Nigeria Saved Our Judiciary from Collapse, Helped Set up Armed Forces, Says Gambia Foreign Minister

Gambia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Momodou Tangara, has said that the federal government of Nigeria saved his country’s judiciary from collapse. Tangara disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja when he paid a courtesy visit to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama.

Tangara said: “I have said that in many fora, that in the Gambia, we are very grateful to Nigeria. At some point, if Nigeria was to withdraw from the judiciary, our judiciary would have completely been crippled. And thanks to the support of Nigeria, we have been able to build our judiciary with hometown lawyers and magistrate and that could not have been possible without the support of Nigeria.

“In very critical moments, you helped us build the most valuable resources in our country and that is our human resources and we are forever grateful for that.”

Tangara also revealed that his country has concluded arrangements to honour late Nigerian Military General, Abubakar Dada, who played a pivotal role in the establishment of the country’s military.

He said, “We cannot also talk about armed forces in the Gambia without mentioning Nigeria. You have been the key in helping us set up the armed forces in Nigeria. And today in the Gambia, the late General Abubakar Dada is a household name in the Gambia.

“At least in the military, everybody knows about him,” said Tangara while explaining why he was honoured posthumously.

“I think he deserves it and that is the best way we can say thank you to him and his family to know that their father has left a great legacy not only in Nigeria but in the Gambia. That is what we intend to do in due course.”

The late general, who is the elder brother of the current Minister of State Foreign Affairs Zubairu Dada, was credited to have helped build the military capacity of the Gambia when he held fort as the Commander General of the Gambia army, including building the Army headquarters.

He also commended the logistic support rendered by President Muhammadu Buhari during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Speaking, Onyeama said the visit was a show of the Gambia’s rare commitment to the bilateral relations between our two countries.

He also said the relations between the two countries goes back decades, but in recent times, he said, “we have worked very hard reinforcing this relations.”

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