No to evacuation of Nigerian traders from Ghana

The federal government said penultimate Thursday that it was mulling repatriation of its traders from Ghana as a last resort towards the resolution of the protracted row between both countries.

This was when 753 members of the Nigerian Union of Traders Association in Ghana presented a letter to Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Ms Abike Dabiri-Erewa, with a call for their evacuation back home.

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The implementation of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, GIPC Act (2013) requires foreign-owned businesses to have a minimum of $1 million (N380m) capital base.

Many of the Nigerian traders in Ghana said they could not afford the amount, culminating in their shops and business premises being locked up.

Earlier, Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, visited Ghana on “legislative diplomacy,” where he held bilateral meetings with Ghanaian lawmakers and top government officials as part of moves to resolve the crisis.

During the visit, Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo Ado, assured the Speaker that his government would “consider the resolutions reached at the Legislative Diplomacy Bilateral Meeting between Nigeria and Ghana’s senior legislators on 2nd September 2020, at the Ghanaian Parliament House.”

According to the President, “the legislative diplomacy dialogue became imperative as the parliaments of the two countries, sought modalities to resolve challenges and provide an enabling business environment for foreign traders including Nigerians doing business in Ghana.”

Yet, no further action has been taken till date.

President of the Nigerian Union of Traders Association in Ghana, Dr Ken Ukoaha, said apart from members of his group, those of the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS) had also expressed their readiness to return home.

The traders said the payment of $1 million to remain in business was unjust, unfair and a breach of the ECOWAS protocol.

But the Ghanaian authorities remained adamant, insisting that the locked shops must remain shut until they complied.

Ms Dabiri-Erewa, however, called for peace, stressing that all relevant stakeholders would be engaged to find a lasting solution.

She expressed sadness that their shops have not been reopened for almost a year now, which is against the spirit of the ECOWAS protocols of free trade and the movement of goods and services.

The NIDCOM boss, however, reiterated her plea with the traders not to allow tempers rise, saying she would convey their message for support to relocate back home to the appropriate authorities for further consideration and to speed up the process with strategic ministries and agencies to bring a lasting solution to the issue.”

But the traders, while lamenting that “diplomatic niceties at the highest level between Nigeria and Ghana have not yielded positive results,” noted that “landlords are coming to ask us for rent. How do we pay with our shops locked up for so long? We are dying here.”

There have been insinuations that Ghanaians were deliberately “punishing” Nigerian traders through difficult taxes to force the federal government to reverse the closure of land borders. Besides Ghana, other neighbouring countries including Benin, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon rely heavily on importing goods and services into Nigeria for their earnings.

Whatever is the underlying reason for such draconian new business requirement, evacuation is not an option as there is not a war situation between the two countries. Since the new requirement is against the ECOWAS protocols on free trade and movement of goods and services, it should be rescinded.

Nigeria should also reciprocate by re-opening its land borders, after all, the closure is not yielding the required positive results.

Bringing back the traders from Ghana will send the wrong signals and destroy the concept of African brotherhood. Moreover, there would be political, economic, social, cultural, security and diplomatic implications with such a massive evacuation.

Most importantly, the federal government should do more in terms of diplomatic entreaties, to make Ghana relax its rules. Moreover, the establishment of a Nigeria-Ghana Trade Commission should help in bringing this dispute to a close.