TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria will offer the best support possible to ensure that Cameroon remains a united country.

According to Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, Buhari stated this on Tuesday when he received Felix Mbayu, a special envoy from Cameroon, at the Presidential Villa.

Buhari said Nigeria and Cameroon share historical ties and common borders, which make it imperative for the two countries to be interested in areas of mutual growth.

The president noted that his government is aware of the separatist agitation by the Ambazonian movement, adding that it is in the interest of Nigeria “to ensure that Cameroon is stable, and we will be steadfast in our support for you”.

“That was why 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,” Buhari said.

“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.”

Mbayu, who is also the minister delegate in charge of cooperation with the Commonwealth, said President Paul Biya of Cameroon is happy with the role Nigeria is playing in Africa.

According to him, Nigeria and Cameroon share not just borders and historical ties, but also similar challenges.

“These challenges border on security specially, and it is incumbent on us both to find common solutions,” Mbayu said.

According to Adesina, Mbayu congratulated Nigeria on the recent arrest and repatriation of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

He further said Biya looks forward to a situation in which the Nigerian territory would not be available for the Ambazonian movement to destabilise Cameroon, “as some people are taking advantage of some crises in the two English speaking parts of Cameroon to break the country apart”.