Abdulrahman Dambazau: AMBASSADOR TO CHINA @MYPD2020

A Nigerian student recently graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D) degree from a university in China. He visited the Mission to proudly present his degree certificate. There are a significant number of students in higher institutions in China, and many of them are being sponsored by the Chinese government, as part of the Nigeria-China educational cooperation.

MY FIRST MONTHLY MEETING WITH THE HOME-BASED OFFICERS... MAY WE BE GUIDED TO DELIVER IN THE BEST OF OUR ABILITY, WITH INCREASED CAPACITY TO CARRY OUT OUR RESPONSIBILITIES.

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In continuation with our strategic engagements to reinforce Nigeria-China defence cooperation, we were conducted on tour of ELINK Institute in Beijing,a company that strives on cybersecurity, public security, counter-drone, electronic warfare, anti-radar systems, etc.

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NORINCO is not a new name in Nigeria when it comes to defence weapons and equipment. We were invited to see the latest in its inventory. Our security challenges are not conventional. We are battling with non-state actors involved in extreme violence. We need equipment that will counter the activities of these violent criminals, including their activities across borders. We need equipment that will pre-empt them before they make a move. NORINCO is eager to expand and deepen its relationship with us. The Embassy has noted and will put forward observations to relevant authorities. Overall it was an excellent outing for strategic engagement on defence and security matters.

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I was the Special Guest of Honour at the Cooperation & Exchange Conference of the China Centre for Cooperation on Special Economic Zones in BRICS Countries. There are 11 BRICS nations and 10 partner countries, including Nigeria. Discussions were focused on new pathways for the development of BRICS Special Economic Zones (SEZs). I pointed out the significance of the diaspora from BRICS nations as they possess wealth of skills, capital,and networks on global scale. I also pointed out that the New Development Bank created by the BRICS nations is positioned to play a crucial role, not only to provide alternatives to other financial structures, but also will give preference to SEZs initiatives. I informed the gathering that Nigeria has more than 40 operational SEZs regulated by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and attracted more than $66 billion in FDI and N620 billion in domestic investment. The future development plans of Nigeria's SEZs are to expand beyond the traditional export manufacturing to Digital Free Zones, Agro-Industrial Processing, and Gas-Based Industrial Hubs in line with Nigeria's 2050 Agenda, projected to become one of the largest in the world. There was a lot interest shown by participants for Nigeria to move from its present status of partner to BRICS nations to becoming a full member.

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The Group of the African Ambassadors in China (GAAC) had its quarterly meeting, with the Cameroon Ambassador, who is the Dean, as the Chairman. The meeting was hosted by the AU Representative in China, Ambassador Alhaji Sarjoh Bah, a citizen of Sierra Leone. There are 52 African member-countries in GAAC.

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Executive Secretary ICPC, Barr Clifford Oparaodu, the Provost, Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, Director Research ICPC, were in my office on courtesy call as they arrived Beijing for a conference.

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The two-day 4th Forum on Developing Countries and International Law with the theme "International Rule of Law and Global Governance: Vision for Sustaining Peace and Advancing Prosperity," was opened today. Jointly organized by the Chinese Society of International Law, the Institute of International Law at Wuhan University, and the Asian Academy of International Law, Hong Kong, Embassy of Nigeria, Beijing, was invited to participate. Renowned International law experts and scholars, like myself, from China and many other countries, are involved in discussions on the practical challenges facing the International rule of law and global governance as well as corresponding solutions. We just successfully concluded the first day of the two-day event.

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@UncleA_B_Umar Have you sent any?

I have no doubt there are such opportunities. I am aware that the Chinese Embassy in Abuja organizes short courses for the youth and people under 50. While I will look out for such invitations coming to our Embassy, I suggest that you check the website of China's Embassy in Abuja.

Today I received Distinguished Senator Hunƙuyi and others, including a Member, House of Representatives, that arrived for a conference on Climate Change, sponsored by the government of the People's Republic of China. I drew their attention on the opportunity to engage on critical issues such as extreme weather, water & food scarcity, health crises, and conflicts. In 2017, I equally attended a UNODC organized Climate conference in Inner Mongolia, extreme north of China, where I was a guest speaker on the correlation between climate and conflicts in the Sahel region in general, and West Africa in particular. China's weather, terrain, and temperature is unique and diverse. I cannot think of any other country that can best provide the opportunity in learning how the impact of Climate change can be mitigated.

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Connecting Nigeria and China in digital transformation…

CELEBRATED 54TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF NIGERIA'S IMMEDIATE EASTERN NEIGHBOR, THE REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON

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70 YEARS OF CHINA-AFRICA & CHINA-ARAB RELATIONS, BUT 55 YEARS OF NIGERIA-CHINA RELATIONS SINCE 1971. MY INTERVIEW AT THE VENUE.

Meet the Dean of African Ambassadors and the Doyen of Amassadors in China, HE Ambassador Martin MPANA, Embassy of Cameroon. He is the longest serving Ambassador in China, since 2008. Experience and knowledge of the environment are assets he has, and I immensely benefited from his briefs. The bottom line are the principles of unity and integration of the our continent, and how we bring these factors to bear in our relationship with China using the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), involving political exchanges, economic cooperation, cultural exchanges, and peace & security.

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Attended Seminar on 70 Years of China-Africa and China-Arab Diplomatic Relations. A case of jointly building a community with a shared future. China's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs was the Special Guest of Honour. Perm Rep of the AU to China and the Head of representative office of the League of Arab States in China was also there. The Seminar discussed unity and mutual support in the global south; economic cooperation and shared development; issues of climate change, debt reduction, and culture; commitment to One China Policy; people-to-people exchanges; FOCAC; belt and road initiative; and the zero-tariff policy. The idea is to build sustainable China-Afroca-Arab partnership for a peaceful, prosperous feature

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Today we visited Huawei EBC Exhibition Centre for smart governance, digital power, etc. Huawei is the largest telecommunications vendor in Nigeria. The company supplies infrastructure for major carriers like MTN Nigeria and provides enterprise solutions, cloud services, and digital power systems. It was an opportunity to see state of the art digital facilities. Many EV models are linked with Huawei digital technology. This is a company that only started in 1988, introduced in Nigeria in 1999. It is the result of discipline, determination, and selflessness. I urge them to concentrate their activities on providing opportunities for Nigeria's young population, as part of sharing the profits they have been making doing business in Nigeria. Future jobs will mostly be reserved for those with ICT skills.

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I received Barr Ismail Ahmed, the Executive Chairman, Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, (Pi-CNG & EV), and his team, visiting China to explore areas of partnership with investors. The visit will no doubt boost investor confidence, while they will in turn have the opportunity to see the extent to which China has gone in utilizing its gas resources especially in the transportation system. Nigeria does not have to import gas because we have it in abundance. What we need is the technology to process it.

HE Chief Lucky Igbinedion and his business partners visited me today. It was an interesting conversation on a proposal for partnership between China Science Academy and Nigerian Science Academy on research collaboration they want to embark on the medicinal values of BITTER KOLA and ALLIGATOR PEPPER, which I understand are good in curing certain diseases relating to kidney, diabetes, etc. They desire the Embassy to support the project and make a formal connection between the two Academies. We promised to support the project and also emphasized that if the research is successful, part of the agreement must be for the pharmaceutical industry for the medicinal production be set up in Nigeria, where the raw material is in abundance. I also advised that NAFDAC and PSN should be involved from early stage of the research, since the end product will be pharmaceutical drugs for the cure of ailments.

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