Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs  and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey on Tuesday appealed to the Nigerian government to allow goods from her country enter into Nigeria.

The plea which was made during a meeting with Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Ghana, Olufemi Michael Abikoye follows the recent closure of Nigeria’s western borders in order to curb the illegal entry of banned items.

Botchwey said that the Ghanaian government would make use of all diplomatic avenues to get Nigeria to reopen its western borders for the free flow of goods from Ghana to the sub region.

“As we speak, Nigerian goods are entering Ghana without any problem and I think that we should find ways of isolating the issues and the countries that you have problems with so that Ghana’s exports can enter your market without being lumped up with all these issues that have emerged,” she said. 

She said truckloads of goods from Ghana have been detained at the Seme border between Benin and Nigeria for weeks and coming back to use the seaports would present a major problem as the traders have already lost millions within the last few weeks.

In his response, Abikoye said the Nigerian government would be willing to collaborate and dialogue with Ghana towards finding a lasting solution to the situation.

While noting that the temporary border closure was aimed at helping the Nigerian economy, Abikoye pointed out that Ghana was not the target of the move.