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How Nigeria Can Help The Gambia Politically–– Envoy01.04.2005


Ambassador Mariam Muhammed is Nigeria’s High Commissioner in The Gambia. In this interview with a crop of Nigerian journalists, including our correspondent, Ndubuisi Francis in the Gambian capital, Banjul, the envoy  speaks on how Nigeria can help the tiny West African country develop politically  and  economically,  what  the  nation can learn from  The Gambia, Nigeria’s leadership role  in the sub-region and   the challenges  of  her  office, among  other issues

What are the challenges you are facing as Nigeria's High Commissioner to the Gambia?
You know Nigerians are very versatile people. The challenges I have found in The Gambia is the fact that Nigerians, wherever they are, as you are aware, pose a lot of problems in one way or the other, whether in crimes, drug related crimes or human trafficking, prostitution.  Though not as much as in The Gambia, yet, we have these problems and as much as I represent Nigeria, I try as much as possible to make sure the image of Nigeria in The Gambia is not what it is in other parts of the world.
First and foremost, I have to sensitise the Gambians on the fact that there are 120 million Nigerians and out of that, only about 500,000 Nigerians are involved in crimes.  One of my challenges is to be able to convince the Gambians about this.
Secondly, I have to strive to be able to address Nigerians to draw their attention to the fact that they must be good citizens wherever they are.  That is another challenge.
The third challenge I am facing is the hostility towards Nigerians.  In a place like this where poverty is highly manifest, a lot of Nigerians come here, make money, because they are hard working, naturally envy sets in and hostility sets in.  Severally, we have had to address the Foreign Ministry, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to draw their attention so that they could be aware of some of the hostilities.  Very recently, a Nigerian was held for no purpose. Many accusations were made and there was none that was concrete and it all points to the fact that he was a successful businessman.  Perhaps, for one reason or the other, or for envious reasons, the NIA just took him on.  We challenged them and up  till date, nothing concrete has come out of the arrest.  But fortunately, they released him.  So, the fact that we have to deal with hostilities is another challenge I am facing here.  The other challenge is the fact that we are faced with a lot of demand from The Gambians.  As
 you are aware, we serve as a senior brother to The Gambia, we make available facilities.  We provide manpower, sometimes, other things.  Now, they want Nigeria to provide armoured carriers in Darfur.  They always run to Nigeria to ask for these things and sometimes our facilities are overstretched.  So, on behalf of the Gambians, I am always asking.  This is another challenge I am facing in the Gambia.  So, far, I think, I have listed quite a few.
How many Nigerians are in The Gambia and what do they do mainly?
Well, for now, we are just putting in place the machinery for a census.  When I came, I have not found any census figure of the total number of Nigerians.  We are planning to do that in 2005, I think we are about 20,000 Nigerians.  It is a lot in a small country like The Gambia.  Most of them are traders; they are into trading.  A lot are into teaching.
Several of them are doctors, nurses.  Basically, that is what they do here.  Some of them are involved in crimes - 419; not much.  A few of them once in a while, may be, in a month, are involved in fake dollars deal and other criminal activities.  The volume is not as much as in other countries.
What are the challenges facing Nigerians in The Gambia?
Among the challenges Nigerians face here, the most serious one is the issue of hostility by the Immigration, especially.  The Immigration is always arresting the 'aliens'.  They are always arresting them because they don't have resident permit.  The resident permits are usually expensive for Nigerians, particularly.  They call prices for different nationals.  There is a price for Nigerians, Ghanaians, Guineans, Europeans etc.  This, I learnt, has risen from 50 dollars to $1000.  And that is a lot of money for Nigerians.  And another challenge they are facing is like I said, the intimidation by their neighbours, by The Gambians in general; for the fact that they are hardworking.  They make a lot of money.  The Gambians will always demand.  If you give him once, twice, if you don't give them the third time, it is a problem.  Apart from that, the other challenges are minor.
What is the level of relationship between Nigeria and The Gambia?
Well, the bilateral relationship between Nigerian and The Gambia is like a senior brother relationship.  We are always on the giving side.  In Africa, there are many countries.  Nigeria cannot but help because if it does not help, there will be an influx of these nationals into Nigeria.  Therefore, the only way to stop the influx is to always give as much aid as you can so as to checkmate the perpetual influx.  Therefore, what Nigeria benefits from The Gambia as I always say, is that we can always count on their support.
Wherever there is a decision to be made, where Nigeria will be favoured, Gambia is always on our side.  And The Gambians use their friends to support Nigeria.  Just recently, we had to put forward a candidate for a global body contest and The Gambia had to support Nigeria.  In every forum, therefore, we are not benefiting materially but we have political support and also The Gambia is benefiting from the Nigerian movie industry.  Nigeria is making a lot of money from the movie industry here in The Gambia because The Gambians are fans of the movie industry in Nigeria, people are making a lot of money, they are bringing Nigerian goods and selling them.  But the most important benefit we have is the robust political support we have in the international arena.
What are your expectations of what Nigeria needs to gain in its bilateral relations with The Gambia?
My greatest expectation in the relationship is that in politics, we want to make friends and not enemies.  Since The Gambia is not buoyant, financially, Nigeria should strive to put The Gambia in the stream of world politics and economy.  Nigeria should be a guide.  It should lead and The Gambia should follow and also we provide the know-how for The Gambia to move forward.  There are a lot of people here who are pessimistic.
Our president is always persuading them to go out.  We are providing manpower training for the Gambians to be able to take care of themselves.  I want to reiterate that this has gone a long way in developing The Gambia.  If Nigeria does not do it, nobody will do it in the sub-region for The Gambia.  Because The Gambia is small and poor, they need all the support from Nigeria. Africa must be for Africans.  It is not for The Gambians to have the Europeans come here and take care  of their affairs. If they can't do it by themselves, Nigeria can go a step further to develop this country, both politically and economically.
What lessons have you learnt from The Gambia that would be useful for Nigeria?
The Gambians are peace loving people.  The rate of crime is very low.  That is why tourists have flooded the place.  Secondly, religious tolerance.  There is nowhere in the world where there is tolerance like in The Gambia.  No difference between Christians and Muslims.  They live together in harmony and celebrate together Sallah, Xmas.  This, I believe, Nigeria can borrow a leaf from.  Secondly, on the issue of tourism, in The Gambia, it is highly developed but there is a problem.  Tourism in The Gambia is associated with sex.  There is a cry about child abuse. Only recently, the UNICEF released a document about this particular issue. That the tourists come and because the people are very poor, they abuse the children sexually, enticing them with foreign currencies. You find little girls with babies. In fact, it is sad. We must be careful on how we develop tourism. In developing tourism, Nigeria can take a model from the Caribbean countries and the United States of America, among
 others. Tourism in The Gambia is sex-related and we must be careful not to fall into the same problem.




