Connect with us

Headline

Dele Momodu Reacts to Closure of Nigerian-Owned Shops in Ghana, Promises Palliatives to Affected Traders

Published

6 years ago

on

By Eric Elezuo

The Chairman of Ovation Media Group, Chief Dele Momodu, has reacted to the closure of some shops owned by Nigerian businessmen and women in Ghana, saying that the action clearly makes a mess of the Black Lives Matter campaign which has engulfed the world in recent times.

The celebrated journalist, who expressed his displeasure via a press statement made available to The Boss Newspapers, regretted the action of the Ghana authorities and promised a level of palliatives for the displaced Nigerian business men and women in the spirit of brotherliness.

While calling on well meaning Africans and peoples of the world to stand up against the ‘atrocious laws’ he also frowned at the stupendous amount of $1 million, which the Ghana authorities imposed on the Nigerian traders before they could pursue their legitimate endeavours on the Ghanaian soil, asking “How many companies in the world started business with such stupendous amount?”

Read Momodu’s full statement with full list of traders whose shops were closed:

“I note with sadness the viral videos of Nigerian investors being flogged and thrown out of their shops in Ghana. As an avowed pan-Africanist and a fanatical disciple of former Ghanaian President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, I have become traumatized about the future of Africa. The Osagyefo must be seething with anger and rage in his grave, if he could see how Africans are treating themselves at this time and age.

“Just imagine that this is coming at a momentous period when the world is campaigning that BLACK LIVES MATTER, but Nigerians are being kicked around like football by our closest Brothers and friends. And what is the excuse for this act? An incredibly brutal “Law” which stipulates that foreign small-scale traders must invest $1 million in the Ghanaian economy. How many companies in the world started business with such a stupendous amount? If the Europeans and Americans had promulgated such Laws against Nigerians and Ghanaians living abroad, many of us would have accused them of racism and discrimination. What is worse, some of these traders actually have their valid papers and registered long before the coming of this atrocious requirement by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, but the Law enforcers blatantly refused to listen to the cries of these hardworking but hapless traders.

“Another excuse is that they claimed Nigeria shut its borders against neighboring countries. While I agree that the decision to shut our borders is regrettable, this has nothing to do with Ghana. No Ghanaian has been asked not to do business in Nigeria. No Ghanaian has been asked to invest any compulsory amount of money before setting up shops in Nigeria. We make immigrants totally welcome here. I once intervened on behalf of a Ghanaian couple when their factory was going to be demolished amongst some illegal structures in Agbara Estate. I had to call the then Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who exempted the Ghanaians on the compassionate grounds that they were Ghanaian investors in Nigeria.

Nigerians and Ghanaians have been too interwoven and inter-marrying for ages, including the current President of Ghana, the great Nana Akufo-Addo who was once an in-law of Nigeria. His cousin, Adelaide Ofori-Atta, was married to Chief Sammy Oluseun Olagbaju, a prominent Nigerian Businessman who died in 2016. Myma Adwowa Belo-Osagie, Princess Abba Folawiyo, Mrs Edith Korantema Koranteng Fajemirokun, are amongst many Ghanaian women married to prominent Nigerian families.

My personal love for Ghana, and respect for Ghanaians, has never been in doubt. I have been the Chief Promoter of Ghana to the world in the past 25 years. I once worked closely with The Hon. Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, of blessed memory, Ghana’s Minister of Tourism and Diasporan Relations in the cabinet of President John Agyekum Kufuor. Ovation International magazine was instrumental in showcasing the pristine beauty of Ghana to a global audience at the time. Many Nigerian companies started expanding their operations to Ghana, based on the positive stories we sold to the world, especially Nigeria. Today, Nigerians control huge investments in Banking, Oil & Gas, Telecommunications, Real Estate, Retail, Entertainment, Education, Hospitality, Tourism, Medicals, Aviation, Shipping, Transportation, Textiles, Churches, etc.

I’m saddened that all our efforts of those days are about to be wasted by this latest imbroglio.

“I have reached out, and obtained the full names and phone contacts of the Nigerian traders mostly affected by this unfortunate and unnecessary incidents. Each of them will receive my humble widow’s mite, with no strings attached and no political motives whatsoever. My motivation is just the fact that we should be our Brother’s keepers at all times.

I implore men and women of good conscience to stand up and intervene speedily in this matter. God bless The Federal Republic of Nigeria and The Republic of Ghana.”

