal Government has been urged to, as a matter of urgency, avail itself the enormous liquidity available at the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) to fill the nation’s infrastructure deficits.
This was the crux of a colloquium organized by the Centre for China Studies (CCS) to mark the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and its implications for the Sino-Africa cooperation held in Abuja on Wednesday.
The AIIB is a 65-member multilateral development bank that aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region and other regions and it has its headquarters in Beijing, China.
The Director of the Centre for China Studies, Charles Onunaiju, in his opening remarks, advised the Nigerian government to become a member of the AIIB as many countries of the world, especially in developing countries, have accessed funds for infrastructure development from the bank.
Onunaiju added that it has become incumbent on the government to do so judging by the desperate drive for infrastructural development and the dearth of funds to drive it currently facing the nation.
Also speaking, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, said CPC has guided the Chinese to achieve not only some Centenary Goals but also the Chinese dream.
Dogara, who was represented by Mohammed Usman (APC-Kaduna) said, “China today is our important partner that has been supporting us and indeed Africa in our development strides. Nigeria and China have been cooperating in numerous areas such as in agriculture, education, finance and infrastructure and solid minerals.”
He added that during the Forum for China and African Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit in South Africa in 2015, China pledged $60 billion to support African countries to develop their infrastructure and Nigeria is a major beneficiary.
“It is in the light of this that we believe the 2017 National Congress of the Communist Party of China will most assuredly provide another opportunity to consolidate on the gains of the on-going bilateral relations between Nigeria and China in particular and Sino-African Relations,” the Speaker said.
He said that through the instrumentality of legislation the House Committee on Nigeria-China relations aims to among other objectives ,consolidate and strengthen the cooperation of both countries with emphasis on transfer of technology and facilitating Foreign Direct Investment from China to Nigeria.
The chairman of the occasion and former Nigerian Foreign Minister, Aminu Wali, praised the enormous development China has made in the last decades and attributed it to the indigenous character of the Chinese political and economic system even as he urged Nigeria to emulate China to improve Nigeria’s governmental processes.
The Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to Nigeria, Zhou Pingji
