Sep 14, 2015 During a state visit to Ghana recently, Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari affirmed that great strides were being taken against Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
On arrival, the president was greeted by a guard of honour alongside officials from the Nigerian high commission in Ghana.
President Buhari sat down with his Ghanaian counterpart John Dramani Mahama to discuss matters of security and economic relevance. However, some reports say that President Buhari was in Ghana to discuss repatriation of funds allegedly stolen by former corrupt officials.
At a joint press conference, President Mahama said that his country has agreed to work together with Nigeria on security and trade relations
“Ghana has also agreed to continue to work with Nigeria to guarantee the security and social economic prosperity of our two people. In that direction our two ministries of foreign affairs will begin the process of reviving the Joint Ghana-Nigeria Commission for Cooperation and progressively expand its focus to the level of a bi-national commission,”
Buhari, who recently marked his 100th day in office said:
“The military is really gaining ground and Boko Haram is virtually limited now to Sambisa forest and the people – that is the persons that have been moved out because of the insurgency is internally displaced persons, gradually moving back to their constituencies and are being integrated into their respective communities,”
Analysts have widely fingered Ghana as a crucial ally in the fight against the Islamic extremist group. About a third of Ghana’s population are Muslims and have long co-existed peacefully with the Christian majority without conflict or rancor.
Speaking during an interview, Security analysts Charles Dokubo said Nigeria could learn from Ghana.
“Ghana is also a country divided into two sections. You have the Islamic North and the Christian South just like you have in Nigeria. So definitely they will learn something from Nigeria and Nigeria could learn from them: how in their country that situation has been contained to a certain minimal action. That religion and politics do not mix and that sort of armed insurgency has not taken place in Ghana,”