LIST OF NIGERIAN TRADERS AFFECTED BY THE FORCEFUL CLOSURE OF SHOPS IN ACCRA, GHANA

1. CHUKWUEMEKA IHEJIRIKA

2 PAUL OKECHUKWU

3 JUSTINE IKECHUKWU NWACHUKWU

4 BLESSING UGWUOKE

5 CHINEDU MBANUGO VALENTINE

6 LOVETH CHUKWUEMEKA

7 JOHNSON ARINZE

8 PAULINK GLOBAL DIGITAL

9 GODWIN OGBU FRANCIS

10 SAMSON ANAYOANIAWA

11 TITUS EZEMA UGWOKE

12 TONY IZUCHUKWU ANYAEGBU

13 UGOCHUKWU UCHENNA ONUOHA

14 CHIKWENDU IKE NDUBUISI

15 IBEH KINGSLEY

16 DAVID IKECHUKWU MUANYA

17 AUGUSTINE EKWOH

18 OLIVER OMEKE

19 OKAAH OBURUZO

20 JONAS UGWOKE UGWUOGO

21 OBINNA LUCKY

22 EZE VICTOR CHINEDU

23 STANLEY UMEALAEKWE

24 IGBONAJU DESMOND

25 OKEKE NELSON

26 UGWOE ERNEST

27 ANI EMEKA SOLOMON

28 CHUKWUEMEKA T. P ONYEKAONWU

29 GOODLUCK MADUABUCHI OKWARA

30 OKECHUKWU SAMUEL

31 CHRISTOPHER UBANATU

32 INNOCENT UDE

33 CHINEDU DESMOND NWABURUEBU

34 KINGSLEY EJIKE MBADIWE

35 OKECHUKWU IFEAKANWA

36 BENJAMIN ONAH

37 TOCHUKWU JULIUS EZEH

38 UGWU ALPHONSUS IFEANYI

39 AMAKA VICTORIA

40 OHAYI CHIGBOGU PAUL

41 TITUS CHINASA

42 OLISA ADINDU KINGSLEY

43 EZE PAUL TOCHUKWU

44 IGWE PAUL IKECHUKWU

45 STEVEN OKOYE

46 OSMOND OSINACHI OKOYE

47 UDOKA NZELU

48 UGWU ONYEKA JOE

49 UGWUMADU ONYEDIKA CALLISTUS

50 CHUKWU VICTOR PAUL

51 FAMOUS HANNAH

52 KELVIN MAMAH

53 EZE SUNDAY

54 MARTIN ANAKUDO ARINZE

55 VIINE OBI NWODO

56 PETER TOCHUKWU

57 UGWOKE PATRICK

58 EMMANUEL OHEAKESI

59 UGONNANYA CANDY EZE

60 BENNEDICT REUBEN (TIGO)

61 NWAZUOKE CHRISTOPHER CHUKWUDI

62 RAYMOND UGWU

63 NKOKU NDUBUISI JACOB

64 UDENYI LEONARD

65 RICHARD DOUGLAS

66 JAMES UZAR KINGSLEY

67 ONUORAH EBUKA DESTINY

68 CHUKS EZE

69 SUNDAY JOSEPH

70 FRESSY EZE

71 KINGSLEY UCHENNA NNAEGBUNA

72 UGOCHUKWU RAPHAEL

73 AGUDILE CHIZOBA MIRACLE

74 PAUL ONYEKACHI UGWUOKE

75 IZUNABOR NONSO COLLINS

76 ONYEKE UCHENNA WISDOM

77 FLORENCE EZI

79 TOCHUKWU UBAH

80 BRIGHT OHIARA

81 OZIOMA ONWUZUGHA

82 JOSEPH UGWU

83 JOSEPH EZUZOBI

84 EMMANUEL IFEANYI

85 EJIKE DOMNIC

86 CHUPEZ ARINZE

87 RICHARD OBIDINMA

88 NNADI KINGSLEY EJIOFOR

89 OBI AUGUSTINE

90 SUNDAY DONATUS

91 EMMANUEL ADIBE

92 NWOKOCHA GODWIN

93 EZE LUCKY

94 LAWRENCE AMANDIANEZE ANIEKWE

95 ONYEANULA CHINEDU GODWIN

96 EZE FRANCIS

97 UKWUNGWU LINUS

98 COLLINS CHIDIEBERE

99 IBEH TOCHUKWU

100 ABUGU CLEMENT

101 FAVOUR ANITA

102 CHINEDU ONYEMACHUKWU

103 ALEX EZIOKWU

104 AMBROSE OGWUEGBU

105 EMEKA POLITE

106 BLESSEDUC AVENUE

107 NEWLY INTERNATIONAL UCHE CHUKWU OKEZIE

108 JOHN NKE

109 IHEAGWAM B. IYKE

110 NNAJI IZUCHUKWU

111 GLORIOUS BLESSED SEA LAND (TONY IGBOMALU)

112 FEDELIS OBI

113 MIKE EZE

114 CHIMA ORIAKU

115 OBINNA EKWECHI

116 AUGUSTINE UKPABIA

117 MONEKE MICHAEL K

118 OGOCHUKWU NWANKWO

119 EMMANUEL AGBATA

120 EMMANUEL IGWE

121 NELSON OKECHUKWU

122 IKENNA NWAKAOZOR

123 NNAEMEKA GODWIN

124 CHINEDU MBIONWU

125 AKONAM EZEANOLUE

126 CHINEDU OKPALAEKE

127 CHINEDU UKABIA

128 EMEKA UGWUNNWA

129 EJIKE EZEDINIRU

130 CHUKWU NONSO OKEY

131 STANLEY CHIMEZIE UDEH

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Headline

Israeli Ambassador Accuses Iran of Spreading Terror, Sponsoring Extremist Activities in Nigeria

