The phrase "Ghana Must Go" and the sturdy, checked bags associated with it carry a complex history rooted in migration, economic hardship, and cultural identity. In 1983, Nigeria expelled two million undocumented West African migrants, half of whom were from Ghana. The sturdy, checked bags into which they packed their belongings have become a symbol of exclusion and intolerance.
In 1983, the streets of Nigeria and Ghana echoed with a phrase that would become both a marker of history and a symbol of migration in West Africa: Ghana Must Go.
A "Ghana Must Go" bag, a common sight in West Africa and around the world.
The Context: A Boom, a Bust, and Migration
The story begins long before the expulsion. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Ghana struggled with severe economic hardship.
In 1958, Nigeria struck oil as a young, soon-to-be-liberated country with a population of 100-million. The oil money was steady and hopes were high that Nigeria could prosper, despite the brutal military regimes that marred that period. In the 1970s the economy exploded when oil prices soared worldwide. The golden decade had arrived and the country became Africa’s wealthiest, securing its title: Giant of Africa. By 1974, Nigeria’s oil wells were spitting out some 2.3-million barrels a day. The standard of living improved.
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While Nigeria was booming, its closest English-speaking neighbour, Ghana, was going through quite the opposite. A deadly mix of famine and insurgency was precipitated by a crash in the price of cocoa (Ghana was the world’s largest cocoa producer in the 1960s) and the 1966 coup, which ousted independence leader Kwame Nkrumah.
Recruiters from Nigeria came to Ghana looking for people who would like to teach or take up casual jobs - the jobs Nigerians themselves were unwilling to do. So many Ghanaians went to Nigeria that it seemed like every Ghanaian family had a relative working there. Across the 19 states that existed then - there are now 36 - primary and secondary schools were filled with Ghanaian teachers, who were well known for their thoroughness and their pankeres - the long, supple beating sticks wrapped lovingly in sticky tape for added sting.
This influx, estimated at over two million people by the early 1980s, brought skilled labour and entrepreneurship, contributing to Nigeria’s economic growth. However, tensions began to simmer.
Obinna Obioma transforms the “Ghana Must Go” bag into high-fashion art and commentary on migration.
As it began to feel the crunch, Nigeria started to turn inwards. By 1982, politicians started to use words like “aliens” in their manifestos in preparation for the 1983 general elections. They blamed African migrants, especially Ghanaians, for the flailing economy.
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The Expulsion and the Bags
The tipping point came in 1983 when the Nigerian government, under President Shehu Shagari, enacted a directive ordering undocumented immigrants-many of whom were Ghanaians-to leave the country.
On January 17th 1983, the immediate expulsion of illegal immigrants was announced. People without the right documentation were given two weeks to leave the country.
The primary route to Ghana was westwards, passing through Benin and Togo. Because of an attempted coup the previous year, the President of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings, had closed the main land crossing with Togo, and to avoid a sudden influx of returnees, Togo then also shut its borders with Benin. Therefore, once the migrants reached Benin, the way out was restricted and they were forced to remain in the port of Cotonou, the country's seat of government, attempting to find a boat to Ghana.
As Ghanaians packed their meagre belongings, the bags, branded with the phrase “Made in Ghana,” were ironically labelled “Ghana Must Go” by Nigerians, reflecting the xenophobic sentiment that fueled the expulsion at the time.
A type of cheap matted woven nylon zipped tote bags, used by the migrants to move their belongings, got the moniker "Ghana Must Go" during the migration.
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The bags had always been popular: they were big and spacious and sturdy enough for long-haul travel. But it was when people started calling them “Ghana must go” bags that the young man knew it was time to leave.
With a lack of resources and support, without a home, without a car, Ghanaian immigrants had to turn to something that could tide them over: these spacious, sturdy bags. The bags became replacements for a car, a home, for resources. Families packed these bags full of everything they owned, making the bags weighty with both personal effects and political symbolism.
“You’ll say you won’t go? The borders were a disaster, crammed with desperate people carrying chairs on their heads, dragging their checked bags and selling off whatever they couldn’t lift to make money to pay for fares that had doubled. Millions streamed out through any possible exit they could find - through Shaki, in western Nigeria, to northern Benin. Down south, at the Seme border in Lagos, stampedes would kill many.
Squeezed into one of those ships, Acquaye looked around, marking fallen faces and identifying people he knew. “All my friends [were there]. I saw my brother too. He went back to farming and raised six more kids through Ghana’s bad times.
