China is worried that Nigerians, many of whom live below the poverty line, continue to face grinding hardship.
“We have lifted more than 700 million people out of poverty in China, and in Nigeria, there are 200 million with 100 million living below the poverty line,” said Cui Jianchun, the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria. “This is my great concern and efforts that make me try to do things for Nigeria, and the most important thing now is agriculture.”
But Mr Cui added, “So, I’m confident that Nigeria-China can build a strong, prosperous country in the coming 20 years, and this is not only about lip service, neither is it about slogans as long as two great nations work together from the agriculture sectors to industry.”
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The Chinese envoy emphasized that China completed the first step toward its centennial objective of eradicating severe poverty and establishing a moderately prosperous society last year.
The diplomat revealed this on Tuesday, when he handed over to the federal government a 44,100,000 (N2.8 billion) China-aid Nigeria Agricultural Demonstration Centre project to help Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
Mr Cui, who handed over the project, stated that the center will give chances for farmers and government officials, as well as enhance and widen the cooperation between the two countries.
China and Nigeria have a long history of friendship, according to Mustapha Shehuri, Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development.
“In these hard times, it is rare to receive this huge donation, and I want to appreciate our friendship with China which has led to the witnessing of rapid and remarkable achievement among (sic) the two countries in the areas of bilateral cooperation,” Mr Shehuri explained.
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The agric minister added, “Nigeria is noted to be a large and leading agricultural economy. Therefore, it has a pressing need for agricultural technology and development centre. This project has provided and transferred advanced technology to Nigeria.”
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