Tag: Ghana

By Francis Ewherido

I continue my last week’s reaction to videos of Nigerian YouTubers based in Ghana. A couple of interactions took place between the publication of the first part and now. For clarity, I do not know any of these YouTubers personally. They are Nigerians and much younger than I am. As a patriot, I am just correcting misrepresentations and putting facts in proper perspective. I cannot sit down in peace and watch some people throw fellow Nigerians and Nigeria under the bus for selfish reasons: looking for more subscribers and views.

Some of their videos are based on the fallacy of an “age-long” Nigeria-Ghana rivalry. Some Ghanaian YouTubers also are also into this fallacy of age-long rivalry. Which age-long rivalry? How old is the rivalry? When did the rivalry start? From history the leading figures in Nigeria and Ghana COLLABORATED during the colonial times for African countries to gain independence from Colonial rule. Collaboration is not rivalry. Ghana’s pioneer President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was a leading figure in the campaign for a United State of Africa. Nigerian leaders then were not too enthusiastic about the idea because within Nigeria there were already mutual suspicions among the three major ethnic groups and the smaller ethnic groups. A country already plagued by such mutual suspicions could not have been enthusiastic about being part of a larger United State of Africa. Ordinarily, Nigeria should even have been in the forefront because we have always had the population advantage. These leaders had DIFFERENCES IN OPINION, not rivalry. 

During the Nigerian Civil War, Ghana at some point supported Nigeria, then switched support to Biafra. Some people saw the involvement of Ghana in Nigeria’s affairs as INTERVENTION, while others saw it as INTERFERENCE. Either way you look at it, it was not rivalry. Ghana expelled many “undocumented West African migrants, mostly Nigerians of Yoruba stock from Ghana in 1969. In January, 1983, Nigeria expelled “two million undocumented West African migrants, more than half of whom were Ghanaians.” These deportations are sordid part of our histories that are better forgotten. But nobody who knows the details can also refer to both deportations as rivalry.

The only area where I saw rivalry over time is in soccer. In their time Abedi Pele of Ghana and Roger Milla of Cameroon broke many Nigerian hearts, including mine. The football rivalry still subsists, but such football rivalries are normal and are all over the world between countries and clubs. The so called jollof rice rivalry was just a comic relief but social media people took the handshake beyond the elbow.  People need to be careful with taking jokes too far because what Will Smith did to Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscars, though inappropriate, can happen to you.  

Music rivalry has never existed between Nigeria and Ghana. It is a creation of the social media people. At the beginning, Ghana’s veteran musician and legend, Ebi Taylor, said Nigerian and Ghanaian musicians “jammed together” and “hung out together.” That connotes COLLABORATION. So when did this age-long music rivalry start? Both countries have always done their music. Both countries still do. I will not speak for Ghana, but I know that right now, being the best, or minimum, being among the best in the world is the goal of Nigerian musicians. The same applies to Nigerians in the movie and other sectors of the entertainment industry. Nigerian entertainers just want to be at the world stage. There can only be collaboration with their Ghanaian counterparts, not rivalry between both countries in the entertainment industry. 

Having written this portion, I Googled Nigeria-Ghana rivalry to be sure I was on point. The only rivalry Wikipedia mentioned was soccer. The jollof rivalry was just a joke. The only area Wikipedia mentioned was trade-related disputes fuelled by national interest. Is that rivalry? YouTubers should look for contents, not creating what does not exist. 

Ghana is very peaceful country, while Nigeria is dealing with many security issues, so what are you comparing? Nigeria has so many internal issues to resolve. I feel Nigeria should just be left alone to deal with its internal challenges while we savour the good things going for us. YouTubers go about looking for contents like hungry lions. Some Nigerian YouTubers have taken the option of living in Ghana and enjoying the peace and stable electricity there. There is no problem with exercising your freedom of choice, but leave those of us who have decided, by choice also, to stay in Nigeria alone. It is our country and for us, east or west, home is the best.

