A Nigerian Professor of English, Austin Nwagbara, who resides in Ghana, was yesterday arrested and then released on bail by the Ghanaian police on claims he was inciting the public against the Ghanaian authorities.
Nwagbara was arrested after a viral video showing him condemning the manner in which Nigerians are being treated in Ghana surfaced online.
In the video, the Nigerian academician pointed out that Nigeria has in recent times received so many insults and illtreatement from Ghanaians despite the massive contributions the Nigerian government and her people make for the growth of their country.
Accoridng to him, Nigerians have been sold as bad people by Ghanaian press. He called on the Nigerian government to use the Nigerian media to correct the wrong impression the Ghanaian media is giving about Nigerians.
“They (Ghana) are using our manpower. We have an advantage that we supply to them. What are we getting back? Insults! Our people (Nigerians) will come here (Ghana) and pay $10,000 (as tuition) but they will not pay N20,000 in the University of Lagos…what an average student pays in the University of Lagos in one session to get a degree in English is N12,000.
“If you ask Nigerians to donate N50,000 every year to contribute to that University, they will riot but the same Nigerians will come here and pay $10, 000 for something 80% inferior to Nigeria. I won’t pay 10% of that sum ($10,000) for my child to study to get a degree in a Ghanaian university. I am in the system, I know. The quality of education here (Ghana) is 80 per cent inferior to what we have in Nigeria.
“No Ghanaian degree is 20% up to the quality of a Nigerian degree. All our federal universities are better than any universities here (Ghana). What makes a university? It’s not buildings, it’s not trees; it’s the quality of staff that will recycle and produce others. They don’t have it.
“I’ve been a pressman, there is no absolute truth in the media. The truth is the truth as it is presented. Let us use our own media and get back to them (Ghana). Let us see life cases, let our media with this story say we want to go to their prisons to see Nigerians, of course, they will turn you back, you broadcast it. And by the time you’re through, you run series of documentaries on Nigerians-Ghana relations and sir, we’ll make history.
“We’re highly skilled, highly talented and blessed people but many at the time we lack strategy, Nigerians tend to lack strategy. You can have good skills, if you don’t know how to let people know it, it is there; it dies, like having a factory full of items in the warehouse. If you don’t advertise, it remains in the warehouse”.
They have harassed us a lot, I know that… What I’m saying is we need strategies. I’ll suggest something which the embassy can think about. There is a bad image for Nigeria; we can take it back through the press. We can reverse it. We have powerful Nigerian media stations, ChannelsTV broadcast all over the world, there’s active social media. Let them come here (Ghana) and run documentaries on the experiences of Nigerians and blast it all over the world. In three days Ghana would respond.
“I have been a media person, you cannot be here and suffering. Let the leaders get our media persons to come here to cover what has been happening. Go to the student community, go to the business community, go to everywhere; go to the embassy. Go and confront the officials with the information, air it, within one week I can tell you part of worse happening. I’m sorry to say it but this is within us, the present government in Ghana came on the grounds of Nigeria bashing. I’ve listened to things some of their top leaders have said all over the world in major places. We did not take it back, if we take it back they will sit up, so media strategy is one.” Nwagbara said
The Criminal Investigative Department of the Ghana Police Service saw the video and immediately arrested Professor Nwagbara. He was released on bail and asked to always come to the police station for interrogation until the case is concluded.