How we stopped Nigerians from drug pushing in Guinea – Ambassador Laraba Abdullahi

I got to know about the job when we went for an induction course in Obudu. It was an intensive programme and that was actually when I knew where I was posted. Right from there, I began to study the place and tried to see what I could do. Nigerian relations with Guinea have long […]

I got to know about the job when we went for an induction course in Obudu. It was an intensive programme and that was actually when I knew where I was posted. Right from there, I began to study the place and tried to see what I could do.

Nigerian relations with Guinea have long historical roots; but its modern state, I think Nigeria established relations in the early 60s. If you look back as the ambassador now, what would you say has been the important trends in the relationship we have built as bilateral countries?

I would begin by saying that there has been very strong links between both countries. Most of our former presidents from the time of the first prime minister have paid visits to this place and related well with the late Sékou Touré and the late President Lansana Conte. I was told by somebody working in the embassy that General Sani Abacha visited Guinea 19 times during hi regime and the same went for a lot of the past leaders. Coincidentally, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida is the ECOWAS special envoy to Guinea.

It is amazing that we have this toing and froing by leaders but in real terms what has been Nigeria’s gains from these different visits in terms of economic, political and cultural relationships?

I will begin with the economic. What is on ground now is really not much to talk about and it is most unfortunate because this is a mineral rich country. Sixty per cent of the world’s deposit of buck is here. We have large deposits of iron-ore of the highest quality in the world and we have gold, diamond, and all the big names in the mining world are here in Guinea. But the Nigerian presence is yet to be felt. This is one area I think we should look into, especially, looking at the fact that we want to rejuvenate our steel industry and everybody knows that for a steel industry to function, you need high grade iron-ore. We have iron-ore in Nigeria but the grade is low. It is from here we can get high grade one. Guinea, at the moment is prospective on oil, but they need crude oil. They have made their need clear to me and I think we stand to benefit immensely if we can have greater economic relations.

In the area of cultural cooperation, we are aware that we are linked with Guinea historically through the Sheikh Usmanu Danfodio of blessed memory, who is from the Futan Jalon, here in Guinea. When he went to Nigeria, a prominent Islamic scholar that settled here in Guinea, Alhaji Umaru Tal, went back to Nigeria and married his daughter who came back. 100 people stood in a village called Dingirai, the same man still went back to Nigeria and married two other women and to the present day, you still find people in that town speaking Hausa. There are also Nigerians who have settled for over 100 years. A person of Nigerian origin was once a minister, here and ambassador and this has been the case, Nigerians are treated with respect here until the issue of this drug business came in where you find some Nigerians deeply involved. Luckily, with the cleansing effort of the current regime, Guinea is increasingly becoming less popular for drug transiting.

Let us untangle the different issues. You first mentioned the fact that Guinea is very rich in mineral resources, and I remember that, sometime during the 70s and 80s there were efforts by Nigeria to invest in the extraction of alumina. Do you have any information as regards high grade iron-ore to assist in our own Ajaokuta Steel Industry? Do you have any information as regards how much we invested or how far we went?

Nigeria invested and the investment is still there through consortium. Currently, the consortium has grown even bigger to become Societé de mine de fue du Guinea. However, we have some outstanding responsibilities. I had met with the Nigerian Minister of Mines, Diezani Allison Maduekwe. I drew her attention to it. I took the Executive Secretary of the company and we met with her in Nigeria. She was impressed with what we shared with her and she promised that she would take action to see that Nigeria invests more in theproject because we still have need for this quality iron-ore.

The other strand of what you just responded to is this involvement of Nigerians with drugs. That has tarnished Nigeria’s image in recent time and kept the embassy very busy. How deep is this in terms of Nigeria’s participation in drugs?

Last year, the business was at its peak and everyday we received reports of our people being arrested or caught with drugs. What came out after the military regime took over is the fact that it is not only Nigerians who are in the trade. Guineans in authority are involved including the son of the late president. These were the real barons. The Nigerians who were involved were couriers.

When the cleansing started, those involved simply disappeared. This is evident because we were getting fewer requests for consular cards. As at last year, we had about 10, 000 Nigerians, a huge percentage of those involved in drugs have disappeared from Guinea. Where they have gone, I do not know. So many of them are in detention. We have a newspaper report of a Nigerian, who had approached the minister in charge of anti drugs to strike a deal. He too has been caught.

