Ghana has become a safe haven for thousands of Nigerians who can’t cope with the disappointment of a failing system back home.
The West African country with a population nearly 10 times smaller than neighbors, Nigeria, host more than 2 million of its citizen. Arguably, a significant number moved to Ghana within the last decade for various reasons, with more focused on financial success.
Like many others, Isiah Danjuma, a young man from Kaduna State has added to the rising number of Nigerians who made their way to Ghana with the hope of creating wealth and making a future for themselves and family.
Born into a not-so-wealthy family, Danjuma yearned for success. His drive and passion to be successfully brought him to Lagos from the north where he worked menial jobs to support his father who was hit by a partial stroke. The burden of responsibility was thrown at him at a tender age and that forced him to hustle despite having more older siblings.
Danjuma, who is quite vocal and eloquent in the English language spoke exclusively in a no-holds-barred interview to our correspondent in one of Ghana's metropolitan cities, Tema.
As he spoke from the bus, which happens to be where he sleeps, Danjuma said he had always dreamt of coming to Ghana. He recalled with a smile how he and some friends will always talk about how they wanted to come to Ghana to "blow" (a slang for making money in Nigeria"). That ambition drove him to raise funds to make that important life changing journey.
Working his socks off, getting a cash loan of N20,000 from his girlfriend, and his monthly N30,000 salary, all was set for him to finally come to Ghana. Luck smiled on him when he accidentally crossed paths with Prince Mckay, a Nigerian businessman based in Ghana. Danjuma said he only met Mr. Mackay as he worked as a housekeeper at a hotel (Name withheld) in Lekki. He struck a conversation with Mr. Mackay and through that, he (Mr. Mackay) promised to bring Danjuma to Ghana to work with him.
December 15, 2018, Danjuma took the bold decision, without the consent of his parents to come to Ghana. He said, in as much as that hurt him, he took the decision to avoid being stopped.
When asked if he was impressed by what he saw in Ghana, he said Ghana wasn't what he envisioned. It was a struggle to make ends meet from the first day. From a housekeeper in Nigeria, Danjuma became a phone dealer and is currently a danfo conductor (tro-tro mate) in Ghana.
Watch more below:
Copyright © 1994 - 2024 GhanaWeb. All rights reserved.