   Violent Agitation Not Solution to Marginalisation-Shagari


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ThisDay question
Should Dr. Chris Ngige resign as governor of Anambra State? [input] Yes [input] No [input] Indifferent [input]   [input]   [input]

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How Nigeria Can Help The Gambia Politically–– Envoy01.04.2005


Ambassador Mariam Muhammed is Nigeria’s High Commissioner in The Gambia. In this interview with a crop of Nigerian journalists, including our correspondent, Ndubuisi Francis in the Gambian capital, Banjul, the envoy  speaks on how Nigeria can help the tiny West African country develop politically  and  economically,  what  the  nation can learn from  The Gambia, Nigeria’s leadership role  in the sub-region and   the challenges  of  her  office, among  other issues

What are the challenges you are facing as Nigeria's High Commissioner to the Gambia?
You know Nigerians are very versatile people. The challenges I have found in The Gambia is the fact that Nigerians, wherever they are, as you are aware, pose a lot of problems in one way or the other, whether in crimes, drug related crimes or human trafficking, prostitution.  Though not as much as in The Gambia, yet, we have these problems and as much as I represent Nigeria, I try as much as possible to make sure the image of Nigeria in The Gambia is not what it is in other parts of the world.
First and foremost, I have to sensitise the Gambians on the fact that there are 120 million Nigerians and out of that, only about 500,000 Nigerians are involved in crimes.  One of my challenges is to be able to convince the Gambians about this.
Secondly, I have to strive to be able to address Nigerians to draw their attention to the fact that they must be good citizens wherever they are.  That is another challenge.
The third challenge I am facing is the hostility towards Nigerians.  In a place like this where poverty is highly manifest, a lot of Nigerians come here, make money, because they are hard working, naturally envy sets in and hostility sets in.  Severally, we have had to address the Foreign Ministry, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to draw their attention so that they could be aware of some of the hostilities.  Very recently, a Nigerian was held for no purpose. Many accusations were made and there was none that was concrete and it all points to the fact that he was a successful businessman.  Perhaps, for one reason or the other, or for envious reasons, the NIA just took him on.  We challenged them and up  till date, nothing concrete has come out of the arrest.  But fortunately, they released him.  So, the fact that we have to deal with hostilities is another challenge I am facing here.  The other challenge is the fact that we are faced with a lot of demand from The Gambians.  As
 you are aware, we serve as a senior brother to The Gambia, we make available facilities.  We provide manpower, sometimes, other things.  Now, they want Nigeria to provide armoured carriers in Darfur.  They always run to Nigeria to ask for these things and sometimes our facilities are overstretched.  So, on behalf of the Gambians, I am always asking.  This is another challenge I am facing in the Gambia.  So, far, I think, I have listed quite a few.
How many Nigerians are in The Gambia and what do they do mainly?
Well, for now, we are just putting in place the machinery for a census.  When I came, I have not found any census figure of the total number of Nigerians.  We are planning to do that in 2005, I think we are about 20,000 Nigerians.  It is a lot in a small country like The Gambia.  Most of them are traders; they are into trading.  A lot are into teaching.
Several of them are doctors, nurses.  Basically, that is what they do here.  Some of them are involved in crimes - 419; not much.  A few of them once in a while, may be, in a month, are involved in fake dollars deal and other criminal activities.  The volume is not as much as in other countries.
What are the challenges facing Nigerians in The Gambia?
