By Emmanuel Emeka
Nigeria and China are seeking to strengthen cultural understanding and people-to-people relations through radio broadcasting, as the Chinese-language programme, Ni Hao! China, marked 456 days on air.
The Chinese Embassy’s Cultural Counsellor and Director of the China Cultural Centre in Nigeria, Yang Jianxing, and the Director-General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Dr Mohammed Bulama, spoke at a ceremony marking the milestone at the China Cultural Centre in Abuja on Thursday.
Yang said the programme, launched in July 2025 through a partnership between the Chinese Embassy and FRCN, with support from the China Cultural Centre, had developed into a platform for friendship and mutual understanding between the two countries.
He said the programme offered Nigerian listeners access to Chinese-language lessons while introducing them to China’s history, culture, food, daily life and exchanges with Nigeria.
According to Yang, the programme’s availability on FRCN’s FM stations, website, YouTube and other digital platforms had expanded opportunities for Nigerians to learn Mandarin and gain a better understanding of China.
He said the milestone was particularly significant as Nigeria and China marked 55 years of diplomatic relations alongside the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.
Yang called for the expansion of the programme to include more content on Chinese culture, tourism, education and everyday life, while also helping listeners learn how to communicate Nigerian culture and traditions in Chinese.
He also urged the organisers to combine traditional radio broadcasting with short videos, social media and physical cultural activities to attract wider audiences, particularly young people.
Yang said increased youth participation in language learning and cultural exchange initiatives could help nurture a new generation of advocates for Nigeria-China friendship.
In his remarks, Bulama described Ni Hao! China as an initiative that had grown from what some initially regarded as a broadcasting experiment into a platform for cultural education and international cooperation.
He said the programme had introduced people-to-people engagement as an important dimension of Nigeria-China relations, which had traditionally focused on trade, infrastructure and diplomacy.
Bulama noted that the initiative had enabled Nigerians across different parts of the country to learn about China’s history, festivals, culture and technological innovations, while creating opportunities to showcase Nigerian traditions to international audiences.
He said the partnership demonstrated that broadcasting could extend beyond news dissemination to support national development, cultural understanding and international engagement.
“The FRCN, in collaboration with the Chinese Embassy, has moved beyond ‘Business to Business’ to ‘Heart to Heart’,” he said.
The FRCN director-general added that the corporation would continue to develop content combining Mandarin lessons with features on Chinese culture, innovation, education, tourism, business and everyday life.
He said the programme was also incorporating podcasts, social media clips, audience quizzes and other digital learning resources to enable listeners to practise and revisit lessons at their convenience.
Bulama commended the Chinese Embassy, the China Cultural Centre, the programme’s producers, presenters and technical crew, as well as listeners whose feedback had supported its development.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), FCT Council, Comrade Grace Ike, said the programme demonstrated how broadcasting could connect people, promote understanding and build lasting relationships between nations.
Ike commended the Chinese Embassy, FRCN and the China Cultural Centre for using language and cultural exchange to strengthen relations between Nigeria and China.
She said the significance of the programme extended beyond the 456-day milestone, describing it as a period of communication, mutual learning and people-to-people diplomacy.
Ike added that the programme had helped highlight Chinese culture, strengthen bilateral relations and encourage a better appreciation of opportunities for cooperation between both countries.
