Two Nigerians attempted to commit suicide recently for their inability to raise $1m business equity required of them as imposed by authorities in Ghan
Two Nigerians attempted to commit suicide recently for their inability to raise $1m business equity required of them as imposed by authorities in Ghana on non-Ghanaians as well as other conditions.
The duo are currently undergoing therapy.
According to the Chairman, Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, it is painful that engagements with the Ghanaian authorities on the plight of Nigerian traders in the country haven’t achieved the desired results.
About 753 members of the Nigerian Union of Traders Association in Ghana presented a letter to the Federal Government requesting for evacuation from the former Gold Coast.
The NIDCOM boss said the Speaker of House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo; amongst others, were looking at the request of the Nigerian traders.
Dabiri-Erewa, however, said the Ghanaian presidential election of December 7, 2020, must come and go before tangible agreements were reached.
“Don’t let us deceive ourselves, nothing will happen before December 7. There is nothing ECOWAS can achieve before the election. Election must be won or lost.”
According to Punch, Dabiri-Erewa said the evacuation of the traders would come at psychological, economic and social cost while expressing optimism that the bilateral dispute would be resolved.
“We don’t have a problem at the government level; we have a problem at the people level. The government of Ghana has willingly said, ‘Open these shops’ but the people are complying. As at today, it’s been over one year. Now, they have to pay rent for their shops, they don’t have money for rent. How can you pay rent when your shop has been closed forever?”
The General Secretary, All Nigerian Community, Ghana, Isaac Ekhator, said that the evacuation request was a way of pressurising the two governments to reach a consensus and end the trade crisis.