Published

13 hours ago

on

March 6, 2026

By

Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, has accused Iran of sponsoring extremist activities in Nigeria and other parts of the world, alleging that Tehran supports groups aimed at destabilising countries while pursuing its hostility against Israel.

Freeman made the remarks on Friday while speaking during an interview on The Morning Show on Arise News.

The envoy claimed that Iran is the only country within the United Nations that openly expresses a desire to destroy another sovereign state, referring to repeated threats against Israel.

According to him, the Iranian government has, over several decades, supported militant groups and terror organisations around the world in pursuit of that objective.

Freeman alleged that Iran has backed groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, adding that Tehran was also behind the October 7 attack carried out by Hamas against Israel.

He further claimed that Iranian activities aimed at spreading instability have been observed across several regions, including Europe, Australia, and parts of Africa.

Speaking specifically about Nigeria, the Israeli ambassador alleged that the Islamic Movement of Nigeria receives backing from the Iranian government.

According to Freeman, statements of support from Iran’s leadership, including posts by Ali Khamenei on social media, have openly indicated such ties.

He said: “The issue here is about Iran. Iran is the only country in the world, in the United Nations, who expressly desires to wipe another country off the face of the earth. Iran has stated its very policy is to destroy Israel. Is to wipe Israel off the map is to make sure they kill every single person and no regime, no country that has an express desire to destroy Israel, and it’s not only an expressed desire.

“We’ve seen over 47 years, they’ve taken all the actions they can in order for that to happen. We’ve seen them sponsor terror organizations. They were behind October the seventh massacre of Hamas. We’ve seen them sponsoring Hezbollah. We’ve seen them acting in Europe. We’ve seen them acting in Australia. We’ve seen them acting in Nigeria.

“We’ve seen these people acting all across the world in order to spread disturbance for them to try and carry out their aim of destroying Israel, and Israel will not allow another country to have nuclear weapons when they’ve expressly stated they want those weapons to destroy Israel”.

“I think that it is well documented. We know that there are certain movements, for example, the Islamic movement of Nigeria is sponsored and is backed by the Iranian regime. This is not me saying this, we’ve seen that documented by the Iranian regime.

The Supreme Leader posted on X his support and his backing there. So that’s very open. And there are other areas as well that Iran is working for, destabilizing, not only Nigeria, but all of West Africa.”

Continue Reading

Headline

Why Nigerians Must Reject INEC’s Revised Timetable – ADC

Published

6 days ago

on

February 28, 2026

By

By Eric Elezuo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), during the week, released a fresh elections timetable, with major amendments to accommodate the just passed and signed Electoral Act 2026 by the National Assembly and President Bola Tinubu respectively.

Following the repeal of the Electoral Act, 2022 and the enactment of the Electoral Act, 2026, which introduced adjustments to statutory timelines governing pre-election and electoral activities, the Commission has reviewed and realigned the Schedule to ensure full compliance with the new legal framework.

Accordingly, the Commission has resolved as follows:

  1. Presidential and National Assembly Elections will now hold on Saturday, 16th January 2027 as against the earlier stated February 20, 2027
  2. Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections will now hold on Saturday, 6th February 2027 as against the former date of March 6, 2027

Also in accordance with the approved Schedule of Activities, the electoral bidy noted in the revised timetable that:

Conduct of Party Primaries, including resolution of disputes arising from primaries, will commence on 23rd April 2026 and end on 30th May 2026.

Presidential and National Assembly campaigns will commence on 19th August 2026.

Governorship and State Houses of Assembly campaigns will commence on 9th September 2026.

As provided by law, campaigns shall end 24 hours before Election Day. Political parties are strongly advised to adhere strictly to these timelines. The Commission will enforce compliance with the law.

But in a swift reaction, the opposition coalition, African Democratic Congress (ADC), rejected the revised 2026–2027 general election timetable, describing it as a politically biased schedule designed to favour the re-election agenda of President Bola Tinubu, and calling on all Nigerians to speak up enmasse to reject the revised timetable.

The ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, on Friday argued that the new deadlines and compliance requirements under the Electoral Act 2026 create near-impossible hurdles for opposition parties seeking to field candidates.

On February 13, INEC initially scheduled the 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections for February 20, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections were fixed for March 6, 2027.

