Matters arising

As our sister nation, and also big brother Nigeria, prepares to mark 50 years of nationhood, we at The Point want to take this opportunity to wish all Nigerians, both in The Gambia and elsewhere, a very happy independence anniversary.

We pray that Nigeria will continue to thrive as a progressive nation, and celebrate many more independence anniversaries in the years to come in abundant peace and prosperity.

Indeed, Nigeria and the Gambia share a lot in common. Apart from the shared colonial experience and heritage, today the two nations belong to the same geo-political entity, as manifested in our common membership of ECOWAS.

Moreover, both have benefited a lot from what is definitely a mutually rewarding bilateral relationship.

The Gambia, in particular, has gained a lot from Nigeria over the years in terms of aid in the areas of education, health, security and the judiciary, among other support.

Many Gambians have studied in Nigeria in the fields mentioned above, and Nigeria has sent technical assistance personnel to lend support to this country's development aspirations, over the past many decades.

On another matter, on many occasions, we have carried in our medium the messages of people, both old and young, appealing for assistance to either go for medical treatment overseas or for funding to go to school. Just in our yesterday's edition, one Baboucarr Bah appealed to good Samaritans to come to his aid, as his poor parents could not foot the bill to fulfil his ambition to go for further learning. As we have said over and over again, in this country there are people with big hearts who are always willing to help their next door neighbour. We want to urge all those who are well-off to extend a helping hand to those who cannot afford it.

Also, as the No-Smoking Campaign takes centrestage, we want to advise that people practise what they preach, as you cannot be telling people to stop smoking, while you continue to practise the bad habit.