President Muhammadu Buhari Saturday in South Africa said that the Peoples Republic of China remains a strategic and dependable partner in his administration’s determination to change the direction and content of governance, including the management of the country’s resources with priority on accountability, transparency and result-oriented governance.
In a statement by his Special Adviser, Media, Femi Adesina, Buhari gave the commendation in his address at the Roundtable of Chinese and African leaders on the last day of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Noting that his administration has since its inauguration in May, this year, embarked upon the “task of re-focusing our governance on the real needs of the vast majority of Nigerians,” the President said he was confident that China “will always stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our quest to fulfill the aspirations of our people to propel them into prosperity.”
On the 15-year-old FOCAC, Buhari, who commended the theme of the Second Summit, “China-Africa Progressing Together: Win-Win Cooperation for Common Development,” 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.”
Identifying with 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.
According to the Nigerian leader, “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 industrialization.”
-Leadership