*Several families face starvation after five months of closure
*They claim our shops were locked due to border closure by FG – NDBIG Chairman
*Ghanaians accuse Buhari of breaching ECOWAS protocol
*FG not unaware, says Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman
Nigerian business men at the popular Circle Market in Accra, Ghana, have been facing the worst of time for over five months due to the forceful closure of their shops in the market. With what could be described as another form of discrimination, most of the businessmen are not finding it easy feeding their families, pay bills and send their children to school, writes MYKE UZENDU, who visited Accra, the capital city of Ghana, recently.
The greatest worry for the businessmen is that in spite of their plea for the Nigerian government to wade into the matter, there is no respite in sight, with Foreign Affairs ministry officials denying knowledge of the problems. But, the traders provided evidence of correspondences with the Nigerian High Commission in Accra and other Save-Our-Soul letters written to the Nigerian government, which seem to have fallen on deaf ears. They are also worried that the Ghanaian government is equally deaf at their plight as they have refused to halt such brazen act of wickedness being orchestrated by some traders in the country.
The market, the hub for computer and mobile phone accessories sales had been under lock and key since December, last year. Numbering over 600 shops, occupied mainly by Nigerians, the shops were double locked, and according to the traders, the extra locks were provided by the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) and the Municipal Authority. Stickers were also pasted on each of the shops directing the owners to present certain documents at the Market Authorities Office for verification, before they could reopen to business. But, the traders feel it was a mere ploy to dispossess them of those shops and handover to Ghanaians, having seen that they have successfully created a favourable business environment from nothing which triggered the envy.
With the benefit of hindsight information from insiders at the Accra Municipal Authority, GUTA members were simply being envious at how those Nigerians transformed a barren land to a business hub, and were plotting to take over the shops from them.
Inspite of efforts, the Nigerians are experiencing hell of a time, their greatest challenge being how to feed their families, take care of medication and pay their children’s school fees as they can’t gain access to their cheque books or ATM cards, already locked-up in their shops.
The traders claimed that GUTA is retaliating boarder closure by President Muhammadu Buhari, which left several trailers of goods belonging to Ghana stranded at the borders since the closure of Nigerian borders. In retaliation, they said, Ghanaians resorted to using GUTA as pressure group to persuade the Nigerian government to open its borders.
The Nigerian business men claim that Ghanaians feel that by closing the Nigerian borders, President Buhari breached ECOWAS protocol which allows free movement of goods within the sub-region, stressing that it may have propelled the government of Ghana to also go against the protocol to protect the welfare of its citizens.
A letter sighted by The AUTHORITY, which emanated from the Ghana Revenue Authority, dated 23rd December, 2019, and signed by Henry Brandford Sam, for the Commissioner-General, Ghana Revenue Authority, indicated that the reasons for the close of the shops was to enable the Revenue office conduct a Tax Compliance exercise, “since January 2014, till date”.
Part of the letter reads: “Please be informed that pursuant of section 33 and 35 of the Revenue Administration Act 2016, Act 915, The Ghana Revenue Authority will take possession of the following records to enable us carry out the intended exercise: Business Registration Certificate; Tax Registration Certificate; Tenancy Agreement; Sales Records; Purchase Records, Bank Statement; Financial Statement; Copies of Tax Returns and Payments (PAYE, CIT/PIT, WHT, VAT, Rent Tax and, Any other relevant document”.
Chairman of Nigerians Doing Business in Ghana (NDBIG), Chief Chukwuemeka Onyekaonwu, told The AUTHORITY that aside the intervention of the former Nigerian Ambassador to Ghana, no other Nigerian official had visited Ghana to get first-hand information on the plight of Nigerians in doing business in Ghana. According to him, what is happening is a mere ploy by GUTA to take the campaign to other markets in Ghana to frustrate Nigerians who are into retail trading in the country.
He said: “They are asking us to bring those documents for verification, but the issue is that the people that are to verify the documents are the ones that don’t want us in the markets. It is like somebody doing an exam he knows that he cannot pass. Already the Ghanaian government had informed us that GUTA has no right to lock-up our shops; that it is illegal and they are trying to legalize the illegality by telling us to bring documents and present to these same people that locked-up our shops to verify. It is a contradiction”.
Onyekaonwu said affected traders are finding it difficult to feed, pay their bills adding that so many Nigerian children have dropped out of the school because the parents cannot afford to pay schools fees any longer. He said the problem is worse because those who want to quit from Ghana are handicapped as they can’t afford the transport fare.
On his part, Chukwumeka Ihejirika listed what he termed the reasons behind the action. “They first said that Nigeria locked the boarder and they cannot take their goods to Nigeria. They claimed their containers were trapped down there at the Nigerian borders for over six months now. Ihejirika however said the Nigerian Community in Ghana is making efforts to get the shops unlocked but for President Nana Akufo-Addo’s electoral promise of ‘Ghana-for-Ghanaians’.
Ihejirika said that Sen. Ifeanyi Uba (Anambra South) had last year, raised the alarm in the Senate, yet the Nigerian government ignored him. He added that the Presidential Adviser on Diaspora Affairs, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa knows about the issues, yet nothing tangible has been done about it.
Another Nigerian, Otunba West-Austin Adebowale, an importer of used phones and laptops said the value of his goods trapped in the market is worth over N10 million. According to him, “they had been trying to resolve this issue since last year, but they are taking a pound of flesh against us in retaliation for the border closure by the Nigerian government”.
Also, Uchenna Okaro attributed the closure to “envy” by Ghanaians who see Nigerian businessmen as more prosperous than their own citizens, lamenting that they are facing hard times.
The Management of GUTA when contacted refused speaking to The AUTHORITY. Unfortunately also, Hon. Dabiri Erewa directed our reporter to the Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama. Meanwhile, the ministry claimed ignorance of the situation. Speaking, Ferdinand Nwonye, spokesman for the ministry said he is not aware of the issues. According to him, “the issues you raised are not to my knowledge. They should keep engaging the Embassy. It is the Embassy that will give us direction on what to do”.
