By Sunday Oyinloye
After years of distrust among Nigerians living in Ghana, Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, Ambassador Olufemi Michael Abikoye has finally unites the Nigerian Community in the country bringing all of them under one unified umbrella.
Before the High Commissioner was able to unite the Nigerian Community in Ghana, many preferred to associate with their ethnic groups, a situation which created suspicions in the way they relate with themselves in all areas of life.
Inaugurating the All Nigerian Community (ANC) in Ghana, Ambassador Abikoye harps on unity and admonished both the Executive Committee and the larger community to see themselves as Nigerians before any other consideration.
The High Commissioner reminded them of the evil of disunity and challenged them to be united at all times.
His words: “I want you to be united and shun disunity, put all your differences behind you and open a new chapter in the annals of the community even for generations yet un-born”
According to the High Commissioner, It is in the interest of all Nigerians in Ghana to stand as one especially in Ghana’s environment that has been witnessing some form of resentment against members of the community.
In his acceptance remarks at the inauguration ceremony which was witnessed by the representative of the Chairman of the Nigeria Diaspora Commission, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the newly inaugurated Chairman of ANC, Hon. Salihu Alhaiji Mohammed commended the High Commission for the tenacity in bringing about “ the remarkable day” for the Nigerian Community in Ghana.
He solicited for the cooperation, patience and contributions of all and sundry to make the objectives of their new chapter a reality.
It would be recalled that When the High Commissioner resumed office in Ghana in 2017, the ANC at the time had been in crisis and had no executive team to drive its affairs, to the collective disadvantage of Nigerians living in Ghana.
After painstaking negotiation and consultation processes, the High Commission was able to conduct successful elections that brought together individuals drawn from the six geo-political zones of the country to ensure a balanced representation in the leadership.
In order to ensure fairness in the distribution of leadership positions, the new president was elected from the Arewa community, considering that the previous president was from the South-South community, while the three Vice presidents were elected from the Igbo, Yoruba and South-South communities.
They are to serve for a two-year period after which new elections will be conducted and the next executives will be elected on regional rotations.
It is expected that the newly inaugurated executives will contribute their quota by providing the needed sacrificial leadership to harness the Nigerian community in exerting their influence and projecting a new positive image of Nigeria to the host country, as well as taking Nigeria-Ghana relations to the next level.
