$1m Trade Dispute: Gbajabiamila’s Ghana Visit Calmed Nerves, Says Biz Forum

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, has been commended again for his recent visit to Ghana to intervene in the trade dispute between the authorities in Ghana and Nigerian traders residing there.

The speaker’s office said on Monday in Abuja that the latest commendation came from the Nigeria Business Forum in Ghana.

Its Executive Director, Amb. Oloye O. Fatuyi, in a letter to Gbajabiamila, noted that the speaker’s visit calmed nerves and reduced the tension that had built up in recent times between the two sides.

The forum wrote, “The entire membership of the Nigeria Business Forum, Ghana would like to express our profound gratitude to you and your distinguished entourage for the unprecedented and all-important visit to Ghana in lieu of the unease being faced by Nigerian traders in Ghana.

“It is worth emphasising that your visit to Ghana does not only calm nerves but conveys your outstanding passion for Nigerians, both home and abroad.

“Your style of leadership is admirable and exemplary in every standard, not forgetting the highly exceptional diplomatic approach in engaging Ghanaian authorities on the subject matter.”

Recall that Ghana had imposed a $1million business registration levy on foreigners residing and doing business there, the majority of whom are Nigerians.

The Nigerian traders had protested against the levy, leading to confrontations between them and the authorities in Accra.

The authorities, amid the ravaging COVID – 19 pandemic, also reportedly locked over 250 shops owned by Nigerians, further escalating the tensions between both sides.

At the government level, Nigeria and Ghana also engaged in a diplomatic spat over the matter.

Two week ago, Gbajabiamila embarked on a diplomatic shuttle to the neighbouring West African country to meet with the leaders of the Parliament of Ghana and President Nana Akufo-Addo, in a bid to find brotherly solutions to the dispute.

The meetings ended with the Ghanaian authorities promising to look into the appeals made by Gbajabiamila to reduce the $1m levy, though the parties also acknowledged that Ghana had the powers to make laws on how business would be conducted in its domains.

Before the latest commendation, two other organisations, namely the Nigeria Union of Traders Association in Ghana (NUTAG) and the Nigeria-Ghana Business Council, had also admitted that the speaker’s visit helped in easing tensions.

The speaker’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Lanre Lasisi, quoted the forum as saying that Gbajabiamila’s names was “written in gold as an outstanding and compassionate leader.”

However, like others had stated earlier, the forum urged for the sustenance of the diplomatic efforts until the issues were finally resolved.

It added, “However, both authorities should continue their diplomatic discourse to achieve a lasting and amicable resolution.”