‘Nigerians Must Go’, Eze Ndigbo of Ghana and other matters

By FRANCIS EWHERIDO

I am not surprised about the recent ‘Nigerians Must Go’ protests in Ghana and the backlash against Chief Chukwudi Jude Ihenetu, aka Eze Ndigbo in Ghana. This matter has been on for a while now. I have been following it on social media. I decided not to write about it because it had not reached the traditional media. But I did write a two-part article in 2024 where I highlighted the negative activities of Nigerian YouTubers based in Ghana (Reaction to Nigerian Youtubers based in Ghana (1) – Vanguard News and Reaction to Nigerian Youtubers based in Ghana (2) – Vanguard News). 

All they do is to denigrate Nigeria and engage in mumu propaganda. I cautioned them to promote and celebrate Ghana without denigrating Nigeria, but it fell on deaf ears. I even interacted with one of them and advised him, but he said he has to hustle and put food on the table. They have no formal training, but no excuses for denigrating your country. Those of you segregating on social media along ethnic lines should remember that you are all carrying the Nigerian passport. The same water washes the penis and the scrotal sac. Make una dey play. Majority of their subscribers are Ghanaians going by their names and comments.

My only joy is that some Ghanaians don’t even know they exist. Some of those who know have also realised that they are just hustlers throwing Nigeria and Nigerians under the bus to get views and subscribers from haters and negative minds like them to make money. One neutral YouTuber went to interview students in a university campus. Their responses were positive, centred on Nigerian music and movies. They acknowledged that Nigeria was way ahead.  Of course, they voted Ghana jollof. The best jollof has become a banter, so no problem. But these are young minds these evil YouTubers could not penetrate with their pernicious propaganda.

There are Ghanaian YouTubers whose channels are devoted mainly to dragging and denigrating Nigeria and Nigerians. I used to tackle them on their turf until I realised that their cases are hopeless and stopped wasting my time. They blame Nigerians for every crime in Ghana. There was a particular robbery that was being filmed live. One of them vowed that the robbers were Nigerians. It turned out they were Ghanaians, but did he come back to tell his audience that he misinformed them? Why should he? But some Ghanaian YouTubers are objective and also devote their channels to promoting Nigeria.

There are some Nigerians in Ghana who are into crime. Some have been involved in robbery, kidnapping, human trafficking and rituals, but so are Ghanaians. They always taunt us that their police are far better than ours and I tell them that their efficient police should track down the bad eggs in their midst and prosecute them. What is bad is bad. Wrong behaviour is punished in Nigeria. Why should it be different in Ghana? My argument is that all Nigerians should not be stereotyped and Nigeria should not be dragged. Ghanaians have been caught in Nigeria for oil theft, gunrunning and smuggling. Nobody dragged Ghana. Among the terrorists trying to destabilise Nigeria are Nigeriens, Cameroonians and Chadians. We do not drag these countries. We expect our security agents to crush them and protect lives and properties in Nigeria. 

These YouTubers and a couple of opposition Ghanaian politicians are among the people who put fire on the tense situation that led to the ‘Nigerians Must Go’ protests. Before now there were issues between Nigerian and Ghanaian traders. They accused Nigerian traders of breaching their law which reserved retail trade for Ghanaians. There was a recent case of a Nigerian who was prevented from selling her wigs by Makola traders because she was selling below the price of the Ghanaian traders. As expected, the locals took side with the Nigerian trader because her products were cheaper. For me, if you are forbidden from engaging in retail trade of any item, respect their law, even though it looks strange to the average Nigerian, including me.

On the Eze Ndigbo issue, it’s true he actually said in 2013 that he had acquired land to build an Igbo Kingdom in Ghana, but he abandoned the idea because he had issues with the land acquisition. Whoever dusted up the 12-year-old video was up to some mischief. Resentment had been building up against him because he carried himself as a royal rather than the leader of the Igbos in Ghana. The prestige and grandeur of royalty probably was too much for him to resist. There’s apparent self-aggrandisement, and his Ghanaian wife also lapped it. Difficult as it is, he has to leave royalty out of it and just be the leader of the Igbos in Ghana. In America, which is not used to monarchies, there are Igbo and Yoruba traditional rulers and villages which are tourist attractions. This is Africa with a different mindset. He should follow the wishes of his hosts and have his peace. 

But truth be told, there is a tinge of envy and pettiness. Some Ghanaians are apparently not happy that he has access to their presidents, former and current; other top politicians, royal fathers in Ghana, and the high society of Ghana. 

Some claim he started life in Ghana as a cassette seller before he became rich. Nigerians are used to rag to riches stories. Former President Goodluck Jonathan said he went to school on bare feet. Multi-billionaire Cosmas Maduka always tells his rag to riches story. There is no shame in starting as a nobody. In fact, it is an inspiration to many from humble backgrounds. Some accuse him of human trafficking and all types of crimes. Hate blinds people. They are indirectly saying their security architecture is poor. They are also accusing their president and Ghana high society of associating with a criminal. It’s terrible when you give a dog a bad name to hang it.

They also accused Nigerians of being too loud and extravagant. This one weak me. People should live their lives the way they want as long as it’s within the law. When I was in London, there was this house in the next street where they played loud music and partied all night. It was apparently noise pollution and I was shocked it was tolerated in London. But as they say, when in Rome, do as Romans do; Nigerians in Ghana, your hosts say you are too loud. Please tone and calm down.  

Lastly, they complain about Nigerians and proliferation of prostitutes in Ghana. I refuse to comment on this until I am informed that only Nigerian men patronise these Nigerian prostitutes. If Ghanaian men also do, that is hypocrisy and I refuse to condemn them as Jesus also refused to condemn the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. Unfortunately, I don’t even have the powers to tell them to go and sin no more. By the way, is prostitution in the list of items non-Ghanaians are forbidden from retailing?

My parting shot to Ghanaians is that the world is now interdependent and a global village. We also have an ECOWAS treaty that Nigeria and Ghana are signatories to. Calm down.

•Ewherido is a Saturday Vanguard Columnist

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