Reports about a burgeoning trade dispute between Ghana and Nigeria is disturbing because its escalation could be mutually detrimental to both neighbours.
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister is reported to have complained to the ECOWAS Council Of Ministers about an alleged discriminatory action against Ghanaian businesses in Nigeria two West African allies whose relationship dates back to the colonial days when both countries belonged to the British stable. In fact until the latter part of the 1800s the Gold Coast was ruled by the Governor in Lagos.
At the centre of the imbroglio is the allegation that Ghana’s Sam Jonah’s, Jonah Capital PLC an estate development company is being harassed in the host country, Nigeria.
So far Nigeria’s Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Jumoke Oduwole is said not to have responded yet silence which is rather worrying given the gravity of the subject at hand.
Nigeria should be seen to be adhering to both the spirit and letter of the ECOWAS protocols being the largest supporter of the regional bloc.
We hope that the outcome of the presentation of further details which the Council demanded from the Ghanaian minister who submitted the petition on behalf of Sam Jonah will be made public.
The regional bloc is threatened by seeming fragmentation occasioned by coups plaguing the component countries. The last thing that the bloc should expect is a misunderstanding which can deteriorate and impact negatively on the fortunes of ECOWAS.
Ghana is arguably the biggest host of Nigerians who are engaged in assortment of businesses ranging from petty trading to ownership of limited liability companies in West Africa. While some of these operate within the ambit of the investment laws of the country most do not, yet they operate on the blind side of the authorities.
It has never been mutually beneficial for the two countries to engage in avoidable disputes precedents available to evidence this assertion.
Time was it when Nigeria imposed a $50 fee upon every arriving Ghanaian into Nigeria in the early 80s. Ghana retaliated and the matter persisted until the authorities in both countries put on their thinking caps and the nonsense was reversed.
The matter under review is dangerous and so the relevant authorities in Nigeria should resolve it before Ghana resorts to a retaliatory response.
Today Accra alone has over ten lorry stations both cargo and passenger whose vehicles ply between the Nigerian commercial capital of Lagos and Ghana’s capital on daily basis. The volume of trade between the two countries in the informal sector is enormous.
Let the Nigerian authorities resolve this issue before it escalates into fractious dimensions.
Nigeria should have no moral authority to claim to be protecting ECOWAS by deploying troops to member countries whose governments are threatened by coups when she cannot resolve such a simple trade impasse.
