VB.NET : Use System.Type in value binding

I am trying to use reflections in VB.NET to handle types.

    Public Function reflective(Of T)() As System.Type
        Dim t_ As T = Nothing
        Return t_.GetType()
    End Function
 
    Sub Main()
        Dim nbr_type As Type = reflective(Of Int32)() 'Works fine
        Console.Writeline("Number type is: " & nbr_type.Name) 'Works fine
        Dim nbr As nbr_type = Nothing 'Fails 'nbr_type' is not declared. It may be inac...
        'VB compiler completely fails to understand what I am trying to do
    End Sub

How do I initialize a variable using System.Type?