Ghana Must Go bags history

Every Ghana-must-go bag has an account. It’s effectiveness and fame in Nigeria found its way to late January 1983, once the President of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, held a press seminar and ordered all immigrants without having the right papers to leave the united states within a couple weeks. There have been over two million individuals; one million had been Ghanaians, therefore the sleep had been from a mixture of other West African nations.

“If they don’t keep, they must be arrested and tried, and sent back for their houses. Illegal immigrants under regular conditions, really should not be given any notice whatsoever. If you break a law, then you have to pay for it”, he stated in a statement.

Relating to Aremu in the African Research Review (2013), this statement was greeted by a barage of criticism from intercontinental neighborhood. Many of these immigrants lived-in Lagos together with appeared throughout the oil increase for the 1970s. Information travelled like wild-fire and there clearly was countless anxiety mongering in Lagos, rumours had it that when the deadline appeared by Feb 2, 1983, civilians had the ability to confront aliens located in Lagos. Fuelled because of the rumours of this Lagos treatment throughout the municipal war, in just a few days associated with the announcement, two million men and women loaded whatever they could into “Ghana must go bags”, a large and deep bag characterised by its chequered look. there clearly was massive exodus as immigrants travelled west towards Seme border; the only real exit to Ghana.

Thousands and thousands camped out within Seme border because they waited to cross-over in to the small country, Benin where they might discover a ship to mix to Ghana. Water had not been the prefered method of transportation, but became compulsory due to the fact army mind of state of Ghana at the time; Jerry Rawlings, had shut the trail borders between Ghana and Togo. This was a typical preventative measure among military rulers to avoid coup d’etat and keep control of its condition. To prevent a refugee crises on its arms, Togo in turn had closed its boundaries with Benin Republic. Numerous of Ghanaian refugees had been stuck in Benin by its edges with Togo. Eventually after a couple of days of camping by the boundaries playing Bob Marley tunes and roasting yam and animal meat because of the roadsides, Ghanaians made all of those other journey back. Jerry Rawlings starting the edge between Ghana and Togo was the catalyst Togo’s Gnassingbé Eyadéma necessary to open up its boundaries with Benin, allowing free circulation of refugees to their home in Ghana.