President Goodluck Jonathan Friday in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau warned that
\nthe global community was no longer inclined to tolerate a role in
\ngovernance by the military in Africa and other parts of the world.<\/p>\n
Addressing a special session of the National Peoples\u2019s Assembly during his
\nvisit to Guinea-Bissau, President Jonathan called on the country\u2019s Armed
\nForces to embrace total respect for democracy and constitutionalism in the
\ninterest of their nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is no longer fashionable today to see the military parading themselves
\nas the custodians of political power. Rather, it is fashionable for the
\nmilitary to embrace the protection, preservation and total respect for
\nconstitutional order and democracy in order to build a prosperous and an
\negalitarian society,\u201d President Jonathan said at the session which was
\nalso attended by members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of
\ncivil society organizations.<\/p>\n
President Jonathan, who said that he was in Bissau to show solidarity to
\nthe Government and people of Guinea Bissau as part of efforts to ensure
\nlasting peace and stability on the African continent, seized the
\nopportunity to re-state Nigeria\u2019s condemnation of\u00a0 recent attacks on the
\nNigerian Embassy and Nigerian nationals in Guinea Bissau.<\/p>\n
Saying that \u201cmischief makers\u201d in the country should be discouraged from
\ninciting the public against brotherly Nigerians and Africans, President
\nJonathan called on the authorities of Guinea-Bissau to bring the
\nperpetrators of the criminal attacks to justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should be our brothers\u2019 keepers and work hand-in-hand in this era of
\nglobalization so as to reap the fruits that come with it. I want to
\nreassure you that the incident that led to the death of a Nigerian will
\nnot deter us from our desire to ensure that peace and stability is
\nrestored in Guinea-Bissau,\u201d he told the Parliament.<\/p>\n
The President said that the objective of his visit was to \u201cidentify with
\nyour aspiration to transform your country to the status of a stable and
\ndemocratic society that will guarantee peace and stable democratic
\ngovernance, which is a fundamental pre-requisite for meaningful economic
\ndevelopment.\u201d<\/p>\n
He therefore called on the country\u2019s political leaders and members of its
\nArmed Forces to \u201cremain steadfast and maintain the commitment which you
\nhave demonstrated right from the onset until the transition process is
\nsuccessfully completed with the holding of general elections which will
\ntake place soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Jonathan further urged all stakeholders in the country to
\nsheathe their swords and work together in harmony to salvage the nation.
\nHe assured the gathering that Nigeria and ECOWAS will continue to make
\nfinancial and material contributions to ensure that the general elections
\nare held as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
The Speaker of the National Peoples\u2019 Assembly, Ibraima Sori Djalo thanked
\nPresident Jonathan and the Nigerian Government for \u201cNigeria\u2019s presence in
\nour country every time we need support, particularly in this last crisis
\nto which we are determined to find a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described the October attack on Nigerians in Guinea Bissau as very
\n\u201cdepressing\u201d and reiterated the earlier official apology conveyed to
\nNigeria on the incident.<\/p>\n
Both countries later signed a Cooperation Agreement to boost bilateral
\nrelations between them. The agreement was signed by the Nigerian Minister
\nof State (Foreign Affairs), Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed and his Guinea Bissau
\ncounterpart, Fernando Delfim da Silva, in the presence of President
\nJonathan and his host, the Interim President of Guinea Bissau, Manuel
\nSerifo Nhamadjo and top government officials of both countries.<\/p>\n
During bilateral talks between the delegations of the two countries, which
\npreceded the signing of the cooperation agreement, President Nhamadjo
\ninformed President Jonathan of the commitment of his government to conduct
\ngeneral elections and implement the reformation\u00a0 of Guinea-Bissau\u2019s
\nSecurity and Defense Forces with the assistance of ECOWAS.<\/p>\n
He also thanked President Jonathan for his tireless and positive efforts
\nas the Chairman of the ECOWAS Contact Group on Guinea Bissau and Nigeria\u2019s
\nmaterial and human support especially through its troops in ECOWAS Mission
\nin Guinea Bissau (ECOMIB).<\/p>\n
President Jonathan had on arrival in Bissau, laid wreaths at the tombs of
\nGuinea-Bissau\u2019s great nationalist hero, Amilcar Cabral and other fighters
\nfor the nation\u2019s independence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Goodluck Jonathan Friday in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau warned that the global community was no longer inclined to tolerate a role in governance by the military in Africa and other parts…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n