OBUDU, Nigeria - Nigeria's southern Cross River State on Wednesday unveiled plans to introduce the Chinese language in its public schools.

State Commissioner for Education Offiong Offiong said the move is out of the desire to reposition the state to the phenomenal socioeconomic revolution coming from China.

Offiong said China would emerge as a world power, given its population and leading role in the information and communication technology, in addition to other critical fields of human endeavor in the next 10 years.

He stressed the need to benefit from the emerging force for local development.

According to the commissioner, the state has already written to the Chinese ambassador in Nigeria for possible collaboration to carry out a train-the-trainers program in the state.

"The training program is with the establishment of a Chinese Language Center in Calabar to fast-track the exercise," he said.