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Political leaders from Nigeria and Angola met over the weekend
to discuss practical ways of addressing the problem of instability and poor
governance in the Republic of Guinea Bissau.

Idi Hong, minister of state for foreign affairs, received a
visit from George Chicoty, a special envoy from the President of Angola on Friday.

However, Mr Hong told journalists that he could not disclose the
details of the discussions, only saying that Nigeria, which currently holds the
leadership for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has
convoked an ordinary session of ECOWAS Heads of states to discuss the issue.

“We are already aware of the agreements and resolutions that
have been taken,” said Mr Hong. “Angola is the chair of Portuguese-speaking
countries, and with Guinea Bissau being a Portuguese-speaking nation, they are
interested about the resolution of this matter; that is why they are here.”

Mr Chicoty said that Angola and Nigeria share a good bilateral
relationship and he wanted to deploy this relationship in addressing the Guinea
Bissau challenge.

“We share a common view on security issues in Africa and in this
particular case, we do share views about how to restore security in Guinea
Bissau,” Mr Chicoty said.

He said both governments want to contribute to peace in Guinea
Bissau and said that Angola has already made a contribution of $20 million to
the security and defence reform sector in the country.

In September, ECOWAS met to discuss whether to send troops to
stabilise the deteriorating security situation in the nation. The country has
been plagued by coups and drug trafficking since independence from Portugal in
1974.

United Nations officials say Guinea Bissau’s tiny scattered
islands have become a hub for the drug trade between Latin America and Europe.

Billions of dollars worth of cocaine is believed to pass through the
impoverished state each year. A number of political slayinglast year, including
that of Guinea-Bissau’s president, army chief and a presidential candidate, are
likely linked to the trade, they said.