The Director-General of the Nigeria-China Strategic Partnership (NCSP), Joseph Tegbe, has stated that the relationship between Nigeria and China is built on mutual respect, trust, and shared strategic interests. Speaking on the enduring ties between the two nations, Tegbe highlighted that since establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1971, Nigeria has consistently and unequivocally adhered to the One-China Principle.
Tegbe explained that this position is rooted in Nigeria's foreign policy tradition, which respects sovereignty, non-interference, and the belief that nations must determine their own paths. He noted that Nigeria and China share a philosophical foundation that gives their relationship depth beyond transactional interests.
This foundation was most authoritatively expressed during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2024. The joint statement from that meeting reaffirmed Nigeria's adherence to the One-China Principle, recognition of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal authority representing all of China, and regard for Taiwan as an inalienable part of Chinese territory. Nigeria also expressed full support for China's pursuit of national reunification.
Tegbe emphasized that these were not mere diplomatic courtesies but deliberate reaffirmations of a partnership grounded in mutual respect and long-term strategic alignment. Nigeria's legislature has reinforced this position with clarity. Recently, Hon. Jafar Yakubu, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on China-Nigeria Parliamentary Relations, confirmed that Nigeria's stance is clear, consistent, and firmly rooted in international law and bilateral agreements.
He stressed that Nigeria's commitment to the One-China Principle is not the policy of a single administration but a settled, cross-institutional expression of national conviction. This consistency, he argued, is a strategic asset that Nigeria deploys through the NCSP. Five decades of diplomatic reliability have built a genuine reservoir of political trust with Beijing.
The NCSP's mandate, according to Tegbe, is to translate that trust into a new, more productive phase of economic cooperation. This includes manufacturing investment, technology transfer, industrial development, and export-oriented production that reflect Nigeria's true scale and potential as Africa's largest economy.
China has already contributed meaningfully to Nigeria's railway corridors, port infrastructure, energy infrastructure, telecommunications networks, and industrial capacity. However, Tegbe noted that the relationship can and must deliver more. Nigeria's digital economy, solid minerals sector, agro-processing capacity, and consumer market all represent areas of deep mutual interest. With a transparent, results-oriented framework aligned with Nigeria's national development priorities, the NCSP can move the partnership decisively from infrastructure financing toward genuine industrialization.
