Benin President and Chairman of African Union (AU), Thomas Yayi Boni, on Friday commended President John Evans Atta Mills for disposition towards the vision of Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president.

“In Mills is deposited the vision of Kwame Nkrumah,” President Boni said, in Accra, at the end of a day’s working visit to Ghana.

President Boni, together with his Ghanaian host, were answering questions from journalists in Accra moments after he emplaned back to Benin.

The two leaders met and discussed issues of mutual interest.

The visit was at the instance of President Mills who also accepted to pay a reciprocal visit at a later date.

Their discussions centered on bilateral issues on energy, security situation in the West African sub-region, and the invitation of the leaders by US President Barack Obama to attend the G8 Summit in the US next week.

The Benin President commended President Mills for being the first to propose him for the AU Chairman, and prayed for God’s help for him to continue to manage the affairs of Ghana.

President Boni described Ghana as haven for peace and democracy in the West African sub-region and added that, it was his intention to request the support of the Ghanaian leader in matters of food security which would be the focus of the G-8 Summit.

He said the summit would also address issues of poverty which he described as the “first enemy of sub-Saharan Africa”.

According to the Beninois leader, it was time African nations moved from observer status to become participants in the discussion of world groupings like the G-9 and G-20.

President Mills said the African leaders invited to the G-8 meeting would move beyond the main focus of food security at the summit to address other areas of concern.

“We need to be understood by the world and show what we can do our ourselves,” President Mills said, adding that Africans had the potential, and it is time to show the world what it could do with its resources, willingness and expertise.

They reiterated their resolve to explore new potential areas for co-operation with a view to enhance and diversify bilateral relations.

There was consensus about the need to reactivate the Ghana-Benin Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation that serves as the legal framework to intensify bilateral relations.**