President Goodluck Jonathan held bilateral talks with the new Ghanaian president John Dramani Mahama who came to the Presidential Villa to express his gratitude to him for the show of sympathy following the death of John Attah Mills.
Mister Mahama, who was full of gratitude to Nigeria for the show of solidarity during the death of his predecessor, said that it is important to continue to have economic cooperation with Nigeria.
The 53 year old Ghanaian president said that Nigeria and Ghana have a lot in common having and that it is important to share experience in so many areas including the security of the West African sub region.
Addressing State House correspondents after the meeting, Mahama said that they discussed bilateral issues and security in the sub-region.
“As you know, Nigeria and Ghana are close and we are bound together by historical links; we are two people yet one and the same.
“We experienced the same colonialism, we have the same culture and eat similar foods; we have to continue to discuss how we can strengthen our bilateral cooperation.’’
Mahama said that although he knew Jonathan very well before now “it is important that I come to pay my respect to him’’.
“We discussed security issues and how to make sure that the West African sub-region is safe, so that we can continue to pursue our integration and economic cooperation.’’
The Ghanaian president said that he also used the opportunity of the visit to thank Jonathan for taking time out to attend the funeral of Attah-Mills, his predecessor.
“We expressed our sincere appreciation to him for the solidarity that he showed us and the solidarity the people of Nigeria showed us.
“I want to thank President Jonathan for his hospitality since we arrived this afternoon.’’
