IT was a strange scene on 19th June, 2020 when armed men stormed the residence that hosted a block of uncompleted apartments meant for visiting diplomats and forcibly turned away staff that were present at the scene. Shortly after, the building was demolished by the men who said they had the support of the Ghanaian National Security while the police, also present at the place, looked on helplessly like fans prevented from watching their idols on EPL due to Covid-19. Some staff of the embassy were leisurely sleeping on their divans when the bulldozer engine roared with power, ripping part of the high commission building. They groped in the dark to commit this crime; even the frogs in the rivers were stunned to their marrows. I don’t know the intention of the personality who masterminded the demolition, but one thing is clear: the aim was to hamper the relationship between the two countries and it is the responsibility of the Ghanaians government to make him account for his actions.
Indeed, the Ghanaian government has assured that it remains a law-abiding country that upholds the principle of the rule of law, while apologizing to the Nigerian government over the attack on the Nigerian High Commission’s building in Accra. Specifically, Ghana’s foreign affairs ministry said it respected the Convention on Diplomatic Relations, an international treaty that defines a framework for diplomatic relations between countries. To the ordinary citizens of Nigeria, it seems the response of Professor Godffrey Onyema, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, on 21st June was not robust enough. However, the minister indicated that his office was engaging the Ghana government and “demand urgent action to find the perpetrators and provide adequate protection for Nigerians and their properties in Ghana.”
But the truth is that there are several questions begging for answers: where were the security agents attached to the embassy? Did the perpetrators know the implication of invading a High Commission building? Could this type of incident have been meted out to a U.S. building? What is happening to the once harmonious relationship between Ghana and Nigeria? Of late, the relationship has turned sour more, especially in the area of trade following the border closure by the Nigerian government. One cannot also forget the fact that some South Africans that looted Nigerians and other immigrant’s shops and set fire to cars and buildings not too long ago in South Africa.
Also, few months ago, the Ghana Union of Trade Associations (GUTA) had pressured the government to make laws mandating any foreigner wishing to engage in trade in Ghana to show proof of having a deposit of US$300,000 in his or her company account or goods equivalent to that amount in stock. This proposed law negates the revised ECOWAS protocol on free trade and integration of markets. The common man is pleading for our leaders to always take upbeat action to protect our citizens before it’s too late. There were some dissenting voices who want a reprisal, but will two wrongs make a right? There are Ghanaians who are attached to decades of cordial symbols and will apply significant efforts to save this relationship. Minister of foreign Affairs , Geoffrey Onyema announced on Thursday, 25th June, 2020 that Ghana had promised to rebuild the demolished building in the Nigeria High Commission in Accra. That was an effort in the right direction. A lot of people made reference to the time when Ghana’s economy was in the woods and how Nigeria opened its doors to Nigerians. Some Ghanaians went to Nigeria in search of a better life between 1978, before the ‘’Ghana-Must-go incident of 1985. Hundreds of Ghanaians taught English in Nigerian schools. Today, the cherished image has faded like a mist.
As the public outcry against the demolition continued to rock the social media, a man who preferred to be called ‘Atupa’ said: “Nigerians are rich, yet utterly undersized and slighted, the magnitude of losing our respect was revealed to us in a blinding demolition. On a normal circumstance, our wrath would have blazed in consuming flame, rising like a vast black smoke to choke any nations that disrespect us.’’ But I am sure as night and day that the Nigerian government will not yield to the people whose adrenalines are up as a result of this act. A clevage has opend up and how our leaders address it will determine the relationship between the two countries.
- Anjorin writes in from Lagos.
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