body-container-line-1
09.07.2016 Feature Article

‘Dialogue key to safeguarding Nigerian shops in Ghana’

Dialogue key to safeguarding Nigerian shops in Ghana
09.07.2016 LISTEN

Routine closure of Nigerian shops and businesses in Ghana by the government is a recurrent nightmare for Nigerian traders in the country. But All-Nigerian Communities-Ghana (ANC-Gh) President Moses Owharo tells JOURNALISTS FOR REGIONAL INTEGRATION (JORIN)’s MARTIN-LUTHER C. KING, in Accra, this needs not be so any longer as constant sensitization on local norms, strategic networking and constant dialogue among relevant stakeholders are now being deployed to ensure the situation does not degenerate into a tit-for-tat between the two West African sister-countries.

Excerpts:
JORIN: May we meet you?
MOSES OWHARO: My name is Moses Owharo, the executive president of All-Nigeria Communities-Ghana. I was elected on September 21, 2013. Our election was conducted by the Electoral Commission of Ghana. So you can see the type of election we are talking about.

JORIN: Could you reflect on your stewardship since coming into office?

MO: The journey has been, I will say, full of ups and downs; good and bad. There have been some positive results in terms of performance. There have also been some challenges. I will say that we have been able to come up with a website; we didn’t have one before. Now, if you talk about the All-Nigeria Communities-Ghana, if you google ANC-Gh, you will be able to see us there. Also the former constitution has been changed because the former constitution did not address key issues that are of concern to Nigerians. For instance, it limited full participation of Nigerians, reducing it to only men. But with the new constitution, right from the board of trustees, to the patrons, and the executives, at least one-third of the component is reserved for women. With that everybody in Ghana who is a Nigerian will be able to participate fully at every level of the leadership of the organisation. And we have also attended to several issues, social issues. For instance Nigerians that are stranded, they come to us and we transfer them back to Nigeria from our own purse. Also, those that are having issues, in prisons, cells or court issues, we are also able to attend to them, and some of them were freed. Like I said, it has been very challenging because, you know, the system that we used to hold the election that brought me to power is the kind of system whereby everyone had to come on their own; and, so you always see confusion in the house. One of them is the former secretary who has been removed through impeachment by congress. One of the good things that we have realized during my tenure is that we have made the congress a kind of centre for decision-making which allows everybody to have a say. If you have any issues, come to the congress, tender it; and the generality of members will look at it, and they will take a decision or find a solution to whatever it is. That is one of the good things we have done.

JORIN: Who is Moses Owharo?
MO: I am from Delta State, from Ovwie local government area. I am an Isoko by tribe. I started my schooling at the Ovwie local government Grammar School and ended up at the Chanchanga Senior Secondary School from where I moved to Lagos where I finished secondary education at the J.K. Randle Secondary school. Thereafter, I worked a little bit in Lagos and, also, at Minna; I was staying with my aunt then, and the resources were not that much to cater for everybody. So I had to go and labor, carry blocks and all that, to pay my fees. And in Ghana, I attended the Workers’ College.

JORIN: When did you come to Ghana?
MO: That was in 1997, or so. I attended the Workers’ College, and took some undergraduate courses in microfinance at the University of Cape Coast. I also attended the Harvard Business School in the United States from where I got a certificate in leadership and business management.

JORIN: That was when?
MO: That was in 2011. And then to George Washington University, in Washington DC where I also obtained a certificate in leadership. I have also done several other professional courses at the Legon (University of Ghana, Legon) and other institutions here like GANFIM (Ghana Network of Finance and Microfinance Associations). It’s a network; but, they also organize courses. I currently run an NGO cum microfinance organization called ASPI, with three branches around Ghana. I also have an additional company called ABI (African Business Investments). Before my election in 2013, I had been vice chairman and chairman of the ANC-Ghana in the Ketu district of the Volta Region, as well as general secretary of the ANC-Ghana in the Volta Region. But like I said, it’s been both a rough-and-smooth ride. I enjoy the business atmosphere in Ghana.

JORIN: How do you mean?
MO: If you look at it, let’s say power, for instance; it’s relatively stable.

JORIN: (Interjection) But electricity has not been stable in Ghana for some time now?

MO: Yes; but it’s still relatively better compared to an environment where is light is taken full-day for upwards of three days, or more. But here they do scheduling; and, the scheduling is fair somehow. It’s not unpredictable as in some other countries where light comes and goes in a staccato manner, and often in surges that destroy homes and equipment. Here, it’s not like that; rather, it’s smooth. And, then, you see the kind of administrative policy they have, even processing of documents, registration of companies. Now, they have gone online; if you want to register your company online, you can easily do so. And back then, Nigeria had not been an investors’ destination, before and even after the (Chief Moshood) Abiola (June 12, 1993) saga. The country was a little bit unstable. So here was seen as a gate-way to Africa, which explains why even some Nigerian banks migrated to Ghana. A lot of businesses were coming down to settle here. And when they settle here, especially for Nigerians, they look at other foreign businesses that are also coming in, because the local ones are wont to see you as competitors, and they are not happy with you. So we’ve had to focus on businesses coming from outside, identifying foreign partners, which I have also done. I did a project with USAID from Washington DC. In 2008, I was given a grant of US$1 million for 2 years, up till 2011. I have also been partnering with the government of Ghana, particularly the ministry of health.

JORIN: Your grant was for what project?
MO: For health; I run health programmes.
JORIN: For a specific region of Ghana, or the countrywide?

