The company also offered the beneficiaries opportunity to work at the CCECC.
A Chinese company - China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Nigeria Limited (CCECC), has received 65 Nigerian students it sponsored to study transport engineering courses in two Chinese universities.
According to CCECC's Managing Director, David Wang, the 65 students are part of about 197 students that have benefitted from the company's scholarship.
The students reportedly majored in Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering, Road, Bridge and River-cross Engineering, among other fields.
Mr Wang said the students studied at Central South University and Chang'an University through two programmes.
While some students studied fully in China, others spent their first three years at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, before spending the remaining two final years of their studies in China.
"Starting in 2018, CCECC has been working with the government of Nigeria, Central South University and Chang'an University in China in selecting and sponsoring young Nigerians to further their education in China," he said during a ceremony to welcome the students.
"In 2018, the first batch of students who started their five-year undergraduate programme at ABU were selected to attend this 3+2 programme, which means that after 3-year study in Nigeria, they would be sponsored by CCECC to continue their study in Central South University, China."
Partnership
He said the partnership was made possible by the CCECC, the Nigerian government and the two Chinese universities.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Magdalene Ajani, noted that the partnership would help Nigeria in its move to revitalise the railway system in the country.
She said the recent inclusion of railway infrastructure from the exclusive list to the concurrent list was to allow for state governments to also embark on the construction of railways in their respective states.
The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Cui Jianchun, said the partnership demonstrated cooperation and cultural exchanges between the two countries.
"It is a typical example of China-Africa cooperation in capacity building, and an epitome of in-depth cooperation between China and Nigeria," he said.
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Employment opportunity
Meanwhile, the company has offered the returnees the opportunity to work at the CCECC, an offer that two of the students already accepted by signing their letters of intent.
About CCECC
CCECC Nigeria Limited is a subsidiary of China Railway Construction Corporation Limited. The company has handled several projects in Nigeria, including the Abuja-Kaduna and Lagos-Ibadan railways, and airport terminals in Abuja, Lagos, Enugu and Kano, among others.
Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.The company also offered the beneficiaries opportunity to work at the CCECC.