Among the challenges Nigerians face here, the most serious one is the issue of hostility by the Immigration, especially.  The Immigration is always arresting the 'aliens'.  They are always arresting them because they don't have resident permit.  The resident permits are usually expensive for Nigerians, particularly.  They call prices for different nationals.  There is a price for Nigerians, Ghanaians, Guineans, Europeans etc.  This, I learnt, has risen from 50 dollars to $1000.  And that is a lot of money for Nigerians.  And another challenge they are facing is like I said, the intimidation by their neighbours, by The Gambians in general; for the fact that they are hardworking.  They make a lot of money.  The Gambians will always demand.  If you give him once, twice, if you don't give them the third time, it is a problem.  Apart from that, the other challenges are minor.
What is the level of relationship between Nigeria and The Gambia?
Well, the bilateral relationship between Nigerian and The Gambia is like a senior brother relationship.  We are always on the giving side.  In Africa, there are many countries.  Nigeria cannot but help because if it does not help, there will be an influx of these nationals into Nigeria.  Therefore, the only way to stop the influx is to always give as much aid as you can so as to checkmate the perpetual influx.  Therefore, what Nigeria benefits from The Gambia as I always say, is that we can always count on their support.
Wherever there is a decision to be made, where Nigeria will be favoured, Gambia is always on our side.  And The Gambians use their friends to support Nigeria.  Just recently, we had to put forward a candidate for a global body contest and The Gambia had to support Nigeria.  In every forum, therefore, we are not benefiting materially but we have political support and also The Gambia is benefiting from the Nigerian movie industry.  Nigeria is making a lot of money from the movie industry here in The Gambia because The Gambians are fans of the movie industry in Nigeria, people are making a lot of money, they are bringing Nigerian goods and selling them.  But the most important benefit we have is the robust political support we have in the international arena.
What are your expectations of what Nigeria needs to gain in its bilateral relations with The Gambia?
My greatest expectation in the relationship is that in politics, we want to make friends and not enemies.  Since The Gambia is not buoyant, financially, Nigeria should strive to put The Gambia in the stream of world politics and economy.  Nigeria should be a guide.  It should lead and The Gambia should follow and also we provide the know-how for The Gambia to move forward.  There are a lot of people here who are pessimistic.
Our president is always persuading them to go out.  We are providing manpower training for the Gambians to be able to take care of themselves.  I want to reiterate that this has gone a long way in developing The Gambia.  If Nigeria does not do it, nobody will do it in the sub-region for The Gambia.  Because The Gambia is small and poor, they need all the support from Nigeria. Africa must be for Africans.  It is not for The Gambians to have the Europeans come here and take care  of their affairs. If they can't do it by themselves, Nigeria can go a step further to develop this country, both politically and economically.
What lessons have you learnt from The Gambia that would be useful for Nigeria?
The Gambians are peace loving people.  The rate of crime is very low.  That is why tourists have flooded the place.  Secondly, religious tolerance.  There is nowhere in the world where there is tolerance like in The Gambia.  No difference between Christians and Muslims.  They live together in harmony and celebrate together Sallah, Xmas.  This, I believe, Nigeria can borrow a leaf from.  Secondly, on the issue of tourism, in The Gambia, it is highly developed but there is a problem.  Tourism in The Gambia is associated with sex.  There is a cry about child abuse. Only recently, the UNICEF released a document about this particular issue. That the tourists come and because the people are very poor, they abuse the children sexually, enticing them with foreign currencies. You find little girls with babies. In fact, it is sad. We must be careful on how we develop tourism. In developing tourism, Nigeria can take a model from the Caribbean countries and the United States of America, among
 others. Tourism in The Gambia is sex-related and we must be careful not to fall into the same problem.




