THE SOCIALIST Movement of Ghana (SMG) has issued a strong condemnation of recent xenophobic rhetoric targeting Nigerians living in Ghana, describing such actions as a “backward and shameful display” that serves the interests of Africa’s elites and imperialist forces.
In a statement dated Monday, August 11, 2025, obtained by National Record, the SMG called for unity among African masses and warned against divisive tactics that undermine continental solidarity.
The statement, signed by SMG General Secretary Kwesi Pratt, Jnr., emphasised that xenophobic sentiments do not reflect the will of the Ghanaian people but are instead tools used to divert attention from systemic exploitation. “There are no contradictions amongst the African masses – only amongst Africa’s elites,” the statement quoted revolutionary leader, Amilcar Cabral.
SMG further criticised the “fantastical rumours” spread by those it terms “ignorant and vicious forces” seeking to pit Ghanaian and Nigerian youth against each other.
“The frustrated youth of Ghana should think clearly and reject these divisive tactics,” the SMG counselled, as it rhetorically asked: “What will their xenophobia yield except reprisals by equally frustrated Nigerian youth? Who wins in such a senseless confrontation?”
The movement highlighted the long-standing coexistence of communities now arbitrarily divided by colonial borders, questioning the validity of such divisions. “Are these colonial divisions meaningful?” SMG further asked, pointing out the hypocrisy of targeting Nigerians while ignoring the large number of Ghanaians working in Nigeria.
The SMG framed the issue within broader systemic exploitation, accusing international powers of fuelling ethnic and national tensions to prevent collective resistance.
“The exploiters’ political agents whip up ethnic, religious, and so-called ‘national’ tensions whenever they sense that the masses are becoming politically aware,” the statement reads, as it linked xenophobia to the plundering of Africa’s resources, including cocoa, oil, gas, and minerals, which it asserts benefit foreign interests at the expense of local populations.
Invoking the Pan-Africanist vision of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, the SMG warned that Africa’s continued fragmentation into “inconsequential neocolonies” would only deepen crises.
“Our wealth, and even our youth, leave our shores at an accelerating pace. Murderous conflicts are expanding across the Sahel. There is creeping genocide in the DRC and Sudan,” the statement noted, lamenting the decline of regional institutions and the collapse of constitutional order in many African nations.
The SMG called for a socialist alternative, urging “collective ownership and peaceful planned development of Africa’s vast resources to meet the needs of our people.”
It also emphasised socio-economic rights, including access to work, education, housing, and healthcare. The movement appealed to socialist revolutionaries, Pan-Africanists, organised labour, and student bodies to resist xenophobia and mobilise for continental unity.
In a show of solidarity, the SMG declared its support for Nigerian communities in Ghana and denounced attempts to victimise them. The statement concluded with a rallying cry: “Down with xenophobia! Forward to African unity! Forward to socialism!”
The SMG’s intervention comes amid rising tensions in parts of Africa where xenophobic outbreaks have periodically flared, often targeting migrant communities.
