Nigeria and Ghana yesterday began talks to cement cracks in their bilateral relations owing to the diplomatic crisis between them arising from the alleged maltreatment of Nigerians in Ghana.
Senior government officials from both countries have met in Abuja as part of ongoing efforts to resolve the diplomatic crisis.
Also, House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has called on Ghanaian authorities to revisit the law that requires a capital base of $1 million for businesses by foreigners, saying as Africans, Ghana should encourage brotherliness.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ferdinand Nwonye, said in a statement that the delegations of both countries had a successful bilateral engagement on improving Nigeria, Ghana relations.
However, the statement was silent on the details of the meeting.
Nwonye said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to inform that a delegation of senior Ghanaian government officials led by Hon. Allan John Kyeremanteng, Minister for Trade and Industry, arrived Abuja, today (Thursday), 3rd September 2020 to hold a discussion with their Nigerian counterparts.
"Other members of the Ghanaian delegation include Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister for Information and Hon. Mohammed Habibu Tijani, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration."
The Nigerian delegation to the meeting was led by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Chief Adeniyi Adebayo.
Others on the delegation at the meeting were the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada, among others.
As a step towards the improvement of bilateral relations between both countries, Gbajabiamila, who was on a two-day troubleshooting mission to Accra, urged Ghana to revisit the law that requires a capital base of $1 million for foreigners' businesses, saying as Africans, Ghana should encourage brotherliness.
The speaker, at a meeting with Ghanaian lawmakers and some top government officials advocated an amicable settlement of trade disputes through arbitration and fair judicial processes.
He said he would be glad to champion a law to improve the bilateral trade relations between Nigeria and Ghana.
Gbajabiamila said Nigeria and its people are worried by the challenges that Nigerian traders face in Ghana and called for an urgent action to end the hostilities.
He added that at a time the world is battling the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic impacts, this is not a time for conflict and disagreements, but a time for partnership and solidarity.
He said: "We do believe that while it is the sovereign right of the government of Ghana to pass and implement the GIPC Act, we would implore you to explore alternative and less aggressive options of engaging, sanctioning and relating with our traders and business people who operate in your country, pay taxes and contribute to the development of both our nations.
