Lagos Speaker Appeals To China For Visa

Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, yesterday, used the opportunity of the visit of the Consul General of the Peoples Republic of China in Nigeria, Guo Kun, to the House to appeal for visa for his aides.

The Speaker, while welcoming Mr. Kun, informed him that most of the members of the House love to visit China for various reasons including holiday.

He further told him that he already had a visa, but that his aides do not have.

Ikuforiji used the visit to inform the Consul General that he would send somebody to his office to acquire visa for those who would be travelling with him to the country soon.

The Speaker acknowledged that China is a force that should not be ignored by countries including Nigeria when it has to do with science and technology and growing the economy.

Ikuforiji said, “China is a powerful nation, it is such a powerful economy that nobody in the world can actually fail to recognise or make the mistake of ignoring.”

According to the Speaker, the relationship between Lagos State and China is evident in the number of projects executed by the country’s companies in the state.

“We hope that a lot more will still happen between us and of course, we look forward to mutually beneficial relationship along the area of technology transfer,” he said.

Though he said that the history of Lagos and China were alike, he added that good leadership had helped the country to advance as against Nigeria which desperately requires better leadership.

“Considering the path that China toed to attain technological advancement,” he said, “it should also assist Nigeria as a whole and Lagos in particular to toe that same path and get us to a higher level technologically.”

The Consul General who stated that his country was seeking closer ties with Lagos State government, further said that he would do his best to strengthen the relationship.

—Eromosele Ebhomele