Ghana Must Go: The 1969 Aliens Compliance Order, the 1983 Nigerian Expulsion, and the Migrant Burden

The free movement of peoples across West Africa has ancient roots predating European colonialism. The Hausa, Yoruba, Fante and Ewe trading networks crisscrossed the region for centuries, with the Trans-Saharan and kola nut trade routes creating cosmopolitan communities from Kano to Kumasi. When the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was founded in Lagos on 28 May 1975, it formalised what had always existed — Article 27 of the Treaty promised free movement of persons, and the 1979 Protocol on Free Movement and Residence abolished visa requirements for stays of up to 90 days among the 15 member states.

Nigeria's oil boom of the 1970s transformed the regional equation. Between 1973 and 1980, Nigerian oil revenues surged from 1.4 billion to over 10 billion naira. The Second National Development Plan (1970-74) and Third Plan (1975-80) created massive demand for labour: the Abuja Federal Capital Territory project alone required 100,000 workers, while Lagos Island was being transformed with flyovers and skyscrapers. An estimated 1.5 to 2 million Ghanaians migrated to Nigeria by 1980, alongside hundreds of thousands of Togolese, Beninois, Cameroonians, Nigeriens and Chadians. Ghana's own economy was in free fall — cocoa production had collapsed from 557,000 tonnes in 1965 to under 200,000 by 1979, the cedi was worthless on parallel markets, and the kalabule (black market profiteering) economy dominated. For a generation of Ghanaian teachers, nurses, traders and artisans, Nigeria's oil wealth represented survival. The 1977 Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC), which cost an estimated 2 billion naira, symbolised Nigeria's confidence as the region's hegemon — and its magnetic pull on neighbouring populations.