• Consider cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party
The federal government revealed yesterday that it was working on a new trade policy with the countries of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
This decision came in the wake of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
Industry, Trade and Investments Minister Niyi Adebayo gave the hint when he appeared as a guest at the weekly ministerial conversation anchored by the Presidential Communications Team at State House, Abuja.
He said his ministry’s trade department had already been mandated to critically analyze the crisis in the region as it affects trade with Nigeria and submit a report.
The minister said the report would then be presented to President Muhammadu Buhari for approval before being made public.
“My ministry is examining all the issues at stake since the war broke out. The Commerce Department is reviewing what we import and export to them, with a view to drafting a guidance document,” he explained.
A recent report drawing on data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) warned of the impact of war on Nigeria, although it showed that since 2019, Nigeria has imported 84.3 million dollars of capital from Russia.
It also imported 144 billion naira ($346.2 million) of durum wheat from Russia in 2020 and 123.9 billion naira ($297.8 million) of durum wheat between January and September 2021.
Nigeria also imports different types of seafood such as mackerel, herring and blue whiting from Russia.
According to BNS data, Nigeria also imported milk worth 721.5 million naira ($1.7 million) from Ukraine in 2021.
MEANWHILE, National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Yusuf Sani, said Nigeria could learn a lot from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through partnership.
He said this while receiving a two-man delegation from the Chinese Embassy, Comrade Wu Baocai and Comrade Zhao Jinshuo, who paid him a courtesy visit to his office at the IPAC National Secretariat in Abuja.
Baocai and Jinshuo are representatives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the Chinese Embassy in Abuja.
Sani said: “As Nigeria heads towards another round of general elections in 2023, the political atmosphere in the country is already characteristically charged at a high level.
“Emerging signals on the political horizon clearly demand a higher level of preparedness and strategies on the part of IPAC and other strategic key players in the country’s democratic project.
“At this critical juncture, Nigeria will certainly need the strong support usually provided by friendly nations to be able to overcome the challenges ahead.
“We look in this regard, especially to the People’s Republic of China, through the Communist Party of China and other institutions in China that are committed to bringing about global peace and security in Africa and the rest of the countries. in development”.
Head of the Chinese delegation, Baocai, said the CCP has decided to open an office at the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, in view of Nigeria’s growing importance in world affairs and the need to deepen political ties.
He assured Nigeria of his support in maintaining collaborative democracy through economic prosperity, technological advancement and security.
