Who Speaks for Nigerians in Ghana?

There is a question that ought to trouble every Nigerian resident in Ghana, and indeed every citizen who cares about how our diplomatic missions conduct themselves abroad: on what basis does a private community association come to be treated as the voice of an entire national community?

This is not a question posed in the spirit of disparagement but in the spirit of accountability.

For some time now, sections of the Nigerian community in Ghana have raised concerns about the governance, representativeness, finances, and constitutional standing of an organization called the All Nigerian Community (ANC) in Ghana, which publicly presents itself as speaking for the entire Nigerian population in Ghana.

Those concerns have been sharpened by the ANC’s apparent closeness to the Nigerian High Commission in Accra, and by troubling reports from within the organization itself - arbitrary removal of members from its communication platforms by the association’s PRO, which is an unusual concentration of authority in the office of its Public Relations Officer, Prince Wisdom, and persistent, unanswered demands from members for basic financial and organizational transparency.

None of this would matter much if the ANC were merely one voluntary association among several, competing for members and legitimacy in the ordinary way. But the ANC does not appear to operate as merely one association among several. It appears to enjoy a special cozy relationship with the Nigerian High Commission in Accra - one that has allowed it to speak, and in some cases to act, on matters that would ordinarily fall within the statutory responsibility of Nigeria’s diplomatic and consular authorities, including the welfare of Nigerian citizens and even the repatriation of Nigerians back home.

This raises questions that deserve straightforward answers.

Is the ANC formally recognized, accredited, or otherwise officially affiliated with the Nigerian High Commission?

If so, when was that recognition granted, by whom, and against what criteria?

Before treating the ANC as representative of Nigerians in Ghana, did the High Commission independently verify its membership database, examine its constitution, authenticate its officers, or scrutinize its sources of funding and financial records?

Or was recognition - formal or merely implied - extended without any of that due diligence?

There is also the uncomfortable matter of personal proximity. Prince Wisdom, a used-cloth trader who is the ANC’s Public Relations Officer, is reported to be closely connected to several officials at the High Commission.

I do not allege wrongdoing. But where an organization’s leadership is personally close to the diplomatic officials who might be expected to supervise or scrutinize it, the public is entitled to ask whether any actual or perceived conflict of interest exists - financial, commercial, or otherwise - between the High Commissioner or his officers and Mr. Wisdom, his businesses, or other ANC officials.

Beyond personalities, there is a broader institutional principle at stake. Nigerians resident in Ghana remain citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and their welfare and consular protection are, in law and in principle, the responsibility of the Nigerian diplomatic mission - not of a private association, however well-intentioned.

If the ANC has been permitted, formally or informally, to assume functions that overlap with those responsibilities, the Nigerian public deserves to know the legal and administrative basis for such an arrangement.

Has any function actually been delegated to the ANC, and if so, under what instrument?

If not, on what authority has the association been acting?

It is also worth asking whether the High Commission genuinely regards the ANC as representative of all Nigerians in Ghana, and if so, what evidence supports that view - or whether it is, in truth, one private association among several, which happens to enjoy a level of access and favor that other Nigerian community organizations do not.

An organization cannot reasonably claim to speak for an entire national community without its representativeness being independently verifiable. Nor should proximity to a diplomatic mission be allowed to substitute for that verification, conferring upon an association a legitimacy it has not earned through transparent governance, open membership, and accountable finances.

This is not an attack on the ANC, on Prince Wisdom, or on the High Commission. Neither is it a demand that Nigerians abroad be denied the right to organize themselves into community associations - they clearly should have that right, and many such associations no doubt do valuable work.

It is, rather, a call for institutional accountability and transparency where public trust and the welfare of citizens abroad are concerned.

If the ANC has been properly constituted, genuinely represents the community it claims to represent, keeps proper financial records, and enjoys its present relationship with the High Commission on a legitimate and transparent footing, a clear, honest accounting of the facts would put these questions to rest once and for all.

If, on the other hand, an organization whose legitimacy has never been independently verified has acquired an influence beyond that of an ordinary community association, the matter calls for correction.

I have accordingly written to the Nigerian High Commissioner in Accra requesting urgent clarification on these questions, and separately petitioned the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja to institute an independent inquiry into the relationship between the High Commission and the ANC - including the circumstances of any recognition granted, the organization’s financial and organizational credentials, and any potential conflicts of interest involving diplomatic personnel and ANC officials.

I have asked that the findings of any such inquiry be communicated openly to the Nigerian community concerned.

A diplomatic mission represents the Federal Republic of Nigeria and, by extension, every Nigerian citizen within its jurisdiction. It should not be within the power of any private association - however useful its work, however well-connected its officers - to acquire, through informal proximity to diplomatic officials, the standing to speak for an entire national community. Nor should the welfare of Nigerians abroad be left to opaque understandings between diplomats and private individuals.

These are not hostile questions. They are the questions any citizen is entitled to ask of institutions that claim to serve and represent them.

They deserve equally straightforward answers - and the Nigerian community in Ghana, and indeed the wider Nigerian public, deserve to hear them.

Blog: https://femiakogun.substack.com