Border closure: Let our goods enter Nigeria, yours are entering Ghana —Ghanaian minister

Ghana’s Foreign Minister and Regional Integration, Shirley
Ayorkor Botchwey has appealed to the Nigerian government to let
goods from Ghana enter Nigeria.

She said this in light of the recent closure of Nigeria’s
western borders in order to curb the illegal entry of banned
items.

Botchwey also said that the Ghanaian government would make use
of all diplomatic avenues to get Nigeria to reopen its western
borders for the free flow of goods from Ghana to the subregion.

Botchwey issued the plea during a meeting with Nigeria’s High
Commission to Ghana, Olufemi Michael Abikoye on Tuesday, reports
Ghanaweb.^[1]

She said, “As we speak, Nigerian goods are entering Ghana
without any problem and I think that we should find ways of
isolating the issues and the countries that you have problems with
so that Ghana’s exports can enter your market without being lumped
up with all these issues that have emerged.”

It was reported that the border closure had affected the
activities of the Ghana Union Traders Association, whose members
were lamenting the huge losses they had incurred as a result of the
border closure.

The Ghanaian minister said that truckloads of goods from Ghana
have been detained at the Seme border between Benin and Nigeria for
weeks and coming back to use the seaports would present a major
problem as the traders have already lost millions within the last
few weeks.

The Nigerian High Commissioner, Olufemi Abikoye said Abuja would
be willing to collaborate with Ghana to find a lasting solution to
the situation.

“At the end of it, we’re helping our economies”, he noted.

Abikoye, however, pointed out that Ghana wasn’t the target of
the border closure.