A former presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Moses Ayom, has urged President Bola Tinubu to activate Nigeria’s $1.2 billion mining equipment investment Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the People’s Republic of China, saying that it is a step that would enhance the nation’s economic growth and development.
Ayom who commended President Tinubu for his fresh initiative to improve the country’s economic partnership with China said the mining equipment investment deal has the potential of reinvigorating Nigeria’s economy, particularly in the area of employment for the youths.
In a statement in Abuja, the former presidential aspirant who has played vital roles in the country’s partnership with the Asian giant including being part of the 2016 presidential delegation to China, expressed fear that the delay in activating the deal portends a serious economic danger capable of causing a N500 billion loss to the economy.
The $1.2billion MoU which was finalized during the recent Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit is part of a broader strategy to enhance Nigeria’s mining sector, qnd aims to attract foreign investment and improve infrastructure.
According to Ayom, “shockingly, that deal with the SBM which is meant to be located in Abuja and supported by the Central Bank with RSSF is yet to take off because the grant for it is yet to be released.
“The grant is N1 billion which is still hanging from CBN under the Real sector support facility (RSSF).
“Although CBN gave different grants to respective companies, Granite and Marble, which has great potential of employing more Nigerians across the nation, especially in the northern part of Nigeria and reduce banditry, kidnapping and all forms of negative vices, is yet to take off.”
Ayom, who was the first APC presidential aspirant to withdraw from the race for Tinubu, however, said the MOU signed in Beijing on the peaceful use of Nuclear Energy and several other agreements aimed at elevating the existing relationship between the two countries has opened a positive chapter in Nigeria’s economy.
