A former presidential aspirant in the 2023 general election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Moses Ayom has commended President Bola Tinubu for his appointment of Mr. Joseph Olasunkanmi Tegbe as the Director-General and Global Liaison on Nigeria-China renewed strategic partnership.
Nigeria and China during President Tinubu’s State visit to Beijing in early September, signed several agreements for a mutually comprehensive bilateral relationship of economic and development interest to both countries.
Ayom who holds an Honourary Ambassadorial title of ‘Outstanding Advocate’ – Nigeria, conferred on him by the Chinese government said that Tegbe, a 1988 first-class civil engineering graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, is the right choice for the important diplomatic assignment.
“I have no doubt in my mind that Mr. Tegbe will utilize his wealth of experience and knowledge as a Chatered Accountant and an engineer of repute to effectively engage with Chinese partners in ensuring that all deliverables in the agreements signed between Nigeria and China are met and synchronised with the national development goals of the President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda,” Ayom noted.
According to Ayom, President Tinubu’s decision to promptly appoint a global liaison in pursuit of the partnership was timely and a demonstration of his administration’s sincere commitment to explore the opportunity provided by President Xi Jinping’s pledge of $51 billion new financing to African nations during the opening session of the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
“Nigeria’s ability to strategically access a chunk of the funds provided by China will obviously assist the Nigerian government to deliver on critical infrastructure intervention projects across the country, thereby, impacting many lives,” Ayom stated.
The former presidential aspirant further urged President Tinubu to create an enabling working environment for the new appointee to succeed in delivering on the bilateral assignment.