By Seun Aderounmu
The Federal Government has said it has opened talks with China on the possibility of access COVID-19 vaccines for citizen of Nigeria.
Amb. Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, made the disclosure on Tuesday in Abuja while briefing newsmen shortly after a bilateral meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, who was in Nigeria on a working visit.
Onyeama recalled that China was of immense assistance to Nigeria at the advent of the pandemic, noting that the donation of protective equipment greatly helped the nation in the fight against COVID-19 during the first wave.
The minister said that at this point when countries were discovering vaccines and China being one of them, Nigeria was engaging the country in the area of access to the vaccine.
“We have received a lot of support from China in the area of personal protective equipment that they were very quick to provide us with.
“China is also one of those countries that have been able to discover vaccines for COVID-19, so we are also engaging with China to also help with regards to access to vaccines for our people,” he said.
According to Onyeama, the relationship between both countries dated 50 years, adding that both countries have many areas of cooperation to celebrate
“We also realized that in 2021, Nigeria and the People’s Republic of China celebrating 50 years of diplomatic relations”.
Giving insights into some of the deliberations during the closed-door meeting, Onyeama said that he and his counterpart looked at the trade relations between the two countries and areas that could be improved.
“In the area of fostering relations, both countries are now considering having a direct flight from Nigeria to China”.
Onyeama said “We want to establish a direct air link with China. We hope that very soon, a Nigerian carrier would be carrying out scheduled flights to China in the not too distant future.”
(NAN)