President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday spoke on the reason why he led an ECOWAS onslaught against the sit-tight President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia in 2016, saying that it was the least Nigeria as a country could do to stabilize the sub-region.
President Buhari spoke at State House, Abuja, while receiving President of the Republic of The Gambia, Adama Barrow, who was on a courtesy visit.
“I was in Gambia physically at least two times. It was the least we could do to stabilize the region. We’ve accepted multi-party democracy, and we must comply with its tenets. By supporting you, we were supporting ECOWAS. We are dealing with our own troubles here, but we will continue to support you bilaterally, and through ECOWAS,” the President said in a statement issued by his spokesman, Femi Adesina.
The President, who said leaders must respect and appreciate citizens in a democracy, stated that “people do themselves a lot of favour” when the right things were done.
“We cannot stop educating people that they are doing themselves a lot of favour when they do the right things in a democracy.
“The future of our countries lies in our hands. We must respect our people, and appreciate their support. And when the people do the right things, they do themselves a lot of favour,” President Buhari said.
Buhari promised Nigeria’s support in different ways possible as The Gambia goes to the polls next year.
The statement recalled that Nigeria played a key role in ousting former President Yahya Jammeh, who had refused to accept the results of the election he lost in 2016.
President Barrow, who said his visit was actually to say thank you to Nigeria once again for its multifarious helps, noted that the support had been unflinching since he got to office in 2017.
“You have given us technical support in the Ministry of Education, in Ministry of Justice, and in many other areas. We are grateful,” the Gambian President said.
He disclosed that The Gambia was recovering from 22 years of dictatorship, security problems, lack of infrastructure, and a parlous economy as a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was also sitting to redress injustices of the past, and heal the injuries.
President Barrow said his country still needed Nigeria’s stabilizing force, “as things would have been very difficult for us without the invaluable support you gave.”
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