1) 1970s = Ghana was in severe political and economic dilemma while Nigeria was a thriving economy and the Nigerian Naira had a greater value over the US Dollar.
2) 1979 = Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings led a revolution killing military and political leaders in Ghana and organized “a house cleaning exercise” aimed at recovering stolen monies from public servants.
3) 1981 = Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings took over the government of Ghana from the inept Dr. Hilla Limann.
4) 1980s = Millions of Ghanaians “invaded” Nigeria in search of economy reprieve and political stability. The Ghanaian dream of the late 70s and early 80S was to emigrate to oil rich Nigeria.
5) 1980s = Jerry Rawlings was still busy cleaning up Ghana WITHOUT THE HELP OF MARABOUS, IMAMS, MEN OF GOD etc while Ghanaians in Nigeria served us as artisans and guess what? They were skilled in everything they did. They were street tailors, house servants, shoemakers, day laborers and all types of jobs that did not require a college education.
6) 1983-1985 = Anti-Ghanaian sentiment was already growing in Nigeria and the Nigerian government officially expelled Ghanaians from Nigeria. The popular Nigerian BAG called “Ghana must go” was popular amongst arriving Ghanaian immigrants of 1983 and amongst expelled Ghanaians of 1985 and beyond.
(7) 1990s = Ghana had achieved a lot of stability in all sectors and the remnants of Ghanaians in Nigeria were departing voluntarily from Nigeria.
(8) 2000s = Nigerians started emigrating to Ghana in search of better life from political stability to education. The Nigerian dream became to live and do business in Ghana.
(9) 2011 = Nigerians spent 160 billion Naira (US$1 billion) on education alone in Ghana. Tourism and business expenditures run into more billions of dollars from Nigeria alone.
(10) 2012 = Anti-Nigerian sentiment had grown out of proportion in Ghana prompting the Ghanaian government to set new rules of business which is that a foreigner had to deposit US$300,000 with the government before starting any type business in Ghana, which includes selling “pure” water on the streets. This was targeted at the invading Nigerians even though the Ghanaian government denied it.
11) 2012 = Ghana has been deporting Nigerians it deem a threat to its national security and the anti- Nigerian sentiment has come to stay.
12) 2013 = John Mahama of Ghana fired the Deputy Minister of Communications, Victoria Hammah for the alleged statements she made in which her purported voice was recorded saying she would make at least a million dollars (I suppose United State Dollars) before she quits politics.
13) 2013 = Goodluck Jonathan (PhD) of Nigeria set up a panel to investigate the obvious looting of our treasury using the ministry of aviation as a conduit and led by his Minister of Aviation in the person of Stella Oduah. I am not surprised that no one has lost his/her job yet, it is the same old story, it is business as usual.
With respect to my last paragraph on looting of our treasury, we share full blame for this misfortune. For one day I did not believe in Goodluck Jonathan and the reason is simple; he comes for a very corrupt system and the Igbo adage is clear on this “A snake cannot give birth to anything that is not long”. In 2011, he was overwhelmingly voted for, not that he would not have rigged the election if we did not vote for him but it would have been more difficult in the light of our current political enlightenment. Living outside of Nigeria, I could not vote, but my friend who voted and posted a picture of herself on facebook saying “I REFUSE TO VOTE FOR VENGENCE, GEJ ALL THE WAY”. She was referring to Mohammadu Buhari as potentially vengeful but the truth remains that such vengeance is needed to cleanse the land. The stench created on the 27th of August 1985 is still stinking to high heavens. On that day the culture of impunity which was almost dead, received a fresh lease of life and has grown into a monster that cannot be tamed.
Ghanaians no longer stand before us with their hands at their backs but rather they sit down with us on the table of negotiation and tell us what they want from us. They no longer live in shanties in Nigeria, they live in well built houses in their country. They do not go to our schools but we go to their schools from kindergarten to the university. They are no longer roadside artisans in Nigeria, they have upgraded as skilled contractors. There is no building whether private or public that would have an excellent finishing if Ghanaians are not contracted to do the job. My dad’s house Obiakor-Ugulu Lodge (completed in 1990) is a typical example.
As I write this, Nigerians are still waiting for some “messiah” for the needed rescue but I know that there is no messiah coming to help us. We ran the place into the mud and we are still deceiving ourselves that all is well when in fact it is not true. There are Muslims and Christians in Ghana just like Nigeria but they do not kill each other and blow churches up on Sundays. The Nigerian “testimony” includes sending your families into exile in Ghana and the whole congregation will shout, “praise the lord”. Expatriates who live in Ghana do not require police escorts, they walk freely amongst the people but same expatriates who live in Nigeria require a full battalion of soldiers for protection. In Ghana, people still do all sorts of jobs without considering it demeaning, they are willing to work for their pay, they just love what they do and are content. In Nigeria, people are taught from home and church to run an enterprise that produces nothing but ideological interests and then use this same enterprise to steal from the small-minded Nigerians- it is called “pastoring”. Kidnapping is also a thriving industry too in Nigeria of today.
Ever wondered why I stay home on Sunday morning, doing laundry, experimenting with food and drinking bottles of red wine? I know that the truth is lacking in the same Nigerian style institution that would kill 2 hours of my time on Sunday morning. An institution that has elected to remain silent in the face of the sweltering heat of corruption, ineptitude and injustice but instead hobnob with the high and mighty, wasting time praying against principalities and powers whereas the problems in Nigeria are caused by people, some of them members of these religious bodies and they bring stolen goods into God’s house. If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor (Desmond Tutu).
Seriously thinking of seeking “shelter” in the good old traditional deities of my home town Umunnachi in Dunukofia, Anambra State.
Ugoo Anieto
United States