Buhari, Ghana’s president on warpath

After three years of documenting Ghana’s undiplomatic relationship with Nigeria and its citizens, President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed not take it lightly any longer with his Ghanaian counterpart Nana Akufo Addo.

Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed hinted of reciprocation in the uneasy ties between the two African countries.

He said the government is concerned about the incessant harassment of Nigerian citizens in Ghana and the progressive acts of hostility towards the country by Ghanaian authorities.

According to him, the federal government is urgently considering a number of options aimed at ameliorating the situation.

Among the breaches of the Vienna Convention Nigeria recorded against Ghana include:

Seizure of the Nigerian Mission’s property located at No. 10, Barnes Road, Accra, which the Nigerian Government has used as diplomatic premises for almost 50 years. This action is a serious breach of the Vienna Convention.

Demolition of the Nigerian Mission’s property located at No. 19/21 Julius Nyerere Street, East Ridge, Accra, another serious breach of the Vienna Convention.

Aggressive and incessant deportation of Nigerians from Ghana. Between Jan. 2018 and Feb. 2019, 825 Nigerians were deported from Ghana.

Closure of shops belonging to Nigerians. Over 300 Nigerians shops were locked for four months in Kumasi in 2018; over 600 Nigerian shops were locked in 2019 and currently, over 250 Nigerians shops have been locked.

Residency permit requirements, for which the Ghana Immigration Service has placed huge fees, far higher than the fees charged by the Nigerian Immigration Service. These include the compulsory Non-citizen ID card (US$120, and US$60 for yearly renewal); Medical examinations, including for COVID-19 which is newly-introduced, at about US$120), and payment for a residency permit (US$400 compared to the N7,000 being paid by Ghanaians for residency card in Nigeria) and outrageous stipulations in the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act.

Mohammed said when the Act was initially promulgated in 1994, a foreigner was required to invest at least US$300,000 by way of equity capital and also employ 10 Ghanaians.

“It has now been amended twice, with the 2018 GIPC Act raising the minimum capital base for foreign-owned businesses to US$1m. Though targeted at foreigners, it seems GIPC’s definition of foreigners is Nigerians. The GIPC Act also negates the ECOWAS Protocol,’ he said.

Other issues the minister listed are:

Negative reportage of issues concerning Nigerians resident in Ghana by the Ghanaian media is fuelling an emerging xenophobic attitude towards Nigerian traders and Nigerians in general. The immediate fallout is the incessant harassment and arrest of Nigerian traders and closure of their shops.

Harsh and openly-biased judicial trial and pronouncement of indiscriminately-long jail terms for convicted Nigerians. There are currently over 200 Nigerians in the Nsawam Maximum prison in Ghana alone.

“The Federal Government will like to put on record the fact that even though over 1 million Ghanaians are resident in Nigeria, they are not being subjected to the kind of hostility being meted out to Nigerians in Ghana,’ he said.

He explained the main reason Ghana gave for the seizure of Nigeria’s property at No. 10, Barnes Road in Accra is the non-renewal of lease after expiration. He, however, added the Ghanaian authorities did not give Nigeria the right of first refusal or the notice to renew the lease.

“By contrast, the lease on some of the properties occupied by the Ghanaian Mission in Nigeria has long expired, yet such properties have not been seized,’ he added.

Having demonstrated its commitment to all the international charters on diplomatic relations, Nigeria, Mohammed said, believes that commitment being taken for granted.

“This will no longer be tolerated under any guise,” he said.