Why Nigeria’s Headache Is Ours Too — Ghanian President, Mahama

By Akanni Toba

President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana has explained why he can’t but keep praying for Nigeria  not to lose its footing and collapse.

Mahama added that should anything unpleasant befall Nigeria, the spiral effects would reverberate across Africa, particularly Ghana which is a close neighbour to the most populous country on the continent.

The Ghana President spoke in Accra at the 4th edition of the African Heritage Awards, where he served as Special Guest of Honour and Chief Host.

He stated that his country and Nigeria share both historical and ancestral ties describing them as “twins of the same mother”.

“Ghana and Nigeria are twins of the same mother, except when we fight over Jollof and football. Otherwise, you know we are the same people,” he said, drawing laughter from the audience.

He noted that migration patterns and ancestral links particularly through the Yoruba heritage have further cemented the connection, making Nigeria’s stability a matter of direct concern to Ghana.

“A lot of the people in Ghana migrated from Nigeria. They find their roots in the Yoruba kingdoms and all that, and so Nigeria is of keen security interest to us,” Mahama added.

He underscored the implications of Nigeria’s population size, warning that instability in Africa’s most populous nation could have spillover effects across the region.

“If Nigeria does well, Ghana does well,” he said, adding that “When you have cousins, 250 million of them, you want them to do well so that one million of them don’t come drifting towards a small country like Ghana.”

He continued,“So every day I wake up, I pray for Nigeria. I say, God, let Nigeria get its act together.”

Mahama also used the platform to call for a fundamental rethink of Africa’s economic model, particularly in the management of its abundant natural resources.

He noted that African countries should formulate new homespun economic ideas to transform the continent into an independent one which is not beholden to developed nations.

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The Ghanian President said that it’s high time African countries stopped going cap in hand to beg from loans and handouts from countries from other continents.

“The world is changing, the global order is changing, and we must adapt. Humanitarian assistance is dwindling, and countries are reducing their official development assistance while increasing defence spending”, he added.

Mahama criticised the long standing practice of granting extensive concessions to foreign companies, arguing that it has perpetuated inequality across the continent.

“Africa cannot sit with a cup in hand and go begging. We didn’t put the gold, lithium, oil, and gas in the ground. God gave it to us”, the President said.

He decried a system that creates “rich enclaves next to African poverty,” where resource wealth coexists with lack of basic amenities such as clean drinking water.

He stressed that such arrangements are no longer sustainable.

According to him, those days are drawing to a close as African countries begin to assert greater control over their resources.