You came to be ambassador at a very interesting point of transition in Guinea, with the death of the president last year, and a military junta in place. The international community has been moving to see a rapid transition to a democratically elected government. How has the work of the international contact group of which Nigeria is a part, helped your work as an ambassador here?

It has helped me greatly. The day after the president died, Nigerians came as a delegation led by Ambassador Bagudu Hirse to pay condolence and access the situation on ground stayed until the junta. In January, another team was sent as the chairman of ECOWAS lead by the ECOWAS special envoy to Guinea General Babangida and other top dignitaries. They came back to meet with the junta and encouraged them to handover power as soon as possible. The team returned to Nigeria and gave their report. Subsequently, an ECOWAS Special Summit was held in the same month where the decision was taken to suspend the Guinean President and Foreign Affairs Minister from attending meetings until constitutional order was restored to Guinea. It was during that time the ultimatum was given for the junta to handover power by December, 2009.

In February, when the African Union meeting held, an International Contract Court on Guinea was set up. ECOWAS and AU were made the co-chairs. The ICG comprises 15 organisations and countries that call themselves friends and partners of Guinea. For example, the European Union and the Francophones are part of the body.

Since its inception, we have had about five ICG sessions.  Except for the first, the others were held here. During each session, a special delegation is sent from Nigeria. The level of diplomacy that I find myself in is quite appreciable. We also have the local representatives of the ICG which is held in the chancery. I hold meetings with the G8 ambassadors, the political parties, trade unions, and the civil societies. This has given the mission more prominence.

The 5th meeting of the ICG held two weeks ago and the ECOWAS Chairman was commended for the meeting being a decisive one. What came out of that meeting? Was it clear if the junta will take positive steps in ensuring that the transition is apt?

The junta agreed to a chronogram to hand over power this December. However, there are steps that need to be taken to achieve that goal, like the setting up of the transition national council and the voters’ registration and printing of the voters’ list and other related issues. At a certain time, these activities became stalemated. There was a stalemate in the voters’ registration after about 70 percent was done. They said funds were exhausted and it was suspended. There was also a ban on political activities. There was also the issue of the constitution and the country being run without one. Over the last weeks, due to pressure, the ban on political activities has been lifted. The voters’ registration has now been completed. A transition council has not been put in place. But an ad-hoc committee that would eventually metamorphosise into the transnational council has been set up.

The president, Musa Dadis Kamara, has made it very clear in the presence of the international community and all that he is going to hand over power by December 2009. He has also made it very clear that he and members of the CNDD, the prime minister are not going to contest in the elections as agreed upon. Also, the absence of dialogue which was becoming a major problem between the president and the Force Vive. The Force Vive is actually a coalition of political parties, politicians, the civil societies and trade unions. Now, he has agreed that there would be periodic dialogue. These are all positive signs. Whether we can have the legislative election take place later in the year is not yet sure. But what we are trying to encourage the authorities to do is to have the presidential and legislative elections simultaneously as is done in many other countries. They have not raised any objections to that. There is no decree backing that yet but certainly there would have to be some adjustment in the chronogram. What is maintained and insisted upon is that by the end of December 2009, the constitutional order will be returned.

You are described as a diplomat with a very hand some approach; how profitable has your engaging the grassroot been able to strengthen Nigeria’s bond to the different strengths of the Guinean Nigerian community.

To begin with, there are Nigerians all over the country. Conakry is at the tip and there is no way they can feel our presence and we know how they are doing except we reach out to them. In the course of travelling through the nation, we have come across Nigerians who were unlawfully detained and we succeeded in getting them released. We have had issues of very notorious court cases where our citizens have been wrongfully denied of their rights. We have been able to intervene and the cases are being reviewed. The most obvious benefit of this visit is the fact that, these people want to relate to Nigeria. They recognise Nigeria as a leader in West Africa. They want to see Nigerians coming here to invest in all sectors. They need more skilled people and we are trying to see that through the Nigeria-Guinea Joint Commission, we can have more Nigerians coming to tap from the resources and wealth of this country and the Guineans benefitting from the skills and experiences of Nigerians.

How are you able to operate in the world of diplomacy as against your being an academic?

I must give thanks to Allah for giving me the strength to do this much. I see diplomacy as a great exposure for me. I am learning a lot and getting better with relating with people and improving bilateral relations and I attend meetings where high level diplomactic issues are being discussed and this is a lot of exposure for me.