President Dr Alhaji Yahya Jammeh last Friday received in his office at State House, four National Assembly Speakers from the sub-region as part of activities of the 2008 state opening of the National Assembly.

Led to State House by their Gambian counterpart Speaker Fatoumatta Jahumpa-Ceesay, the speakers were Hon. Macky Sall, Senegalese speaker, Francisco Benanza, Guinea Bissau speaker, Speaker Bukhari of Mauritania as well as Honorable Tunde Akongun and Honorable Ali Ndume, Majority and minority leaders of the Nigerian House of Parliament and their delegations.

Speaking at the ceremony, President Jammeh welcomed the respective delegations and commended their various heads of state for permitting them to attend this very important session. He said that such permission has indicated their various leader’s believe in African integration noting that the roles of National Assembly members as well as speaker to African integration is indispensible.

According to President Jammeh, African integration can only be realised through the integration of the grassroots, noting that the grassroots cannot be integrated without the full participation of the legislature and legislations cannot be passed without parliamentarians. “Therefore, your presence here is indeed very important. Without the involvement of the legislature and the grassroot, we cannot realise African integration” he said.

President Jammeh then noted that no country or Head of State can deliver without the full support of the National Assembly. He then added that as Heads of State, they only formulate their dreams and objectives of development but National Assembly legalise their aspirations by putting it into law.

He then observed that the National Assembly is an indispensable part of national development. “ No country can develop without peace and security and there cannot be any peace without the rule of law and the rule of law cannot exist without the National Assembly promoting it” he said.

He then commended the various speakers and their delegations for attending the session and assured them of a confortable stay as The Gambia is their home.

He told them that what ever they see in the country is based on the hard work of the government and the people of the Gambia as well as the good friends of the Gambia. “You will also be surprise that less than one per cent of what you see in The Gambia is from the West. Since I came to power, I made it clear to the West that Allah is my World Bank, IMF and donor and guarantor of Gambia’s development. Since then, Allah has open the doors for the Gambia.

President Jammeh then called on Africans to realise that Africa is rated as the poorest continent on earth and to note that the West will never develop the continent for the fact that they went away with all our resources during colonisation. He cited the mummy’s stolen from the Egypt museums. He added that Africa was also more advance in technology and medicine than the rest of the world. He then called on Africans to be united, work together and regain our lost glories despite been Angolophone or Francophone.

The Gambian leader then saluted Speaker Jahumpa-Ceesay for the initiative and been dynamic, describing her as a foresighted hero.

Marie Saine-Firdaus, Attorney General and secretary of state for Justice equally welcomed the sub-regional speakers and their delegation noting that this occasion is historic in the National Assembly calendar. She noted that this visit has also manifested that as Africans, we are one family and urged the speakers to forge with their various governments to work towards African integration.

Dr Omar Alieu Touray, secretary of state for Foreign Affairs, noted that The Gambia has been home for various citizens and urged the delegations to stay confortable. He noted that their presence constitutes a Pan-Africanist spirit and urged them to continue the good collaboration.

Hon. Macky Sall, speaker of the Senegalese National Assembly on behalf of his colleagues expressed gratitude to the Gambian leader and Speaker Jahumpa-Ceesay for the warm welcome accorded them. This he said, is a clear manifestation of Gambian hospitality and the generosity of its leadership.

He then described President Jammeh as a real pan-Africanist, recalling the unprecedented developments the Gambia enjoyed during his leadership.

Speaker Sall on behalf of President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal further saluted President Jammeh for not only attending the recently concluded Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Senegal but also as the only African leader that contributed financially towards the success of the summit.

At the end of the ceremony, Speaker Sall presented a gift to the Gambian leader.