President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday in Johannesburg, South Africa, said China remained a strategic and dependable partner in his administration’s determination to change the direction and content of governance in Nigeria.
A statement issued in Abuja on Saturday by the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said Buhari stated this in his address at the Roundtable of Chinese and African Leaders on the last day of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
President Buhari said that his administration, since its inauguration in May this year, had embarked on the task of re-focusing governance on the real needs of the vast majority of Nigerians.
He, therefore, expressed the confidence that China “will always stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in our quest to fulfill the aspirations of our people to propel them to prosperity.”
On the 15-year-old FOCAC, President Buhari commended the theme of the Second Summit, “China-Africa Progressing Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development.”
He expressed the hope that it would engender the right platform to engage “Africa in all fields of human endeavour such as provision of essential infrastructure, skills development and capacity building, diversification of our economies and beneficiation of resources.”
The President noted with delight the laudable objectives of FOCAC in cultivating, fostering and deepening political, economic, technological, social and other forms of relations between China and Africa.
Buhari praised China for the vision behind the establishment of FOCAC as a platform for higher level Africa-China relationship.
“Africa expects Chinese investment flows to the real sector of our economies to promote African enterprises.
“Our over-riding objectives are to tackle the challenge of unemployment, wealth creation, food security and industrialisation,” he said.
He also stressed the need for crucial link between political stability, security and sustainable development on the African continent.
“We are convinced that Africa can only leverage productively on the potentials of ties with strategic and development partners in an atmosphere of political stability and security of lives and property as well as in a policy environment that guarantees the sanctity of collaborative joint ventures and investment on the basis of agreed rules and regulations.”
President Buhari highlighted the threat posed by global challenges such as fresh political conflicts, terrorism and other forms of extremism; trans-border crimes; illegal arms trade; irregular migration and cybercrimes.
He, therefore, stressed the need for collective action to confront these new threats to global peace.
“These are veritable threats to peace and security and without peace and security we cannot succeed in our development objectives,” he added.
He said that China and Africa must work together to confront these threats, as well as the challenge of climate change.
According to him, this has become necessary in view of the fact that Africa remains badly affected with severe threats to food security and social stability in addition to “unacceptable levels of poverty, unemployment and youth restiveness.”
The President expressed the hope that the summit would come out with a clear and sustainable roadmap that would be mutually beneficial to both Africa and China.
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