The clash between Ghanaian traders and their counterparts from Nigeria is gradually reaching a consensus after the Nigerian traders agreed to leave the country.
The Ghanaian traders have been complaining bitterly about how Nigerian traders have taken over the market and dealing in wholesale and retail sales which is against the laws of the country.
The Nigerian traders under the auspices of Nigerian Union of Traders Association Ghana (NUTAG) have however resolved to leave Ghana.
This new development was contained in a statement issued by the President of NUTAG, Chief Chukwuemeka Nanji.
He said,”the truth of the matter is, to the best of my knowledge, even the Ghanaian authority, our authority and ECOWAS Parliament and ECOWAS Commission and on most occasions, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) is not meant for ECOWAS. It is for other nationals. And me personally I stand on that, either Ghana government or ECOWAS make it clear to us that yes if you are a Nigerian you must abide with the GIPC law or else leave the country, then I will be the first person to leave because I don’t have 1 million dollars”.
The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) law says; ‘A person who is not a citizen or an enterprise which is not wholly-owned by a citizen, shall not invest or participate in the sale of goods or provision of services in a market, petty trading or hawking or selling of goods in a stall at any place’.
Shops of Nigerian Traders have been shut for a while now and this has led to a frosty relationship between the two countries.
You would recall that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, had travelled to Ghana in a bid to resolving the issues.
He was reported to have said the closure of Nigerian shops in Ghana contravened Economic Community of West African States trade protocols.
Recall also that the Federal Government, through the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, protested the development, saying it would no longer accept humiliation of Nigerians by Ghana.
In their response, the Ghananian authorities had stated that Mohammed’s claims on the issue were inaccurate.
