The Nigeria Must Go & Ghana Must Go Infamous STORY

In the late 60s and early 80s, there were two major expulsion events that took place in both Ghana and Nigeria, respectively. In the year 1969, a significant event occurred in Ghana that profoundly impacted Nigerians residing there: the Ghanaian government issued the Aliens Compliance Order.

The Order: On November 18, 1969, the newly elected Prime Minister of Ghana, Kofi Abrefa Busia, announced the Aliens Compliance Order. This order required all undocumented immigrants (those without valid residence permits) to leave Ghana within 14 days, by December 2, 1969, with the Ghanian government defending the legitimate reason Reasons for the Expulsion to be:
● Economic Malaise: Ghana said it was experiencing economic difficulties, including high unemployment, particularly among its youth. The government attributed a significant portion of these problems to the presence and dominance of migrants in the Ghanaian economy. Other reasons are:

● “Ghanaianization” of the Economy: The order aimed to “restore the economy to Ghanaians” by creating employment opportunities for citizens and reducing the perceived control of various businesses by foreigners.

● Combating Crime and Lawlessness: The government also cited a desire to “purify” the country and curb lawlessness and crime, often associating these issues with the immigrant population.

● Compliance with Immigration Laws: Officially, the order was about enforcing existing immigration laws that required all aliens to possess residence permits.

Impact on Nigerians:
● Mass Expulsion: While the order affected migrants from various West African countries (including Togo, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Côte d’Ivoire), Nigerians were the most significantly impacted. Out of an estimated 191,000 Nigerian immigrants in Ghana, about 140,000, primarily Yoruba from southwestern Nigeria, were expelled.

● Hasty Departures: Thousands of immigrant families panicked and hastily packed their belongings to leave, often suffering significant losses of property and facing difficult journeys.

● Humanitarian Concerns: The speed of the expulsion and the sometimes “inhuman disposition” of Ghanaian law enforcement agents towards the deportees were heavily criticized.

● Context: This mass expulsion was not entirely unprecedented, as there had been earlier, more targeted expulsions of individuals. However, the 1969 order marked the beginning of mass expulsions from Ghana and set a precedent for similar actions in other West African countries, including Nigeria’s later “Ghana Must Go” expulsions of Ghanaians in 1983.
In essence, the 1969 Aliens Compliance Order led to the forced departure of hundreds of thousands of non-Ghanaians, with Nigerians forming the largest group, due to a combination of economic pressures, nationalist sentiment, and a desire to enforce immigration laws.

Fast forward to 1983, a similar scenario took place in Lagos, Nigeria.

About 14 years later, there came the infamous “Ghana Must-Go. This, the Yorubas later, was named after the popular Ghana Must-Go bag.

In 1983, facing economic hardship and a desire to manage its large immigrant population, the Nigerian government, under President Shehu Shagari, issued an executive order for all undocumented immigrants to leave the country.

This led to the mass expulsion of over two million West African migrants, with about half being Ghanaians who had been drawn to Nigeria during its 1970s oil boom. Many migrants, particularly those in the southwest of Nigeria, most especially Lagos, scrambled to pack their belongings into distinctive large, checkered bags, which quickly became known as “Ghana Must Go” bags. The exodus was chaotic, with borders briefly closed in neighboring Benin and Togo, leaving thousands stranded and facing dire conditions before eventually being able to return to Ghana, solidifying the “Ghana Must Go” phrase as a poignant symbol of forced migration and a difficult period in West African history.