The Chinese Government has promised to assist Nigeria in its counter insurgence efforts with the sum of N2 billion (50 million Yuan) to get more military equipment.
Zhou Pingjan, Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, said this on Thursday at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Defence Minister Brigadier General Mansur Muhammad Dan Ali and the Ambassador on behalf of the People’s Republic of China at the Ministry of Defence.
He explained that the support is part of the military-to-military cooperation consummated between the two countries during their bilateral agreements, last year.
“In September 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari led a Nigerian delegation to China to attend the Africa-Chinese forum. At the forum, he held bilateral discussions with President Xi Jinping on several areas of cooperation, particularly in the area of military to military relations,” Pingjuan said.
“At the meeting in China, an initial pledge of six million Yuan was made in support of the Nigerian military. now, another 50million Yuan (about N2 billion) has been made to support the counter-insurgency operations of the military.”
Noting that Nigeria and Chinese bilateral relations have continued to grow from strength to strength in economic and other areas of interests, Pingjuan said the implementation of the peace and security agreements contained in the MoU would further cement the relationship.
Meanwhile, the defence minister lauded the Chinese government for standing by Nigeria in the fight against terrorism, stating that the cankerworm has today become a global problem.
“Insurgency is no longer a country’s problem alone. It is now a global problem. So countries must join hands together to fight and defeat this problem,” he said.
He expressed Nigeria’s commitment to a strong and lasting relationship with China.
