Interview: Nigeria would learn from Chinese model of development -- official

ABUJA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government is showing keen interest in studying the Chinese modernization which has been transforming the Asian country into a global economic powerhouse, a Nigerian official has said.

"As a government, Nigeria is very keen on following very closely the Chinese model of development," Garba Shehu, a senior spokesman for Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Nigeria, Shehu said, has recognized the potential benefits of adopting a similar approach as China, as the Asian country had witnessed rapid economic growth and become one of the world's leading economies by focusing on modernization and infrastructural development.

"It used to be assumed wrongly that countries of that size could not achieve national development and modernization," he said.

The Nigerian official hailed the Communist Party of China as "a driver of change," bringing about transformation.

The official noted that the expansion of trade and investment, transfer of technology from the Chinese side had largely helped to transform the most populous country in Africa.

"We are happy with it. We continue to encourage it," he said.

The Nigerian government led by President Muhammadu Buhari had witnessed rapid and progressive development of relations with China over the past years, the spokesman said, adding Nigeria has benefited from their win-win cooperation, which involves major projects on railway modernization, airports expansion, hydroelectric power and agricultural modernization.

"We could not have achieved all of these things without Chinese support and cooperation," Shehu said.