President Muhammadu Buhari has commended Chinese government’s infrastructure support for Nigeria, as the Chinese Railway Corporation concludes plans to construct a $250m dry port in Ibadan, Oyo state.
The President stated this while receiving the Chairman of China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC), Fenjian Chen, at the Presidential Villa, on Friday.
Nigeria’s infrastructure, the President said, had depreciated and deteriorated over the years, affecting the standard of living, and leading to loss of lives through avoidable accidents.
“We are very grateful to China for the effort to rebuild our infrastructure, and for bringing technical expertise to the country. We will give the required support and cooperation, so that our old, out-of-date, and collapsed infrastructure might be turned around” he said.
He promised to personally pay attention to the many projects being undertaken in the country, for the good of Nigerian people.
Chen, who led a high-powered Chinese team to meet with the President, said CRCC is an international company, operating currently in 124 countries of the world.
He disclosed that the Corporation has 18,000 local employees in Nigeria alone.
“Part of projects CRCC is undertaking include railway, dry port, free trade zone, and building of highways. About 40,000 more jobs are to be created from these.
“The sum of $250 million dollars will be invested on a dry port in Ibadan, Oyo State, and it will decongest the ports in Lagos, and speed up clearance of goods by the Customs Service,” he said.
He commended President Buhari for the war against corruption and insecurity, expressing confidence that Nigeria will soon become a much better country.
Tony Ailemen, Abuja