Some Nigerian YouTubers also taunt Nigerians that Ghana has a better educational system. Ghana is the only West African country listed among the top ten countries with the best educational system in Africa. I do not deny people their flowers, so kudos to Ghana. But let me go back and focus on Nigeria. The University College, Ibadan, was established in 1948 as an affiliate of the University of London. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe established the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, in 1960. By the way, I am a proud alumnus of UNN. The South West followed with two universities: Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife in 1961 and the University of Lagos in 1962. Not to be outdone, the Northern Region established Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1962. Obafemi Awolowo was the first premier of a region to introduce free education. He also gave scholarships to many students from the Western Region to study in Europe, especially the United Kingdom. Other regions followed suit. This inter-region healthy competition sped up educational advancement in Nigeria in the 60s. Nigerian universities were world renowned (and some still are). Asians, Caucasians and other African countries came to Nigeria to study. Even in the 80s, my roommate, Kelechi, a Nigerian, was living in London, but his father sent him to Nigeria to study. We had Indians and students from other countries. Some Cameroonians students were on scholarship from the Cameroonian Government.  I singled out Cameroonian students because when it came to drinking beer, they took Nigerian students to the cleaners. I wish the 36 states in Nigeria can reignite that healthy competition among regions in the 60s. It will accelerate our development across all sectors of our national life.

The nemesis of Nigerian universities came when they rubbed the military government the wrong way. The military government decided to underfund and stifle them because of their opposition to continued military rule. That was when things fell apart. At this time I had graduated without strike-induced disruptions. The major disruptions started thereafter. When Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999, the government still did not fund education enough and the strikes and other issues continued. The disruption was what led to the exodus of many Nigerian students to other African countries and Europe where they distinguished themselves. Some YouTubers do not read the history that shaped the present they are talking about. They should up their game.

Nigeria has 174 universities and counting. The federal government owns 43, the 36 states own 52 and there are 79 private universities. Tuition is virtually free in federal universities, although students pay other fees amounting to equivalent of $120 to $150. State universities pay about 50 per cent higher. Tuition and other fees of private universities range from $1,470 to $4,000 per annum. As a result of stability returning to Nigeria’s university educational system and the depreciating value of the naira, many Nigerians will no longer send their children outside Nigeria for university education. 

Some rich Nigerian investors have seen the need for Ivy League kind of universities like Harvard University and Yale University, in Nigeria. It is a long shot, but if you know what these promoters have achieved in other endeavours and their tenacity, you will not underrate them. What it all mean is that with time more rich Nigerians will not even need to send their children to Europe and America. They will keep them in Nigeria so that they can monitor them. Some rich Nigerians who sent their children abroad have lost them to drug addiction and other vices. 

These new developments mean that Ghana, Europe, Canada, America and other countries that were benefitting from Nigeria’s troubled university education system are going to lose huge revenues. Two proactive universities from Europe have already visited Nigeria to explore the way forward for their universities. 

I will run through a couple of other issues in brief and round up. Agenda Setting: This is a formidable tool which media practitioners use to determine the issues to be discussed. Some Nigerian YouTubers in Ghana are very ignorant of it and follow agenda set for them by others, which is to portray only the bad side and misrepresent Nigeria. They proclaim that the Nigerian Passport is useless. Apart from the Republic of Benin and Togo enroute Ghana, many of you have never travelled anywhere and you tell me my Nigerian passport that I have used to travel effortlessly to various parts of Europe, America and Asia is a problem? My Nigerian passport is not a liability. I carry my passport with pride. You always quote other people’s experiences. Tell us your personal experiences. One of you mentioned Tayo Aina, a well-travelled Nigerian YouTuber, as one of those who complained about the Nigerian passport. I do not know if Tayo is married, but he is certainly young. Every young and/or unmarried Nigerian applying for visa or travelling abroad is a suspect because of stereotype, which has substance: Some of them stay back permanently with visiting visas. 