   Violent Agitation Not Solution to Marginalisation-Shagari


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ThisDay question
Should Dr. Chris Ngige resign as governor of Anambra State? [input] Yes [input] No [input] Indifferent [input]   [input]   [input]

View results

How Nigeria Can Help The Gambia Politically–– Envoy01.04.2005


Ambassador Mariam Muhammed is Nigeria’s High Commissioner in The Gambia. In this interview with a crop of Nigerian journalists, including our correspondent, Ndubuisi Francis in the Gambian capital, Banjul, the envoy  speaks on how Nigeria can help the tiny West African country develop politically  and  economically,  what  the  nation can learn from  The Gambia, Nigeria’s leadership role  in the sub-region and   the challenges  of  her  office, among  other issues

What are the challenges you are facing as Nigeria's High Commissioner to the Gambia?
You know Nigerians are very versatile people. The challenges I have found in The Gambia is the fact that Nigerians, wherever they are, as you are aware, pose a lot of problems in one way or the other, whether in crimes, drug related crimes or human trafficking, prostitution.  Though not as much as in The Gambia, yet, we have these problems and as much as I represent Nigeria, I try as much as possible to make sure the image of Nigeria in The Gambia is not what it is in other parts of the world.
First and foremost, I have to sensitise the Gambians on the fact that there are 120 million Nigerians and out of that, only about 500,000 Nigerians are involved in crimes.  One of my challenges is to be able to convince the Gambians about this.
Secondly, I have to strive to be able to address Nigerians to draw their attention to the fact that they must be good citizens wherever they are.  That is another challenge.
The third challenge I am facing is the hostility towards Nigerians.  In a place like this where poverty is highly manifest, a lot of Nigerians come here, make money, because they are hard working, naturally envy sets in and hostility sets in.  Severally, we have had to address the Foreign Ministry, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to draw their attention so that they could be aware of some of the hostilities.  Very recently, a Nigerian was held for no purpose. Many accusations were made and there was none that was concrete and it all points to the fact that he was a successful businessman.  Perhaps, for one reason or the other, or for envious reasons, the NIA just took him on.  We challenged them and up  till date, nothing concrete has come out of the arrest.  But fortunately, they released him.  So, the fact that we have to deal with hostilities is another challenge I am facing here.  The other challenge is the fact that we are faced with a lot of demand from The Gambians.  As
 you are aware, we serve as a senior brother to The Gambia, we make available facilities.  We provide manpower, sometimes, other things.  Now, they want Nigeria to provide armoured carriers in Darfur.  They always run to Nigeria to ask for these things and sometimes our facilities are overstretched.  So, on behalf of the Gambians, I am always asking.  This is another challenge I am facing in the Gambia.  So, far, I think, I have listed quite a few.
How many Nigerians are in The Gambia and what do they do mainly?
Well, for now, we are just putting in place the machinery for a census.  When I came, I have not found any census figure of the total number of Nigerians.  We are planning to do that in 2005, I think we are about 20,000 Nigerians.  It is a lot in a small country like The Gambia.  Most of them are traders; they are into trading.  A lot are into teaching.
Several of them are doctors, nurses.  Basically, that is what they do here.  Some of them are involved in crimes - 419; not much.  A few of them once in a while, may be, in a month, are involved in fake dollars deal and other criminal activities.  The volume is not as much as in other countries.
What are the challenges facing Nigerians in The Gambia?
