The connections and integration between China and Nigeria were taken steps further on Thursday at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) as Prof. Liu Hongwu, Director of the Institute of African Studies of the Zhejiang Normal University (ZNU) and Yunnan University in China formalised a partnership with UNN.
Prof. Liu who has been on a tour of visited UNN, Nigeria’s elite citadel to seal a deal for partnership between this university and the ZNU, a collaboration that is expected to work out so many benefits of friendship for the two sides.
Prof Liu led a delegation to UNN and presented a number of Chinese collections and artifacts to support UNN in establishing the very first Chinese Museum at an African University.
Also at the the visit, Prof Liu was invited to handle the groundbreaking ceremony for the Centre for Contemporary China Studies, which is billed to take off soon.
The collections Liu presented to UNN include a large range of items, such as thread-bound books, statues of Chinese Beauty, traditional Chinese Shanshui Painting (landscape painting), four treasures of the study, traditional Chinese silk, and books and pamphlets published by the Institute of African Studies, etc.
Prof Liu presented one of his books, A Centenary History of Nigeria Since its Foundation (1914-2014), to the university and to the Museum. This is one of the most popular books on Nigerian History in China written by a Chinese scholar. Also, Liu presented another book, Five Decades of Unified Sino-Nigeria Engagement, written by a Nigerian scholar, Dr. Michael Ehizuelen.
While presenting these two books to the Chinese Museum at UNN, he said it was a good way to promote Chinese Studies in Africa and African studies in China.
“It’s been long since African scholars and Chinese scholars learned to know each other through the channel of the West. I don’t imply that the West is not good. But with their influence, we were easily swayed with biased tales about ourselves by their values, which might not benefit our Africa-China cooperation.
Now it’s time for our scholars in China and African countries to build their knowledge, concept, and narrative system on their own by learning from each other.”
At the ceremony, UNN through the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Uche Okpoko announced that they would establish the Centre for Contemporary China Studies (CCCS), and they have signed an MoU with Zhejiang Normal University on commencing a master’s degree in Contemporary China Studies. The Chinese Museum will also be inaugurated under the structure of the new Centre.
Prof. Liu said that these three pioneering works by UNN will definitely make it the top university on the African continent to have a vast focus on China studies and other partnerships.
“Also, with a long history and rich culture, China lifted all its people out of poverty and became the second largest economy in the world today. For these feats and more, contemporary China is worth studying,” he noted.
As the new centre and the new programs are being built with the cooperation of the Chinese university from Zhejiang Province which is famous for its economy and technological development, especially in the private sector, there is no doubt that UNN is leaping forward and doing something that no other African university is doing.
The DVC of UNN, several professors, and deans from several faculties attended the ceremony. After the presentation and the groundbreaking ceremonies, the DVC guided the delegation to visit the Science Park of the university.
During the presentation, Prof Liu used the inscription ‘China-Nigeria Friendship’ in Chinese calligraphy and gave it to the Chinese Museum at UNN to express his sincere wishes that the Chinese Museum at UNN will get better over time.