It is true that some Nigerians do experience hiccups due to stereotyping, but some of those Nigerians complaining are not telling us the whole story. For instance, when you travel frequently on routes notorious for drugs trafficking, immigration will see you as guilty until you prove your innocence. When you put incriminating and hate posts on your social media platforms, forgetting that the public have access to them, you make yourself a subject for further investigation. Why should you share posts of people who propagate stupendous wealth without identifiable sources or processes of income? There are some other reasons why some Nigerians encounter problems while travelling, but they have nothing to do with the Nigerian passport they carry. Any immigration officer who Googles the names of many other Nigerians realize that these people will certainly go back to their “shithole,” “Boko Haram,” “den of kidnappers,” and “scammers’” country once they are done with what brought them to their country. In one encounter with immigration at George Bush International Airport, Houston, the immigration officer wanted us to realize that he knew a few things about Nigeria. He asked my wife whether she was carrying “egusi” or “ogbono.” Once we told him content in the luggage, he waved us on. He did not check!

Another some set of YouTube videos I find irritating are YouTubers who interview two or three Nigerians and use their response to stereotype over 200 million Nigerians. Haven’t you heard of the word “census?” Where census is difficult because of lack of resources or logistics, you get a “representative sample” or you use a determiner like “some” Nigerians. Anyway, I don’t watch such videos. What is important to me is how Nigeria can overcome its internal challenges. I am also not interested in videos of what citizens of other countries think about Nigerians. I am not looking for validation from anybody. What people think about me is outside my control. What is within my control is to be law-abiding in Nigeria and everywhere I travel to, and also respect my hosts. But my hosts must treat me as a fellow human being, at the minimum, and respect me even if they have to pretend.

My problem with these Nigerian YouTubers based Ghana in is not their criticisms of Nigeria. I criticize Nigerians and the Nigerian Government also. Other Nigerian YouTubers also criticize Nigerian government and government officials like hell, but they are constructive. But the videos of some of these Nigerian YouTubers based in Ghana are divisive, demeaning, destructive, unpatriotic and sometimes evil. I will give you one example. The Nigerian Government engaged Dangote Industry to reconstruct the Oworonsoki to Apapa Road in Lagos with concrete to end perennial failure of the road. The road is about 35 kilometres and was done in segments because it is a busy road. Most parts of the road had been completed. Then one of these negative-minded Nigerian YouTubers based in Ghana did a story on the road. He ignored the major portions of the road that had been completed and focused on the small portion of the road leading into Apapa Port that was yet to be done. He wickedly announced to his subscribers and viewers that this is the state of the road leading to Nigeria’s main seaport. That video really got me angry when I went to the comment section. If this is not evil, what do you call it? The same fellow who caused so much hate between Nigerians and Ghanaians is now preaching peace on his channel because Nigerians are tired of his likes and are now fighting back. So much for a peacemaker!  You just trample on people’s sensibilities because of your defective sense of reasoning. We all cannot be low in thinking and slavish like you. Nonsense. Continue portraying Nigeria as the Biblical Nazareth where nothing good can come out of. But Jesus Christ is from Nazareth, and the followers of his teachings form the largest religious group in the world today.

In another video, a YouTuber gave the “grievous” account of the criminal behaviour of some Nigerians in Ghana. Continue to expose them as I said in the part one of my reaction. But I expected you to talk about the “minor” news of the invasion of Balegete community in Nigeria twice, abduction of over 40 villagers, destruction of their farms, the killing of the Balegete Community leader and burning of Balegete community by Ambazonian militants from Cameroon. The community is probably not too far from your own community. What you did is called Afghanistanism in journalism (the practice of concentrating on problems in distant places while ignoring local problems.  

I will conclude with an unsolicited advice to these YouTubers. One, be in firm control of your minds because whoever controls your mind controls your life. The minds of some of you are others-controlled. Physical slavery has been abolished, but mental slaves subsists. Two, understanding the meaning of issues is in many stages, but I will deal with three: literal, denotative and connotative. Your literal or basic understanding of issues needs improvement. There is no excuse for that. Denotative understanding needs a reasonable level of mental capacity and intellectual rigour. It is within you. Just put in the hard work. I will not bother you with connotative understanding. It takes time, experience and influence in your circle (media, business, financial, social, government and whatever circles you play in). 

