Nigeria, China relations to bring about more advantages: expert

Enhanced relations between Nigeria and China would bring about more advantages, an international relations expert has said.

"These are advantages you cannot begin to quantify and perhaps more significantly we are talking about world gains," Bola Akinterinwa, director-general of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, said on the sidelines of China-Africa Conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

The determination by the present administration in Nigeria to revisit existing agreements with China and build on new ones placed China as an important aspect of Nigeria's foreign policy, he added.

He said enhanced relations between Nigeria and China would compel manufacturing in Nigeria, noting that this would enable stakeholders in the manufacturing sector to meet up with the demands of the growing relationship between both countries.

"The most important gain is that the relationship with China will compel Nigerian manufacturers, policy makers to sit-tight, rethink, work harder and live up to expectations," the director-general said.

He told his audience that this is particularly with the challenges thrown by and in the various agreements signed in Beijing.

According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari did commit himself and the people of Nigeria by saying he will ensure we respect all obligations in previous agreements reached with his predecessors.

He said the move by the present administration would make Nigeria a country to reckon with on the basis of sanctity of agreements.

"The most important implication of Nigeria's relationship with China is that of our foreign policy, because until now, we have been talking about four concentric circles as initially articulated by Prof Ibrahim Gambari," he said.

"China, which currently is in the outermost concentric circle with all other countries of the world, has now been singled out either as the most important partner or will now be in the fourth outer circle while all countries will be in the fifth outermost circle," he added.

According to him, the implication is that China will continue to warrant more focused attention.

The expert added that the people-to-people relations would define the direction of relations between both countries in the future. Endt