– Visit to Focus on Investments and Bilateral Agreements
NIGERIAN President Goodluck Jonathan will commence a “high-powered” state
visit to China next week for talks with Chinese leaders and investors which the administration says are “aimed at increasing China’s direct investment in the Nigerian economy”.
The five-day state visit commences on Tuesday, July 9, and it will see President Jonathan holding separate meetings with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, Mr. Zhang Dejiang.
According to a press release from the president’s office released on Thursday, talks between the Nigerian president and the Chinese leaders will focus on greater bilateral cooperation in areas as the development of public infrastructure, oil and gas, power supply, agriculture, communications and tourism.
The release from the presidency also revealed that “new bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding will be concluded and signed to guide and sustain future Nigeria-China relations in these and other areas of cooperation”.
No less than 5 governors, 2 federal lawmakers and at least 14 federal ministers will accompany Mr. Jonathan on the trip.
They include the Governors of Abia, Anambra, Gombe and Bauchi States, Senator Paulinus Nwagu, Representative Tahir Monguno and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Petroleum, Works, Agriculture, Aviation, Solid Minerals, Transport, National Planning, Trade & Investment, Niger Delta, Justice, Culture & Tourism as well as the Minister of State for Defence.
President Jonathan will also participate in a special session of the Nigeria/China Investment Forum which will be attended by leading Chinese investors and their Nigerian counterparts.
Separate meetings will also hold with the Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers of leading Chinese conglomerates such as Huawei, SINOPEC and ZTE.
Mr. Jonathan’s engagements in Beijing will also include commissioning the new Nigerian Embassy building, laying the foundation stone for the residence of Nigeria’s Ambassador to China and meeting with members of the Nigerian community in China.
Before returning to Abuja, the President and his delegation will visit Daqing in China’s Heilongjiang Province to confer with leaders of the Provincial government and tour the Daqing Petrochemical Industry and Agricultural Demonstration Farm.
At least four major agreements between the two countries are expected to be signed between the two countries, if all goes well with the state visit.
The agreements include one on defense cooperation between Nigeria and China. Others include agreement on economic and technical cooperation; an agreement on finance for the Zungeru Power Plant and Airport Terminals; and an agreement on mutual visa exemption for holders of diplomatic and official passports.
Also expected is an agreement for the Central Bank of Nigeria to invest in China’s Inter-Bank Bond Market through the Peoples’ Bank of China, and an agreement for the prevention of the theft, illicit import and export of cultural property.
Ideas for the development of public infrastructure, oil and gas, power supply, agriculture, communications and tourism will also be exchanged.
President Jonathan’s state visit to China comes as United States President Barack Obama ended his 4-nation tour of Africa without Nigeria, an economic powerhouse by every measure, featuring on the list of countries visited by the American president.
Although Nigeria and the United States enjoy cordial relations with strong working agreements between both countries, President Obama’s decision to skip Nigeria was the most glaring pointer yet that the United States may be sensitive to some of the serious challenges faced by the Jonathan Administration in running Nigeria’s affairs.
However, President Jonathan and his government may also be proving the point that efforts to develop the country continues with or without a visit from the American president, especially as other options like China exist for business and political patronage.
Mr. Jonathan and his entourage are expected back in Nigeria on Saturday, July 13 after the state visit to China ends on Friday, July 12.