Buhari Sends Delegation To Visits Ghana Over Traders Conflict |The Source

By Uche Mbah

Finally, the Federal Government has decided to take action on the lingering diplomatic crisis brewing between it and  Ghana over the alleged maltreatment of Nigerian traders by Ghanaian authorities.

Agency reports indicate that President Muhammadu Buhari has directed that a Ministerial delegation be sent to Ghana to resolve the issue.

“The delegation will be led by Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, according to a statement issued on Monday by the Special Assistant to the Minister on Media, Mr Ifedayo Sayo”, News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports.

Sayo noted that “the delegation, which would be made up of relevant stakeholders, would also engage in further dialogue with Ghanaian authorities with a view to finding a lasting solution to the problem.:

The delegation would undertake the visit between May 31 and June 1, 2021”.

For several years running, Nigerian traders and Ghanaian authorities have been having altercations about tax, levies and related issues. The Nigerian traders complainof maltreatments by the Ghanaian Authorities who, they claim, molests them at the slightest provocations, closing their shops by force. The traders had claimed that the authorities had imposed regulations and traders were required to pay one million dollars for business registration.

Things came to a head when Nigerian shops were forcefully locked up without warning with demands that they produce evidence of the Ghana Investment Promotion Council’s (GIPC) registration. Incidentally, this peaked at the time the Federal government had decided to close its borders to curb smuggling, which adversely effected Ghana’s economy, fuelling speculations that it may have been an indirect protest at the closure of the borders.

Nigerians have since been crying for help, appealing to the Federal Government to intervene. Apart from some diplomatic statements by Abike  Dabiri-Erewa, the DG of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Government has not done much in terms of real intervention.