Ghanaian President has a special prayer for Nigeria as ‘Japa’ trend continues to grow

Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama drew laughter at the 2026 African Heritage Awards last Saturday when he offered an unusually candid take on why he personally roots for Nigeria's success, one that has since generated significant discussion online, particularly among Nigerians.

Speaking at the ceremony held on April 11 at the Mövenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, where Mahama served as Special Guest of Honour, the Ghanaian leader framed Nigeria's stability as a direct security and demographic concern for Ghana.

"Nigeria is of keen security interest to us," Mahama said. "If Nigeria does well, Ghana does well. When you have cousins, 250 million of them, you want them to do well so that 1 million of them don't come drifting towards a small country like Ghana. So every day I wake up, I pray, 'God, let Nigeria get their act together.'"

The remarks were met with laughter in the room. Mahama himself was smiling as he spoke. But the clip, once it circulated online, landed differently for many Nigerian viewers, arriving at a moment when the country's economic difficulties and accelerating emigration rates have made discussions about Nigeria's global standing particularly sensitive.

The 2026 African Heritage Awards, organised by Heritage Times and convened by Moses Siasia, brought together influential leaders and achievers from across Africa to celebrate excellence in leadership, entrepreneurship, media, and governance.

Among the Nigerian recipients on the night were Akinwumi Adesina, the immediate past president of the African Development Bank, who received the African Lifetime Achievement Award, and Didi Walson-Jack, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, who took home the African Public Service Award.

Mahama's comments were not without a broader context. He has long described the Ghana-Nigeria relationship in warm terms.

In December 2025, after receiving a chieftaincy title in Ile-Ife, he said the two nations shared a common destiny, remarking that "when Nigeria prospers, Ghana prospers."

He has also previously described the two countries as "siblings of the same parents" whose destinies are joined together.

Still, the phrasing of Saturday's remarks, specifically the image of a million Nigerians "drifting" toward Ghana, was enough to draw reactions from Nigerians online, many of whom read the comment less as warmth and more as an expression of concern or disdain about their country's trajectory.

The remarks come against the backdrop of Nigeria's prolonged economic difficulties, a weakened currency, and a widely documented wave of emigration that has seen large numbers of professionals and young people leave the country in recent years.

There has been no official response from the Nigerian government.

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