By Lamin Kujabi
The First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone Her Excellency Fatima Jabbi Maada Bio accompanied by the Sierra Leonean High Commissioner to The Gambia recently paid a courtesy call on His Excellency President Adama Barrow at State House.
Madam Bio was invited to The Gambia by the American International University in West Africa (AIUWA) and conferred an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters in recognition of her outstanding humanitarian and philanthropic intervention across the globe.
Shortly after her closed-door meeting with President Barrow, Madam Maada Bio told The Gambia Daily that her discussions with President Barrow centered on issues of Sierra Leonean students and nationals residing in The Gambia amongst others matters of bilateral interests.
She highlighted that many Gambians that attended Fourabeh College in Sierra Leone were paying the same fees as that of Sierra Leonean nationals. She added that Gambian students were never seen as foreigners but as brothers and sisters from a sister republic .
Madam Bio further solicited support from the President to do the same for Sierra Leonean students in The Gambia. “This is about Government of The Gambia and we are going to sit and wait to see what will be the government’s position in this as we have about 20,000 to 30,000 Sierra Leoneans living in The Gambia”.
She thanked President Barrow for heeding to the appeal she made during her last visit to The Gambia to help exempt Sierra Leoneans from the payment of residential permits. “We believe that Sierra Leoneans will be given the opportunity to empower themselves and acquire quality education as they peacefully reside in The Gambia,” she noted and expressed gratitude to the President for the audience and said she is proud to identify herself as citizen of both countries.