Gambari: Boundaries between African countries artificial — Europeans just drew lines on paper

Ibrahim Gambari, chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, says the boundaries between African countries are “artificial”.

He said this Monday at a reception organised to celebrate two principal officials of the presidency, who were recently honoured by Mohamed Bazoum, president of Niger Republic.

The principals officers, who were among some Nigerians that were honoured by Niger Republic, are Lawal Kazaure, the state chief of protocol, and Sarkin Ada, the senior special assistant to the president on household and domestic affairs.

The chief of staff also made a reference to the Berlin conference of November 1884 to February 1885 — a meeting during which formal negotiations were carried out by European countries for the division of Africa to further drive colonial interests.

Gambari said the boundaries decided on at the Berlin conference were “lines on paper”, adding that African countries share similar interests and should be united.

“All these boundaries are very much artificial. The Europeans in the congress of Berlin just took a piece of paper and were drawing lines across places where they have never been, they never intended to be; separated people who should be united; and uniting people, perhaps, who should be separated,” he said.

“But the leaders of Africa decided that it’s wise to keep those boundaries artificial as they may be, because to change them other than peacefully, will be creating even more problems than they can solve.

“In any case, whether by those lines, whether artificial or not, Niger/Nigeria share common boundaries, common interests, common concerns.”

Gambari also spoke on the foreign policy of the Buhari administration, adding that the present government has worked towards promoting improved security within and beyond Nigeria.

On his part, Tijjani Umar, the state house permanent secretary, congratulated the awardees.

He said considering the negative inpact of the COVID pandemic, as well as the Russia-Ukraine war, it has become significant for countries to be united in showing support.