The House of Representatives took the hardline posture against Ghana yesterday over the demolition of Nigeria’s High Commission in that country, asking the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to invoke the diplomatic principle of reciprocity against Ghana.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, spoke on behalf of the Green Chamber at an interactive session with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyema, said the attack on Nigeria by Ghana might not have happened without the prior knowledge of the Ghanaian authorities, stressing that the demolition, deserved a tough response.
He said: “If Ghana has a problem and is approaching it through subterranean moves, then what do you think the outcome of the legal proceeding will be? So I think we should pursue it from that angle; I think we should make it clear for the authorities in Ghana that Nigeria is not going to sit down and fold its arms.
“Reciprocity is a legitimate instrument in foreign relations. The doctrine of reciprocity is what should be considered. The Nigerian state was attacked. I think we should look at this thing from the premise that the Nigerian state was attacked.
”It’s not a building that was demolished. No! The Nigerian state was attacked. I think if we look at it from that premise, we will begin to understand the importance and the gravity of what we are dealing with.”
“We have established a pattern, and what we get(from other countries that attack Nigeria), is apologies, and ‘we will look into it. I don’t think that should suffice at this point.
”We must put a stop to what has become a perennial problem between Nigeria and Ghana. To me, this is a sibling rivalry between two sister countries, but even in sibling rivalry, there is a line you don’t cross, and they(Ghana) just crossed the line, albeit a second time,”
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, spoke on behalf of the Green Chamber at an interactive session with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyema, said the attack on Nigeria by Ghana might not have happened without the prior knowledge of the Ghanaian authorities, stressing that the demolition, deserved a tough response.
He said: “If Ghana has a problem and is approaching it through subterranean moves, then what do you think the outcome of the legal proceeding will be? So I think we should pursue it from that angle; I think we should make it clear for the authorities in Ghana that Nigeria is not going to sit down and fold its arms.
“Reciprocity is a legitimate instrument in foreign relations. The doctrine of reciprocity is what should be considered. The Nigerian state was attacked. I think we should look at this thing from the premise that the Nigerian state was attacked.
”It’s not a building that was demolished. No! The Nigerian state was attacked. I think if we look at it from that premise, we will begin to understand the importance and the gravity of what we are dealing with.”
“We have established a pattern, and what we get(from other countries that attack Nigeria), is apologies, and ‘we will look into it. I don’t think that should suffice at this point.
”We must put a stop to what has become a perennial problem between Nigeria and Ghana. To me, this is a sibling rivalry between two sister countries, but even in sibling rivalry, there is a line you don’t cross, and they(Ghana) just crossed the line, albeit a second time,”
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