Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Zhou Pingjian, has said the Peoples Republic of China will remain a good brother and partner to Africa and Nigeria.
Dr Pingjian spoke yesterday in Sokoto when he visited Usmanu Danfodiyo University (UDU), Sokoto, as part of his working visit to Sokoto and Zamfara states.
“The existing Nigeria and China strategic relationship is robust and alive and the tempo will be sustained.
“China has past glories just like Nigeria that had produced great men like the late Sir Ahmadu Bello and the legendary jihadist, Sheikh Usman Dnafodiyo.”
Pingjian promised that China would continue to be a reliable partner to Nigeria, to help the nation realise its dream of development.
The Chinese envoy further promised to support the university in its bid to sustain its excellence in research and development, noting that a nation could only prosper when the young people thrive and stressed that the future of the China-Nigeria relationship strongly lied in the youths.
Speaking earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, had said that the visit would bolster the existing relation between Nigeria and China in general, as well as between it and the institution in particular.
Zuru also called on the Chinese envoy to facilitate the establishment of the Confucius Centre in the institution, as well as help in the areas of linkages in renewable energy technology, among others.
The Vice Chancellor further appealed for support from the Chinese government in the area of entrepreneurial education and agriculture, in view of the current diversification efforts of the federal government.