The
Nigerian contingent in The Gambia under the ECOMIG peace keeping mission
recently presented food items to the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital
(EFSTH) in Banjul.
The
ceremony was attended by senior government officials, the high command from the
Ministry of Defense of The Gambia, Nigerian High Commissioner to The Gambia as
well as ECOWAS representative Gambia office.
Speaking
at the presentation ceremony held at the hospital ground, Dr Amadou Samateh,
Chief Medical Director of the hospital, pointed out that the presentation a
very important occasion as the hospital is used as the centre where medical
students are trained to become doctors.
He
said the coming of the Nigerian contingent to the hospital was very important
and Gambians owes gratitude to them, adding that a patient is a vulnerable
person and the hospital has benefitted immensely from Nigerian medical
officials.
For
his part, the Nigerian High Commissioner to The Gambia, Alhaji Mousu Abdourahman,
said the Nigerian contingent in The Gambia under the auspicious of ECOMIG
decided to send relief materials to the patients at the hospital.
He
said the gesture would boost the image of Nigeria in The Gambia, adding that
the relationship between The Gambia and Nigeria is very strong.
Lt.
Colonel Mohammeh Sani Adamu, the Nigerian contingent Commander, said the
Nigerian Armed Forces has more capacity to assist in terms of needs in line
with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He
said the presentation of the items was not new to them and that the
relationship between The Gambia and Nigeria is clean and healthy; a win-win
situation, stating that the peoples of the two countries have been benefitting
from each other.
He
called on the ECOWAS and the Nigerian representative in The Gambia to let them
know that they have invested in boosting humanitarian gesture in The Gambia.
Dr
Adama Sallah, Chairman Board of Directors of EFTSH, said ECOWAS sent their
troops into the country to avert a situation that could have been disastrous
for The Gambian people, for West Africa and for the world.
He
expressed gratitude to the entire ECOWAS mission, particularly the Nigerian
contingent for engaging in another wonderful gesture of providing food and drinks
for the patients.
The
donated items included three hundred packs of bottled water, five bags of
sugar, groundnut cooking oil, washing detergents, onion, juice, Irish potatoes,
and chicken among other items.