MO: Specific regions. First, Volta Region, and then, Greater Accra Region. I also partner with various Ghana government agencies and institutions, including the ministries of agriculture, finance, health, as well as the Ghana Aids Commission and the local government, district administrations, the regional administrations. I have done all these.

JORIN: How would you assess the general condition of the average Nigerian in Ghana?

MO: Last year was very rough for both small and big businesses. The economy has been in tailspin. In fact, since the US economic melt-down, but particularly for the last two to three years, Ghana’s economy has not fully recovered; prices of things keep rising and rising. And generally this has affected everyone, especially for those small businesses that are trying to key in to the bigger businesses to stay afloat since such big businesses are not finding it easy at all also. Indeed, one bank told me that where they’d been making GHS250 million, now they are struggling to make even GHS50 million; some have abandoned their training programmes; others have embargoed new employments and, or even trying to lay off staff. So you can say that the economy is not too good. So those of them that you see that they are doing very well, maybe some of them are not doing genuine businesses. Maybe they get money somewhere, and can buy lavish cars and spend anyhow.

JORIN: You mean Nigerians in Ghana?
MO: Yes. That’s what I’m saying. So when you see them, you wonder where they get so much money, is it from the same economy? Or, are they having more brains than others? So, those guys may have other means of income which may be different from the normal.

JORIN: What about Ghana’s investment climate relative to Nigerians in Ghana?

MO: Where they have problems is with the small businesses. For instance we had a press conference the other time to appeal to the Ghanaian government to tell their people allow Nigerian traders carry on their businesses while we try to agree through dialogue and negotiations how best Nigerians can carry on here.

JORIN: But I understand that that dialogue has been ongoing for far too long without much success, more or less motion without movement?

MO: Very long time. But I would say that I am currently handling it in a way it has not been handled before.

JORIN: How differently?
MO: Formerly, I think the ANC-Ghana was not really concerned with the lot of Nigerians.

JORIN: Seriously?
MO: Seriously! Because, and this is coming from members of the ANC-Ghana, Nigerian traders had approached the former president on this issue who advised that they should go and get married to Ghanaians, and that was it, that the problem would be solved. But what we are doing now is that we are using dialogue, we are open, we are working with the media, we are working with the Nigerian High Commission in Accra; in fact I even went to Nigeria, I went to Abuja because of this issue. I was supposed to meet General Gowon (retired General Yakubu Gowon is an erstwhile Nigerian military head of state and founding father of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS regional integration group), but I met his brother.

JORIN: But is General Gowon in a position to do anything on this matter? Does he have any authority to influence how this issue goes?

MO: No; but even if he isn’t, his advice will be needful. And, networking is very important in this matter. But we got a good result. After my press conference, we went to meet the Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, His Excellency Ademola Oluseyi Onafowokan to present the issue. He in turn raised a committee comprising of myself and leaders of some other Nigerian communities here in Ghana, including the Eze Nd’Igbo in Ghana to go the relevant ministry, that’s the Ghanaian Ministry of Trade and Investments. Unfortunately, I was not around for the appointment. But the committee met Ghana’s deputy minister of trade who gave them the assurance that they were not going to…in fact there was a follow-up press conference by the Ghanaian minister for trade himself where he urged us to remain calm and everything. After that meeting, the (Nigerian) High Commissioner came out with a press statement that Nigerian traders have been given a chance to carry on with their normal businesses in Ghana until further notice.

JORIN: The Nigerian High Commissioner said so, but not the Ghanaian Trade Ministry?

MO: Yes. He was communicating the discussion at the Ministry of Trade through a press statement. The statement also said the Ghanaian government was looking to allocate a plot of land to us because of the market issue. What I am doing now is to follow-up.

JORIN: This was last year?
MO: Last year. Late last year.
JORIN: Did they give any time-lines for allocation of the land?

MO: No. Issues like that you need to follow-up. And then the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), infact, they were also very happy that we came to them.

JORIN: Really?
MO: Yes. So they advised that we organize a forum to sensitize the Nigerian traders on the way they behave and the way they talk to them. We did that last December 4, also bringing in the Ghana Immigration to talk on the area of immigration. And, I intend to make that forum a regular thing. That’s part of what we did last year. This year is like a year of implementation.

JORIN: You are confident that this apparent ceasefire will hold and that there will not be abrupt closure of Nigerian shops soon?

MO: It’s possible. But the strategy that I and my executives want to put in place is to maintain a constant dialogue with all the stakeholders, keeping up-to-date with the NUTAG (Nigerian Union of Traders Associations Ghana) and the ministry of trade and, of course, ensuring that we remain on one page with the Nigerian High Commission in Accra. Once those four areas are covered, I am sure we’ll be able to control that situation.

JORIN: Are you on the same page with the Nigerian traders’ association in Ghana?

MO: Yes. Since I am the President of All-Nigerian Communities in Ghana, all of them are under me. I have meetings with them. In fact, I am setting up a committee to resolve some issues within them. Some of are saying they are association of second-hand clothing, some say they are eagle digital association. Meanwhile, NUTAG is saying ‘Well, I’m the boss; so, if any of you wants to do anything, you have to come to me and I will dictate to you what to do.’ But they are saying ‘No’. So, there is a challenge, a schism which I am now working to sort out through a committee that should look at the issues with a view to bring all the disparate groups under one umbrella in such a way that they can work with us.

Ecowas LeadersEcowas Leaders

President Of The Ecowas Commission De SouzaPresident Of The Ecowas Commission De Souza

body-container-line