Ghana’s Minister for the Interior, Hon. Ambrose Dery has urged His Excellency the Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, Ibas Ibok-Ete Ekwe, to work together as one people to ensure peace and security in the sub-Region.
He said peace and security are very paramount to the development of any nation and therefore, there is the need to ensure peace, security and safety of the citizens because as ECOWAS countries anything that affects one country affects all.
The Hon. Minister said this when His Excellency the Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, Ibas Ibok-Ete Ekwe paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Accra to discuss issues of mutual concern between Ghana and Nigeria.
Hon. Ambrose Dery assured the High Commissioner that Ghanaians and Nigerians are one people living in two countries and must not be seen as different people. He urged the citizens of the two countries to respect each other and follow the rules and regulations governing the two countries. He urged citizens of both countries to live together and do things that will not affect the long-standing relationship that exists between them.
He said Ghana has always had open doors for foreigners who want to do genuine businesses and that the number of Nigerian Banks and Nigerians in the tertiary institutions and medical fields in the country demonstrate the high cordiality between the two countries.
According to him, both countries believe in the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a great opportunity to accelerate trade on the continent of Africa based on mutual trust. He, therefore, commended the Government of Nigeria for supporting Ghana to host the Secretariat of AfCFTA.
Touching on the closure of borders, he explained that the land borders of the country with its neighbours have been closed for some time now as part of measures to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and that they will be reopened when the situation is brought under control.
On his part, His Excellency Ibas Ibok-Ete, thanked the Hon. Minister for the audience and said anything that has the potential to affect peace must be dealt with because if there is no peace, there is no security, which can also affect development. He called for harmony and togetherness between the two countries to sustain the existing relationship.