Among the challenges Nigerians face here, the most serious one is the issue of hostility by the Immigration, especially.  The Immigration is always arresting the 'aliens'.  They are always arresting them because they don't have resident permit.  The resident permits are usually expensive for Nigerians, particularly.  They call prices for different nationals.  There is a price for Nigerians, Ghanaians, Guineans, Europeans etc.  This, I learnt, has risen from 50 dollars to $1000.  And that is a lot of money for Nigerians.  And another challenge they are facing is like I said, the intimidation by their neighbours, by The Gambians in general; for the fact that they are hardworking.  They make a lot of money.  The Gambians will always demand.  If you give him once, twice, if you don't give them the third time, it is a problem.  Apart from that, the other challenges are minor.
What is the level of relationship between Nigeria and The Gambia?
Well, the bilateral relationship between Nigerian and The Gambia is like a senior brother relationship.  We are always on the giving side.  In Africa, there are many countries.  Nigeria cannot but help because if it does not help, there will be an influx of these nationals into Nigeria.  Therefore, the only way to stop the influx is to always give as much aid as you can so as to checkmate the perpetual influx.  Therefore, what Nigeria benefits from The Gambia as I always say, is that we can always count on their support.
Wherever there is a decision to be made, where Nigeria will be favoured, Gambia is always on our side.  And The Gambians use their friends to support Nigeria.  Just recently, we had to put forward a candidate for a global body contest and The Gambia had to support Nigeria.  In every forum, therefore, we are not benefiting materially but we have political support and also The Gambia is benefiting from the Nigerian movie industry.  Nigeria is making a lot of money from the movie industry here in The Gambia because The Gambians are fans of the movie industry in Nigeria, people are making a lot of money, they are bringing Nigerian goods and selling them.  But the most important benefit we have is the robust political support we have in the international arena.
What are your expectations of what Nigeria needs to gain in its bilateral relations with The Gambia?
My greatest expectation in the relationship is that in politics, we want to make friends and not enemies.  Since The Gambia is not buoyant, financially, Nigeria should strive to put The Gambia in the stream of world politics and economy.  Nigeria should be a guide.  It should lead and The Gambia should follow and also we provide the know-how for The Gambia to move forward.  There are a lot of people here who are pessimistic.
Our president is always persuading them to go out.  We are providing manpower training for the Gambians to be able to take care of themselves.  I want to reiterate that this has gone a long way in developing The Gambia.  If Nigeria does not do it, nobody will do it in the sub-region for The Gambia.  Because The Gambia is small and poor, they need all the support from Nigeria. Africa must be for Africans.  It is not for The Gambians to have the Europeans come here and take care  of their affairs. If they can't do it by themselves, Nigeria can go a step further to develop this country, both politically and economically.
What lessons have you learnt from The Gambia that would be useful for Nigeria?
The Gambians are peace loving people.  The rate of crime is very low.  That is why tourists have flooded the place.  Secondly, religious tolerance.  There is nowhere in the world where there is tolerance like in The Gambia.  No difference between Christians and Muslims.  They live together in harmony and celebrate together Sallah, Xmas.  This, I believe, Nigeria can borrow a leaf from.  Secondly, on the issue of tourism, in The Gambia, it is highly developed but there is a problem.  Tourism in The Gambia is associated with sex.  There is a cry about child abuse. Only recently, the UNICEF released a document about this particular issue. That the tourists come and because the people are very poor, they abuse the children sexually, enticing them with foreign currencies. You find little girls with babies. In fact, it is sad. We must be careful on how we develop tourism. In developing tourism, Nigeria can take a model from the Caribbean countries and the United States of America, among
 others. Tourism in The Gambia is sex-related and we must be careful not to fall into the same problem.




   Violent Agitation Not Solution to Marginalisation-Shagari



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