The timetable, however, faced objections from some Muslim stakeholders who noted that the dates coincided with the 2027 Ramadan period.

Following the concerns, the National Assembly amended Clause 28 of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, reducing the required election notice period from 360 to 300 days, allowing INEC to adjust the election dates.

Subsequently, INEC released a revised schedule on Thursday, signed by its Chairman, Joash Amupitan, moving the Presidential and National Assembly elections to January 16, 2027, and the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections to February 6, 2027.

Reacting, the ADC said the requirement that political parties submit a comprehensive digital membership register by April 2, 2026, effectively bars opposition parties from participating.

The party stated: “The African Democratic Congress rejects the updated 2026–2027 electoral timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission. What has been presented as a routine administrative schedule of the upcoming general elections is, in fact, a political instrument carefully structured to narrow democratic space and strengthen the incumbent administration ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“According to the timetable, party primaries are to be conducted between April 23 and May 30, 2026, just 55 to 92 days from today. However, more significant is that, pursuant to Section 77(4) of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties are required to submit their digital membership registers to INEC not later than April 2, 2026.

“That is only about 34 days away. Section 77(7) further provides that any party that fails to submit its membership register within the stipulated time shall not be eligible to field a candidate. These are not routine administrative rules but are deliberately constructed barriers designed to exclude the opposition from participating in the election.”

The party further noted that Section 77(2) of the Electoral Act 2026 requires the digital register of members to contain name, sex, date of birth, address, state, local government, ward, polling unit, National Identification Number (NIN) and photograph in both hard and soft copies, while Section 77(6) prohibits the use of any pre-existing register that does not contain the specified information. It warned that failure to meet these requirements would lead to disqualification.

The ADC questioned the fairness of the digital membership requirement, noting that the ruling All Progressives Congress began its registration process in February 2025, long before the requirement became mandatory.

“It is not a product of foresight but insider advantage. They knew what was coming. They therefore had one full year to carry out an exercise that other political parties are expected to complete in one month, during which they must collect, process, collate and transmit large volumes of digital data to INEC under the threat of exclusion. This is practically impossible.

“Democratic competition is based on a level playing field that does not give any contestant an undue advantage. A system where one party exploits incumbency to gain a one-year head start on a requirement that other parties only became aware of when it was nearly too late is a rigged system.”

The ADC said it has joined other opposition parties in rejecting the Electoral Act 2026, adding that the INEC timetable is equally rejected as it appears designed to serve what it described as a self-succession agenda.

“Let it be clear that ADC will not take any action that appears to confer legitimacy on a fraudulent system. We are reviewing our options and will make our position known in the coming days,” the party said.

The party also called on civil society organisations, democratic stakeholders and Nigerians to scrutinise the timetable and demand fairness, stressing that democracy cannot survive when electoral rules are structured to produce predetermined outcomes.

The party has consistently accused the Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) of scheming to silence the opposition as the 2027 General Elections draw closer, citing his manipulation of state governors and Assembly members from jumping ship, and settling with the ruling party.

Presently, the president’s party has a total of 31 out of 36 states governors, more than majority of the national and states Houses of Assembly.

A frontline publisher and chieftain of the ADC, Chief Dele Momodu, has warned that Tinubu is gradually transforming into full-blown dictatorship, stressing that his second term in office would turn state governors into ‘total slaves’.

Continue Reading

Headline

Second Term for Tinubu Will Turn Governors into Total Slaves, Dele Momodu Warns

Published

7 days ago

on

February 28, 2026

By

Chairman, Ovation Media Group, and former presidential aspirant, Aare Dele Momodu, has expressed strong concern over what he described as growing political support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu among state governors across the country.

Speaking during an interview on News Central TV, Momodu said he was shocked by the level of backing the president is reportedly receiving, warning that Nigeria’s democracy could face serious risks if the current political trend continues.

The media entrepreneur cautioned that allowing Tinubu to secure a second term in 2027 could, in his view, lead to excessive concentration of power. He particularly criticized what he described as a growing wave of opposition figures aligning with the ruling All Progressives Congress> (APC).

Momodu referenced reports of opposition governors, including Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, allegedly moving closer to the ruling party, describing the development as politically troubling.

According to him, some governors are allegedly competing to demonstrate loyalty to the president ahead of future elections.

“The governors are fighting to ensure Tinubu wins a second term, fighting to be the biggest thug for him. If a man in his first term can capture the bodies and souls of Nigerians this way, imagine what he would do with a second term. It will be a full-blown dictatorship, and the governors will regret it as they become total slaves to him,” Momodu said.

He concluded by urging Nigerians to remain vigilant and actively protect democratic institutions, warning that unchecked consolidation of political power could threaten the nation’s democracy and future stability.

Gistmania

Continue Reading

Trending