Below is a letter from the Ghana High Commission in Nigeria to a Nigerian newspaper, appealing to Nigerian government officials to refrain from spreading falsehood about Ghana.

SIR: I am compelled to write to express serious concern about a couple of statements by some top Nigerian officials about Ghana in recent weeks. Last month, Defence Minister Godwin Abbe was quoted as saying, "the volume of water generated in Ghana is not enough to flush toilets in Lagos State, the number of teachers you have to pay salaries in the whole of Ghana is not more than Western Nigeria so that is that. And the whole of Ghanaian Armed Forces, if you choose to know, is not more than just two brigades of the Nigerian Armed Forces, period."

Only last weekend, Education Minister Sam Egwu was on national radio talking about the ongoing ASUU strike, and he made the most ridiculous assertion that all the university lecturers in Ghana will not be adequate for a single university in Nigeria! This is a blatant falsehood. Anyone who had been to the University of Ghana Legon (with a student population of more than 40,000), can testify to the fact that probably no university in Nigeria has more space and facilities than Legon. And there are at least five more public universities in Ghana. There are also a dozen privately-owned universities in Ghana, offering quality education to Ghanaians and foreigners alike, including a growing number of Nigerians.

And in the case of the defence minister, we do not know where he got his information from regarding the current strength of the Ghana armed forces. Needless to say that the Ghanaian military is one of the best trained on the continent and had performed exceptionally well in various international assignments. The entire first generation of Nigerian military officers, including Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Hassan Katsina and Adebayo were all trained in Ghana. Ghanaian army generals have commanded UN troops in Lebanon, Liberia, Rwanda, Darfur, etc over the years.

Information Minister Dora Akunyili also told a local television network at the end of August that the whole of Ghana is not even up to the size of Lagos! Even a child in kindergarten knows that to be untrue. Government officials, unlike private citizens, traditionally tend to be circumspect about what they say about other countries. Ghana is smaller than Nigeria, and I reckon everyone knows that as a fact. And it is certainly not the only country in the world that is smaller than Nigeria. Or is it? Or have Nigerian government officials only suddenly realised how 'small' Ghana is?

Our concern really is that such reckless and unguarded comments could have grave implications for bilateral relations and derail efforts by leaders of the two countries to forge strong bilateral ties. We think President Umaru Yar'Adua should call his ministers to order. The Ghana bashing must stop! Ghana is a well-respected member of the international community, and deserves respect from Nigerians, particularly top government officials.

Nana Yaw Aboagye, Ghana High Commission, Abuja, FCT Tools

Since Obama's speech in Ghana, the international business spotlight has been on Ghana. They have a transparent democratic government, implemented many economic reforms, have a relatively educated population (they spend the largest percentage of budget on education in Africa at 35%), plus there is the possibility of international oil companies shifting their weight over to Ghana (and Angola) because of the problems in our oil sector. Nigerians sef, instead of talking shit, lets learn from them!

Well lets say they are echoing the views of Nigerians that have not been to Ghana, or lets say trying to make [i]stupid[/i]selves feel better.

As a public speaker you can't just make unintelligent generalizations. Another F9 to Nigerian leaders.

What these government officials did is typical of many nigerians. Their thinking is totally warped. I see it here on nairaland too.

Information Minister Dora Akunyili also told a local television network at the end of August that the whole of Ghana is not even up to the size of Lagos!

well maybe she meant lagos GDP is bigger than ghanas

i know for a fact that it is, Lagos GDP $36bln
                                  Ghana Gdp  $17bln

anyway respect is always good from ministers

Nigeria loosing out to other African countries in terms of leadership, economic management etc. These are like the proverbial kicks of a dying horse.

Nigeria loosing out to other African countries in terms of leadership, economic management  etc. These are like the proverbial kicks of a dying horse

i would like to know which country we loosing out to in leadership,is it zumas south africa or kenyas odinga? or is it the president for life mubarak of egypt?

and as for ghana,well with its economy less than half of lagos states,its better to compare lagos to ghana,and i think fashola is doing well as it is in terms of leadership and economic activity

I saw a poster with the statement "Raila Odinga is Nigerian" carried aloft by Super Eagle fans in the last soccer encounter between Super Eagles and Kenya's Harambee stars played in Nairobi. Nigerian won't be losing out to him.
But seriously though, is there a remote possibility that you are attempting to insinuate that Yara-full stop is better than any other African leader. That would be a joke of the year. the guy no fit to hold the last position in terms of exemplary leadership. That would be an insult to "last position".

But seriously though, is there a remote possibility that you are attempting to insinuate that Yara-full stop is better than any other African leader

well naturally yar aduas leadership style leaves much to be desired

but we should not just complain for the sake of complaining,afterall he has helped to stop the niger delta madness

and he is no mubarak or museveni or the guy in gabon whoose son took over

at least we have representation from 36states and no one really knows who will be president come 2015 (assuming yar adua wins in 2011)

check out mubaraks egypt(son being groomed for takeover),same in gabon,libya,biya in cameroon,museveni in uganda, kabilla in congo,dos santos in angola

i mean i could go on,at least here we have a system where even the military found it too hot to rule more than 8yrs

so we are making some fprm of progress