Nigeria is commitment to maintaining robust relations with Ghana, including at citizen-to-citizen level, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said as she arrived in Accra on a fence-mending mission.
Dr Magnus Eze, her Special Assistant on Communication and New Media, said the minister is on a two-day visit to Ghana to tackle the ongoing strain in Nigeria-Ghana citizens’ relations. She is also scheduled to meet with relevant stakeholders at both ends, including the President of Ghana.
Odumegwu-Ojukwu is also to meet with Ghana’s Foreign Minister, traditional rulers and Nigerians resident in the country.
This is aimed at dousing the tension and ensuring that the lives, property and businesses of Nigeria and Nigerians living in Ghana are safe and protected.
The minister’s aide said the minister had upon touching down at Kotoka, Accra International Airport, Ghana on Tuesday evening, also met with Ghana’s Inspector-General of Police, Christian Yohuno.
Eze said that the minister continued with similar engagements with Ghanian officials and leaders of the Nigeria community on Wednesday and is expected back to Abuja on Thursday.
Also Read: Ghanaians protest in Accra, want Nigerians out of their country
In another development, the Chairman/CEO Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NIDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has stressed the need for calm, urging Nigerians living in Ghana not to be provoked or resort to violence with anyone.
Dabiri-Erewa gave the advice in a statement issued on Wednesday by Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Director of Media, Public Relations and Protocols of NiDCOM, following tensions between citizens of the two countries.
The statement comes against the backdrop of a trending video on social media showing some Ghanaians demanding the immediate repatriation of Nigerians from their country.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa said that the alleged call for the deportation of Nigerians from Ghana was already being handled at the diplomatic level by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She said: “The attention of NIDCOM has been drawn to a disturbing video on social media showing protest by some Ghanaians, calling on the authority to send Nigerians back to Nigeria.
“I appeal for calm and urge Nigerians living in Ghana not to be provoked or go into violence with anyone, as the issue is being handled at the diplomatic level by the Minister of State Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bianca Ojukwu.
“Anyone using inciteful words, on both sides should desist henceforth, as such statements are capable of escalating the matter.”
She urged Nigerians to disregard the videos circulating that Nigerians’ shops and properties were being destroyed by Ghanaians.
The NiDCOM boss said there is no evidence to that effect and so Nigerians must at all costs try to prevent any reprisal attacks.
She lauded the Ghanaian and Nigerian High Commissioners for their efforts to control the situation.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa added that the Minister of State, Foreign Affairs was already in touch with Ghanaian authorities and had taken some pro- active measures toward finding an amicable resolution.
She stressed that the blanket outrage against Nigerians living in Ghana and branding them as criminals should be condemned by all.
This, according to her, is because Nigerians are not criminals but good ambassadors wherever they find themselves.
She advised that the bad ones among them should be fished out to face necessary sanctions.
“Ghana and Nigeria are like Siamese twins.
“They are brothers, and in the spirit of ECOWAS and regional integration, should continue to live in peace like brothers,” she added.
