At her office in Garba Jahumpa Road Bakau New Town, Her Excellency Madam Mariam Mohammad, Nigerian High Commissioner and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps in The Gambia has thanked the Gambian people for the hospitality accorded her since her arrival in The Gambia. She also thanked the Gambian leader whom she describes as a brother. She also told the Point that president Jammeh has already assured her that come 2008, Nigerians will be exempted from paying Aliens registration tax.

She expressed delight and appreciation to the Gambian leader for taking such a good step and advised the Nigerians in The Gambia to be law abiding and God fearing.
On the hospitality of the Gambian people she said she has learned from the Gambian people honesty and self content. She said The Gambia is her second home and said that the size of the country does not matter but it is the quality of the people that matters.

On the Nigerian-Gambian bilateral relationship, she said that The Gambia and Nigeria had a mutual and cordial relationship both in terms of cultures and values. She said that for more than 60 years The Gambia and Nigeria shared similar historical, cultural and religious affiliations. “We must therefore continue to pray for The Gambia and Nigeria to continue remaining together. She said that her stay in The Gambia has further tightened relations between them. She said further that Nigeria hosted the first black African festival of Arts and culture in 1977 all aimed at uniting the whole of Africa as one voice, one nation, because together we stand and divided we fall. she said that The Gambia and Nigeria have co-operated at all levels economically, politically, and socially. The Gambia and Nigeria have worked together in peace-keeping missions. She emphasized that The Gambia and Nigeria can always relate, integrate, and unite.

On her next assignment after completing her mission in The Gambia she said that her next assignment is to go back to the classroom. According to her, in Nigeria when people attain the age of 60 or serve for 35 years in Public Service, the individual goes for retirement and next assignment is to go back to classroom and continue to work for the government of Nigeria until one attains 65 years of age. She said that she was going back to her previous job as a lecturer in technical university in Kaduna. She commended The Gambia as West Africa’s Smiling Coast and the excellence of the security service. She thanked the whole of the Gambian people and its government for making her stay a memorable and cherished one.  She thanked the Gambian people, Sierra Leonean, Ghanaians, Liberians and Senegalese for their special close support, and accordingly wished them God’s abundant blessings. Her Excellency is expected to leave The Gambia today .Aged sixty Mariam Muhommed is going on retirement but will go back to the classroom as a lecturer.