This was the quintessence of an audience that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Muhamadu Buhari granted President Paul Biya’s special envoy to Abuja, on July 13, 2021.
The special envoy of President Paul Biya, His Excellency, Felix Mbayu, Minister Delegate to the Minister of External Relations in charge of Relations with the Commonwealth was bearer of a sealed message to the Nigerian leader. Discussions between Minister Mbayu, the Nigerian President, and his close collaborators hinged on cooperation between the two countries especially on border security – Boko Haram in the Far North, and the conflict in the North West and South West regions. Speaking about the discussions, the Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina said a shared history and long-standing relations between the two neighbours back the commitment between the two heads of state. “When I first came to office in 2015, I immediately visited all our neighbours, because we are very clear about the value of good neighbourliness”, the adviser quoted President Buhari. He said Buhari had told Biya’s envoy “You will have problems if your neighbours are not cultivated. And our relationship with Cameroon had been very clear since when I was serving in the military. The country offered us needed support during our civil war”.
President Buhari is quoted at saying that the fight against secessionists in the Anglophone regions will avoid chaos in Cameroon to the benefit Nigeria. “To ensure that Cameroon is stable…we will be steadfast in our support for you (Cameroon)”, Femi quoted the Nigerian leader.
Like Nigeria, Like Cameroon
Nigeria is also fighting a secessionist movement named the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB. And, during the audience Minister Mbayu is quoted to have said: “It is incumbent on us to find common solutions”. Biya’s special envoy was in Abuja days after the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Nigerian separatist movement. The arrest of the self-styled leader of IPOB is important to Cameroon in its fight against the armed struggle in the two English-speaking regions. Before his arrest, Nnamd had reached an agreement with Cameroon separatist warlord, Cho Ayaba Lucas, of the
Ambazonia Governing Council, AGC. Nnamdi and Cho said over social media that their movements were working towards ushering chaos in Nigeria and Cameroon. Adding that the federation of forces was to achieve independence of Biafra in Nigeria and Ambazonia in Cameroon. No doubt, the Head of State congratulated the Nigerian leader for working with Interpol and other security agencies to arrest Nnamdi. It should be recalled that Nigeria arrested separatist leader Ayuk Tabe, and some members of his soi-disant government in Nigeria and airlifted them to Cameroon in January 2018.
Jude VIBAN
