National Planning Minister says Nigeria has much learning from China on infrastructure

BEIJING (National Planning Commission Report)

Nigeria’s Minister and Deputy Chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC), Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman (Dr) has said that Nigeria has a lot to learn from China’s rich infrastructure history.

The Minister made the remark recently at the ‘Bilateral Seminar on Economy, Diplomacy and Management of Nigeria in 2015′ which held at the Academy for International Business Officials (AIBO) in Beijing, China. Adding, the incoming administration should not jettison the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) put in place by the present administration.

The message which was delivered on his behalf by his Special Assistant on Media, Abdulrahman A. Abdulrauf noted that if the Nigerian Government is in a bilateral relationship, it then needs to follow suit by tilting towards China to learn from its rich infrastructure history. Abdulrauf, who led a 30-man delegation said on behalf of the Minister that as part of the sustainable effort at fixing Nigeria’s infrastructure, a workable document otherwise called the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan (NIIMP) has been put in place.

“The 30-year developmental plan which is holistic in nature is expected to gulp a whooping N485 trillion ($3.05 trillion). The Five-Year Operational Plan of this NIIMP has since taken off and is expected to lapse by 2018,” he explained. He called on Chinese investors to come and be part of the laudable vision as it will further strengthen the bilateral and economic ties between the two countries. He inferred that Nigeria’s natural resources can only be effectively harnessed when and if the right infrastructures are in place.

Also speaking at the event, Nigeria’s Ambassador to China, Olushola Patrick Onadipe represented by the Embassy’ Senior Counselor on Economy commended the Sino-Nigeria relationship, saying the trade volume between the two countries has risen to about USD16 billion.

In his opening remarks, the President of AIBO, Li Xiaoping commended the relationship between the two countries and pointed out that China is always willing to support the development initiatives of other countries.