The Kogi State Government and the Chinese Government on Thursday set the stage for the expansion of business relations, just as the state aimed at N591 billion annual Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) soon.
The foundation for the renewed collaboration was laid at a dialogue on industry and trade between Kogi and Chinese entrepreneurs, co-hosted by Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi and the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Cui Jianchun, at the Chinese Embassy in Abuja.
Addressing the entrepreneurs, Bello said the Government of Kogi was ready to engage the Chinese business community to expand business and investment opportunities with China.
According to him, for both countries to make progress, there is a need for the willingness, commitment, readiness and sincerity of both parties to collaborate on harnessing all the resources, both natural, human and otherwise, for the benefit of both countries and humanity in general.
Bello, who also said there was the political will to attain the desired collaboration, pointed out that he shared a lot of ideology with the people of China, politically and personally.
The governor said he was aware that tribes and religions exist in China, yet, the Chinese people were able to put all the differences behind them to have one common goal of coming together to harness all that are available within China.
He added that the Chinese people were able to achieve their goal successfully, politically, economically, and in terms of technology, noting that today, China had become one of the first two leading nations of the world.
Bello said that “I have that political will of putting all of our people together. That is why ever since I assumed office on 26th of January, 2016, I have been working tirelessly to ensure that I unite my people.
“To ensure that there is security of lives and livelihood of my people and everybody that wants to stay and live and earn in Kogi State, including Chinese and the various investments so far in the state.
“I have that political will to continue to engage China and the Chinese, to ensure that all the benefits that are available for us, we take the full benefits of them for our people.
“There are several areas we can engage ourselves. We have the institutional framework ready to engage and we have the authority to engage and get things done as quickly as possible.
“The people are our cardinal objective to serve. And I have given a blanket and an open approval to my people to engage the Chinese side on all fronts for the benefit of all of us,” Bello said.
Earlier, Cui recalled his recent visit to Kogi State, saying that Kogi State and China had so much in common.
He expressed delight that both the Chinese and Nigerian sides recognised development in deepening relations.
Cui expressed confidence that with the cooperation between the leadership of Bello in Kogi State and the Government of China in the coming years, a lot would be achieved, particularly in the area of power plants and nuclear energy.
On how the state intends to hit the target of about N591.6 billion IGR, Special Adviser to Kogi State Governor on Economy, Finance and Investment, Abdulkareem Siyaka, said that the state was actually getting less than 10 per cent of what it should get from the resources that it had.
According to him, N591.6 is the size of the IGR per annum if the state was able to put all the building blocks together.
“”The Chinese today have invited us and they are willing to invest in various sectors of our economy.
“If we expose our economy to more genuine development partners, within a year, I can assure you, we will be able to hit that target of about N591.6 billion, thereby reducing unemployment in the state,” he said.
