President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said he will do whatever is necessary to strengthen the already-strong relations between Ghana and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The President said for the progress of West Africa and Africa as a whole, it is necessary that Ghana and Nigeria work together and ensure that the two countries continue down that path of progress and prosperity of their peoples.
President Akufo-Addo gave the assurance on Thursday, September 3, 2020, when the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria, Femi Gbajabiamila, paid a courtesy call on him at the Jubilee House, at the end of his 2-day visit to Ghana.
President Akufo-Addo described the statement of the Nigerian Minister for Information “warning Ghana over incessant harassment of Nigerians” as alarming and unfortunate.
“I was alarmed because, if they were the sentiments and attitudes of the Federal Government of Nigeria, then we were in a really serious problem,” he said.
This brouhaha had come as a result of the closure of retail shops owned by foreigners including Nigerians by a task force put together by Ghana’s Ministry of Trade.
The Ghanaian Trade Ministry had said it is against the laws of Ghana for foreigners to operate in the retail space in the country, as it is the preserve of Ghanaians.
But President Akufo-Addo said “the idea of legislation to promote a Ghana-Nigeria Business Council, that will have superintendence over trade and investment matters between our two countries”, is long overdue.
“It is events that produce institutions and the time has come for it to be done”, the President stated.
President Akufo-Addo urged Ghanaians and Nigerians to build on the strong relations that have existed between the two countries, or, at the very least, make sure that the current status quo is preserved.
He reassured Speaker Gbajabiamila that the “Nigerian population in Ghana are safe, many of them have lived for centuries trading and doing business in Ghana without any difficulties, and that culture of co-operation and brotherliness will continue.”
On his part, Speaker Gbajabiamila said Negerians are not unaware of President Akufo-Addo’s close relations with President Muhammadu Buhari, describing Ghana and Nigeria as siblings.
The Nigerian Speaker said it is common knowledge that even before the two countries’ independence, Ghana and Nigeria had forged a relationship over the years as “our forefathers had sowed seeds of harmony, love, and friendship, and we will not allow anything or those seeds to wither away.”
“We came on a peacemaking effort which has been rightfully termed parliamentary elected diplomacy which had worked in many areas of the world, a modern toll to resolve, sometimes, ‘naughty issues’.”
He said the “issue at hand, is the misconception, misinformation which has since gathered of a people, perhaps the media, on both sides as well, as to what exactly is going on in Ghana as far as Nigerians are concerned.”
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