Africa has 54 countries. The obsession of comparism by YouTubers of Nigeria and Ghana is causing more damage than good in social media. All these brouhaha are non-existent in the traditional media which proves my point that it is a social media creation. Social media should let both countries be. Let them breathe. The ambition of Nigeria/Nigerians is not to be better than Ghana or any African country. Our interest is not about unhealthy competition with anyone. We just want to solve our problems to enable us realize our full potentials. We want to be among the best countries in the world. 

 

Francis Ewherido is TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) columnist, an author and a Patriot.

My media career journey started about 40 years ago as a mass communication undergraduate of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.  Print media were my favourite and that still subsists, so my reaction to the YouTube videos is in print not video. Let me start with a summary of my reaction: One, Nigerian YouTubers have the right to put whatever content they want on their channels (including promoting and celebrating Ghana/Ghanaians and other countries). Two, Nigerian YouTubers, wherever they are, are under no obligation to promote Nigeria’s image. Patriotism is not obligatory though advisable. Three, if you denigrate Nigeria/Nigerians, we have a right to respond. Four, there is a difference between constructive criticisms and destructive criticisms. It is advisable to know it. Five, though social media are comparatively recent, the role and rules of the mass media subsist: balanced reporting, balanced mirroring of the society, dissemination of information, entertainment of your audience, titillating the bored, watchdog and exposing the wrongs in the society, gatekeeping, agenda setting, etc.

If you read comments from Ghanaians on Nigeria/Nigerians and Nigerians on Ghana/Ghanaians on social media, you will be shocked. It is as if both countries are at war fuelled by the social media. In 2022, felt so concerned that I wrote two articles but changed my mind and did not publish any. I did so partly because I did a content analysis of Nigerian and Ghanaian newspapers and they were dominated by internal issues. I saw only one little story on each country on both media. Seeing that the “war” was restricted to social media, I advised some YouTubers on both sides, but it fell on deaf ears.

Today, my reaction is on the videos of some Ghana-based Nigerian YouTubers whose deliberate acts of commission or omission, in my opinion, are aimed at putting Nigeria and Nigerians to odium and ridicule. Their attempts are exercises in futility, but I will write about their videos all the same. My focus is on their videos, not the YouTubers, though those whose videos I am reacting to will certainly know.

Even if you were born a Nigerian, you are under no obligation to remain a Nigerian. If you are ashamed or embarrassed of being Nigerian, or you have no love for motherland anymore, you can naturalize and change your nationality to a country of your choice. There is no need to lament about being a Nigerian, although being a solution provider is good. Exercise your freedom of choice. Some Nigerians have taken citizenship of other countries. Some foreigners have also naturalized to become Nigerians and others have applied for Nigerian citizenship. It is a free world.

Some of you were happy throwing mud at Nigeria and building your YouTube channels’ subscriber base and viewership on whipping up hate for Nigerians and Nigeria. Bad news and controversy are hot cakes in growing social media platforms. But now the bad name you helped to create and perpetuate about Nigeria is catching up with you, some of you are lamenting, complaining and trying to put out wild fires you started like a candle light. When you throw sh*t on the fan, it splashes on everybody around without distinguishing. The sh*t you threw on the fan is splashing on you directly and you are now complaining? Stop complaining. Your starting point should be cleaning the mess you partly created in Ghana and elsewhere.

Apparently, some of you have no formal training in mass communication. You probably stumbled on YouTube as a hustle or interest, and there is no problem with that. But in these days of internet, you should have studied the role and functions of the mass media. You were probably only obsessed with the “pen is mightier than the sword,” the enormous powers of the media or you had some other motives. The power the mass media confer on you goes with concomitant responsibilities, so you need to be careful how you deploy these enormous powers because they can boomerang, especially these days when your target audience have powers and multiple sources to reply. You need to come down from your high horses.

