Replying, President Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Nigeria relations, and is ready to join efforts to take the opportunity of the anniversary to promote the traditional friendship, deepen practical cooperation in all fields under the Belt and Road Initiative and within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation so as to bring benefits to wo countries two peoples.
“In recent years, the China-Nigeria strategic Partnership has enjoyed a good momentum of development, which effectively improved the well-being of two peoples. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, China and African countries including Nigeria have joined their hands in the fight against the pandemic, and showcased the brotherhood of China and Africa in weal and woe,” he wrote.
By Busayo Onijala
Lagos, Jan. 7, 2021 Nigeria became a beautiful bride of sort in a year of pandemic as the international community came to her aid in the fight against coronavirus in 2020.
Suffice to say that Nigeria benefited immensely from the benevolence of a few of the global actors in 2020, a year that will go down in history books as one of the most exceptional we have ever had.
What was initially thought to be ephemeral, COVID-19, left the whole world with a rude awakening of what the new reality could be.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic after more than 118,000 cases had been reported in 114 countries, and 4,291 people had lost their lives.
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Mary Beth Leonard
I was proud to arrive in Nigeria and begin my third ambassadorial posting last November. 2020 will long be remembered as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will look back and honour the lives of the more than 1.5 million people worldwide who lost their lives to this vicious pandemic. 2020 also marked 60 years of bilateral diplomatic relations between the United States and Nigeria, and much has been accomplished over the course of that time as democracy and a free and open business environment continue to grow. Allow me to provide a bit more detail about accomplishments achieved with our Nigerian partners.