In a coordinated appeal that underscores deepening ties between Africa’s largest economy and Asia’s rising power, officials from People’s Republic of China, Nigeria’s federal government and the Nigeria Union of Journalists urged Nigerians to study Mandarin, describing it as a gateway to employment, trade and international collaboration.
The message came on Monday in Abuja at celebrations marking International Chinese Language Day, where speakers framed language as both an economic tool and a cultural bridge.
Yang Jianxing, cultural counselor at the Chinese Embassy and director of the China Cultural Centre in Nigeria, portrayed Chinese as a civilizational thread linking past to present. He called it a “genetic link” spanning more than 5,000 years and a “golden bridge” capable of deepening mutual understanding across borders.
Chinese language instruction has expanded rapidly worldwide, Yang said, noting its presence in more than 190 countries and among over 200 million learners. He added that longstanding Chinese philosophical ideas, including principles akin to reciprocity and shared human destiny, resonate with Nigerian traditions of communal living and social harmony.
For Nigerians, he argued, proficiency in Chinese offers practical advantages: access to education, business partnerships and participation in bilateral initiatives between the two nations.
At the event, a representative of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Suleiman Musa, said language is becoming increasingly central to diplomacy, commerce and media exchange. He pointed to “Ni Hao China,” a program developed after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2024 state visit to China, as an example of expanding cooperation in trade, tourism and communication.
Musa described Chinese as “one of humanity’s most enduring cultural treasures,” adding that it is opening new channels for storytelling and global knowledge exchange.
Grace Ike, head of the NUJ’s Federal Capital Territory council, emphasized the symbolic weight of the event, calling language a unifying force between nations pursuing shared ambitions.
“This underscores the power of language as a bridge,” she said, “bringing Nigeria and China closer through common goals of progress and prosperity.”
Together, the speakers presented Mandarin not merely as an academic pursuit, but as a strategic skill, one increasingly tied to Nigeria’s place in a shifting global economy.