Let me talk in little details the roles/functions of the media I highlighted at the beginning. Balanced Reporting: You people have reported Nigeria mainly in bad light: terrorism, kidnapping, insecurity, blackouts, internet fraud, bad roads, etc. Nigeria has all these problems and more. I acknowledge them and I, like all well-meaning Nigerians, am not happy about them. But how many of you have used your channels to tell your audience that Nigeria is number one country in entertainment in Africa, Nigerian musicians are now global icons, that Nigeria has the most educated migrant community in the US, that the current best male and female African footballers of the year are from Nigeria, that Dangote Refinery is the largest single-train facility in the world and has in fact started production? How many of you have told your Ghanaian audience that Nigeria is the biggest rice producer in Africa and this feat was achieved within 10 years with a member of Ghana’s seventh Parliament, Abraham Dwuma Odom, as the policy advisor, providing technical support and direction for the program? You merchants of bad news do not share such good news.

How many of you told your audience that the Igbos are documented to have one of the best business mentorship systems worldwide? The last time one of you made a reference to Igbos was that in Ghana, Igbo youths were mainly responsible for the bad name Nigerians have in Ghana. I have not verified your claim, but, during the Nigerian Civil War, Ghana supported Biafra (Igbos), after initially supporting Nigeria. Consequently, Ghana took in many Igbos. Many of these Igbos stayed back in Ghana after the Nigerian Civil War. Knowing the Igbos for their entrepreneurship, business acumen and mentorship, I am certain they have contributed greatly to the informal sector of the economy of Ghana. In fact, not only Ghana’s economy but Togo, Cameroon, Republic of Benin, Central Africa Republic, Equatorial Guinea down to Congo, etc. Have you bothered to do a story on their contribution to these economies?

What about the corporate world? Have you ever mentioned how the entry of Nigerian banks revolutionized the banking sector in Ghana? What about Dangote Cement contributing to help make Ghana self-sufficient in cement production, paying taxes, providing employment and engaging in corporate social responsibility? All these are of no interest to you or too complex for you to present in your videos. Only the Nigerians engaged in illegal activities in Ghana are worth talking about on your channels.

Mind you, I support no criminal activities. Continue to expose and report bad Nigerian elements in Ghana. It is all part of your job as media persons. But one of you made a fatal mistake by dissociating herself from other Nigerians, especially Igbos. Did you go to Ghana with a passport from your ethnic group? You are all there with the Nigerian passport and the same water that touches the penis will touch the scrotal sac, so be well advised. As a duty, I advise Nigerian YouTubers in Ghana to expose Nigerians who are into negative activities there. Thereafter, let the law enforcement agents do their job. You told us Ghana has the best police in Africa. Ghana courts have not outsourced their judicial responsibility to you. So do not use your one-man YouTube courts to do trials of Nigerians. Let the relevant bodies do their job.

When the Nigerian police arrested two Ghanaians with their Nigerian collaborators transporting arms to Eastern Nigeria to cause more mayhem in that volatile region, Nigerians did not drag Ghana. When some Ghanaians were caught bunkering oil with their Nigerian collaborators, nobody dragged Ghana. They were simply handed over to the relevant security agency. You Nigerian YouTubers based in Ghana should stop dragging Nigeria for crimes allegedly committed by Nigerians in Ghana. Nigeria did not send them to Ghana to commit crimes. Ghana’s efficient security agents should do their job in accordance with the laws of Ghana. Period.

