By Ochiaka Ugwu
Nigeria and People’s Republic of China have celebrated the launching of the “China–Nigeria Bridge” Chinese Radio Programme which was promoting cultural diplomacy, media collaboration and people-to-people engagement in strengthening relations between the two nations.
The launching held Thursday at the China Cultural Centre in Abuja celebrated the partnership between the Embassy of China in Nigeria and the Voice of Nigeria (VoN) formalized in May 2026, which led to VoN adding Mandarin as its ninth broadcast language.
Speaking at the event, Director General, Voice of Nigeria (VoN), Mallam Jibrin Baba Ndace said the formal launch of the Mandarin Service of Voice of Nigeria as 9th broadcast language of VoN was not just an addition of a language, but opening of a bridge between Nigeria and China, Africa and over one billion Mandarin speakers around the world.
Ndace noted that it was a bridge of friendship, culture, mutual understanding and of shared prosperity.
Ndace represented by VoN’s Director of General Service, Mallam Danladi Abdulkarim informed that the partnership became practical with the training of 26 Nigerian journalists, including five from Voice of Nigeria at the National Radio and Television Administration Research Institute in Beijing.
He stated the Mandarin Service would project Nigeria positively to the world by telling story of a confident, creative, entrepreneurial and hospitable Nigeria.
VoN DG also noted that Mandarin service would promote mutual understanding between the two nations with Chinese people hearing about Nigeria’s culture, business opportunities, and values in their own language.
Continuing, he said it would lend support to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two nations, as agreed by Presidents Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Xi Jinping.
Ndace said the partnership with VoN would fight misinformation in this era of fake news, noting that an agreement had been reached to ensure that peoples of the two nations receive credible, balanced and truthful information about each other.
Also speaking, Executive Secretary of Nigerian Press Council (NPC), Dr Dili Ezughah emphasized that Nigeria, China relationship had continued to evolve beyond economic and diplomatic cooperation to cultural understanding, knowledge sharing and mutual respect.
He said the “China-Nigeria Bridge” Initiatives prove that building lasting relationships between nations requires not only government-to-government engagements but also meaningful connections between their peoples.
In his remarks, Cultural Counselor of Chinese Embassy in Nigeria and Director China Cultural Centre, Yang Jianxing said the programme offered an important platform for people across Africa to learn Chinese and keep abreast of the latest developments in exchanges and cooperation between China and African countries through Chinese language lessons and news coverage of China–Africa cooperation.
Yang said the initiative goes beyond a radio programme, but a bridge of friendship connecting the hearts of the Chinese and African people and promoting mutual learning and understanding among civilizations.
He highlighted that the 10 episodes that had been broadcast were attracting attention and winning appreciation from listeners across Africa.
However, with the inaugural broadcast, VoN Mandarin Service had adopted an innovative approach by combining Mandarin language lessons, provided by the Chinese Embassy and China Cultural Centre, with news reports from the Xinhua News Agency highlighting practical cooperation between China and Nigeria.
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