The Human Cost
The expulsion was a humanitarian crisis. Families were uprooted, livelihoods destroyed, and relationships strained. Border towns overflowed with people, and neighboring countries scrambled to accommodate the displaced.
Rather than being woven, the tartan design is printed on eco, recycled nylon.
A Reciprocal History
Interestingly, the history of migration between Nigeria and Ghana is cyclical. In the 1960s, during Ghana’s economic downturn, many Nigerians were expelled from Ghana.
In 1969, the Ghanaian government passed a law similar to the one the Nigeria president passed in 1983. The Alien Compliance Order was targeted at foreigners living on Ghanaian soil and was effected to banish Nigerians and other Africans. It created some bad blood but nothing too serious. Nigeria and Ghana maintained a mostly cordial diplomatic relationship.
The Bags Today
Today, the “Ghana Must Go” bags continue to be used across Africa and beyond. Ghanaians became resilient.
The name Ghana Must Go stuck in Nigeria and just couldn’t be rubbed off but the story itself isn’t known by very many.
The bags followed him home, as he crossed two countries to return to Ghana and, 36 years later, they still stare at him from stores on every corner - with the same cursed name.
Today, the Ghana Must Go bag is everywhere in Nigeria. “You see people in the streets carrying the bag, in the buses, traveling,” says Olaleye. “We had quite a few housemaids or helpers in the house when I was growing up and the Ghana Must Go bag was one of the bags they’d use to move into the house. It was pretty normal.”
Oddly enough, this is the bag’s story in many countries, even outside of Nigeria. In Kenya they are known as Nigeria bags, and Zimbabweans call them Botswana bags. They seem to always be the bag of The Other: the carryall of the immigrant who is forced to pack up everything and leave.
Worldwide, the bag has a variety of other names associating it with migrants.
These alienating names reveal something of the anxiety expressed towards the carriers of these bags in the communities they relocate to.
These bags have become global symbols of migration - not only across borders but also within countries.
Ghana Must Go: How a Checkered Bag Became a Symbol of Africa's Biggest Refugee Crisis
The Bags as Fashion
Across the Indian Ocean, this iconic red-and-white and blue-and-white patterns bag is used in Nigeria, Ghana and many countries in the world. Since then, the name has spread around the Nigerian populace and has been used as a popular travelling bag and even became an essential fashion material for the African continent.
Italian designers such as Celine, Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton have glamorised the famous Ghana-must go-print. There was a high fashion version of the bag, produced by Louis Vuitton in 2007.
The bags, with their graphic red-and-white and blue-and-white patterns, lend themselves well to being refashioned into high-fashion pieces. But the name of the bags, Ghana Must Go, has a painful past: it comes from a 1983 executive order from Nigeria’s then-President Shehu Shagari, calling for nearly 2 million undocumented migrants, many Ghanaian, to abruptly leave the country. Many used the bags to transport their things and the name stuck over the years.
New York-based photographer Obinna Obioma teamed up with artist Chioma Obiegbu and fashion stylist Wuraola Oladapo to create images that Obioma describes as a fusion of both western and African designs. This series is called Anyi N'Aga, Igbo for “We Are Going.”
Johannesburg-based brand Wanda Lephoto makes garments that also toy with the pattern of the bag. They put it beautifully:
“It is always interesting to observe what, where and how Africans move. Often having to reappropriate our own culture against the commercial viability the West has over us, we seldom look past aestheticism to unwrap the true nature of who we are.”
Lessons for Today
As we look back on Ghana Must Go, it’s clear that history has much to teach us about compassion, policy-making, and the enduring strength of communities. By learning from the past, we can forge stronger bonds across borders and celebrate the shared heritage that unites us.
The event underscores the importance of regional cooperation in addressing economic and social challenges. Organizations like ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) emerged with the goal of fostering such unity.
The iconic "Ghana Must Go" bag has transcended its origin, becoming a symbol of African creativity and resilience. Today, it’s used globally and represents the ability to adapt in the face of adversity.
African migration has always been about opportunity, community, and survival.
Other names for the bag:
- Ghanaian sack (Ghana)
- Chinatown tote (America)
- Tuekenkoffer (Turkish suitcase) (Germany)
- Guyanese Samsonite (Guyana)
- Nigeria bags (Kenya)
- Botswana bags (Zimbabwe)
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