Relatedly, Nigerian YouTubers based in Ghana, who are crying that bad Nigerians are making life difficult for you in Ghana, are as guilty as the bad elements. A mirror reflects what is before it. The Nigeria you portrayed to Ghanaians is what they are reflecting in dealing with you. In the Urhobo-speaking part of Nigeria, where I come from, we use “emekpe” for measuring garri, but if you denigrate your emekpe, your neighbours will use it to pack ashes instead of measuring garri. You are the architect of your problems. All countries of the world have the good, the bad and the ugly, but they project the good. South Africa, Mexico, America are known for tourism; China and India are known for technology. You know why? It is a marketing and communication concept called POSITIONING, a strategy that distinguishes a country from others based on their “good.” It is a battle of the mind to make people see, for instance, Nigeria as an economic, technology and entertainment hub in Africa. This is without prejudice to our negatives which we need to work on how to overcome. Other countries are known for their negatives it in spite of their positives. India is notorious for internet fraud; drug wars in Mexico are mindboggling. I can go on and on with each country. It is a question of putting your best foot forward. The other foot might have defects but what the world sees is your best foot. Nigeria already has products for the positioning: economic power in Africa and entertainment globally are just two of them. Sensible and patriotic Nigerians are and will continue to pursue the positioning with utmost vigour and the say-no Nigerian spirit. Nigerians are actually our greatest asset, not oil. These might sound abstract to these negatively-minded YouTubers, but if you know, you know. Make una dey play for Ghana.

Every country has the good, the bad and the ugly. Our bad and ugly cannot hold us back nor define us, although we need to fix them to move faster. To borrow from former American President, Bill Clinton, there is nothing wrong with Nigeria that cannot be cured, and I dare say solved, and fixed, with what is right with Nigeria (hard work, creativity, ingenuity, can-do spirit, going the extra mile, etc). Nigeria is a rough diamond and these YouTubers are too remote and blind to understand.

One of the YouTubers said the world is tired of Nigerians. Which world? Fourth generation Indians, Syrians and Lebanese are living in Nigeria. Just in case you do not understand, their great grandparents were the first to arrive in Nigeria and their subsequent generations have remained in Nigeria. Some of them have naturalized and are now Nigerians. Go to Nigeria’s Ministry of Interior and see the long list of candidates who have applied for Nigerian citizenship. Is it America and Europe that are tired of Nigerians? Certainly not. Some Western diplomats and company executives/workers who served in Nigeria relocated to Nigeria after their retirement. Some are even married to Nigerians. America and European countries are looking for more skilled labour from Nigeria. You can go online to verity my claims.

As for African countries, we know the problems some of them have with Nigeria and Nigerians, so we are not bothered by their antics? They can continue to hate progress, enterprise and ingenuity; they can continue their campaigns to ban Nigerian music. Nigerian music has gone global and there is nothing haters can do about it. Can you hold smoke? But I hope this Nigerian YouTuber is not including some Kenyan, Ugandan and South African men who went on rampage and demonstrated that Nigerian men are taking over their women, among people who are tired of Nigeria? As a woman, aren’t you ashamed of such losers who call themselves men? Will you associate or marry such failures? Relationships in Nigeria are purely personal matters as long as those involved are consenting adults. We in Nigeria were amused when we saw the demonstrations on CNN, BBC and other international media channels. Or is it the South African men who accused Nigerians of taking over their jobs and businesses? SA is a free economy (laissez-faire). SA businessmen, especially the whites, are also making a kill in Nigeria. They are smooth operators; no noise. They just blend in with other Caucasians. There are also Kenyans doing well in Nigeria. One of them my friend had dealings with is financially huge, but no noise. It is their lazy counterparts who are demonstrating pathetically over “nyansh.” Go and check the income and profits of the MTN and Airtel from all the African countries where they operate, including Nigeria, and ask them if they are tired of Nigeria/Nigerians.

The crime rate and drug trafficking were already high in SA before Nigerians joined them. The law enforcement agents of all countries should deal with all criminals within their domain in accordance with the laws of their land. Criminality knows no nationality. Citizens of Niger, Chad, Mali and Cameroon are heavily involved in insecurity in Nigeria, but Nigeria does not complain to anybody for criminality within Nigeria. Nigeria is looking for solution providers, not people who want to produce their own books of Lamentations in YouTube video format. I will complete my reactions next week.

 

Francis Ewherido is TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) columnist, author and a Patriot.