Nigeria@59: ‘No progress, people are suffering’ – Nigerian traders in Ghana lament

As Nigeria celebrates its fifty-nine years of Independence from British rule today, some Nigerians in Ghana are of the notion that, the country has not attained much and have called on leaders to step-up.

President Muhammadu Buhari in his Independence Day speech placed a call on Nigerians to work towards developing and improving their country.

“Change does not just happen. We must change our lawless habits, our attitude to public office and public trust…. Simply put, to bring about change, we must change ourselves by being law-abiding citizens,” he said.

However, some Nigerians are pointing fingers at politicians for the country’s under-development. Being described as Africa’s biggest economy, the country which has a population estimated at 200,963,599 people is blessed with oil and other natural resources. However, the high unemployment rate, infrastructure deficit and slow growth of the economy has been a major setback to Nigeria.

In line with Tuesday’s celebration, Ghanaweb took a trip to interact with Nigerian traders at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle in Accra. They claim that Ghana is ‘good’ and for that matter influenced their decision of staying and engaging in petty trading in the country.

“Ghana is good that is why we are here. Nigeria is not yet Independent, we are backward, we are not moving forward. After our Independence in 1960, this is 57 years and no progress, so why is it Independence? There is no independence.”

Another agitated Nigerian living in Ghana directed a question to Nigerian politicians,

“Looking at the condition of Nigeria, are you proud? If a man or woman is 59 years, by that time they should have been in retirement stage, so when you look at the situation in Nigeria now, you will know that we are retrogressing. There is nothing happening in Nigeria, we only have dump politicians who can not stand right to the truth.”

“According to what I am seeing and the little experience I have about Nigeria, this is our 59 years and we are not moving forward at all. A lot of Nigerians are migrating to Ghana due to hardship, things are hard in Nigeria,” another man added.

A phone dealer at Circle, Tip-toe lane admitted of being treated fairly by Ghanaians. He added that he has been able to save money through his phone business,

“I have enjoyed my stay in Ghana very well, presently in Nigeria, what I have heard is that we are moving forward but I wish I believe that it is happening. I presently like Ghana because this is where I get my daily food.”

Nigeria's economy has recovered since falling into a recession in 2016. According to African Economic Outlook, real GDP is projected to grow by 2.3% in 2019 and 2.4% in 2020 as implementation of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan gains pace.