IBADAN, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Gambari, has said Niger Republic, Chad, and similar neighbouring nations are part of Nigeria.
According to Mr Gambari, the neighbouring nations were āartificiallyā removed from Nigeria by European colonial governments.
Last year, President Buhari justified his regimeās decision to spend $1.9 billion on a rail project to the Niger Republic, saying, āI have cousins, family members, etc., in (the) Niger Republic. I shouldnāt just cut them off.ā
Speaking at a reception organised to honour two principal officers of President Buhari recently honoured by the Niger Republic President Mohammed Bazoum, Mr Gambari stressed that āall these boundaries are very much artificial.ā
āThe Europeans in Congress of Berlin just took a piece of paper and were drawing lines across places where they have never been. They never intended to be, separated people who should be united and uniting people, perhaps, who should be separated,ā explained Mr Gambari. āBut the leaders of Africa decided that itās wise to keep those boundaries, artificial as they may be.ā
He added, āBecause to change them other than peacefully will be creating even more problems than they can solve. But in any case, whether by those lines whether artificial or not, Niger/ Nigeria share common boundaries, common interests, common concerns with their families across the borders.ā
Mr Gambari pointed out that his principal as a military Head of State, had preferred to focus his regimeās foreign policy on the Niger Republic and other African nations.
āIn his (Buhariās) earlier incarnation, as Head of State, the defining feature of his policies was the concentric circle of Nigerian foreign policy. That our interests, our efforts, will be concentrated on promoting Nigeriaās interests in concentric circles at the epicentre; the defence of Nigeriaās integrity, prosperity, the welfare of its people,ā said Mr Gambari. āBut next are the neighbouring countries, then West Africa, then Africa, and then the rest of the world.ā
Mr Buhari demonstrated this, according to the presidential chief of staff, by āthe fact that the first countries he visited after being sworn in were the neighbouring countries.ā
The Nigerien highest honours were recently conferred on President Buhariās chief of protocol, Lawal Kazaure, and senior special assistant on household and domestic affairs, Sarkin Ada.