Few days after lambasting President Muhammadu Buhari’s trip to China, Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has also travelled to China to attend the country’s 119th Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair.
The event, scheduled for April 14 and 19, will be staged in Guangzhou.
Justifying the trip, the governor’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, said on Tuesday that Mr. Fayose had before now travelled out of the country only twice since he assumed office in October 2014, saying his trip to China, which was planned six months ago, would be his third travel outside Nigeria.
Mr. Olayinka argued that his principal’s trip to China was different from that of the President because Mr. Buhari’s trip was aimed at borrowing $2 billion, while the governor would use his to secure partnership with prospective Chinese Investors and technical experts without committing the state to any loan.
He said the governor would hold talks with prospective investors on mechanised farming, experts in skill acquisition, particularly training in the area of perfect finishing in building construction as well as experts in auto-repairs and modern technologies.
According to him, the Canton Fair, held biannually in Guangzhou every spring and autumn, with a history of 59 years since 1957, attracts various types of business activities such as economic and technical cooperation and exchanges.
Mr. Olayinka said apart from the scheduled bilateral talks on agriculture, Governor Fayose would also take advantage of the Canton Fair to hold talks with technical experts on training and technological exchange programmes for artisans in the State as part of his plan to get technical support for the proposed Artisans Village to be built in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.