In 2023, we organised artistic performances as part of a series of MIDEQ interventions in Ghana, aimed at changing negative narratives about migration. The intervention which engaged academics, school children, young adults, migrant traders, CSOs and NGOs, and the general public, was organised to mark the 40th anniversary of the unfortunate events of 1983 when millions of migrants, including over one million Ghanaians, were expelled from Nigeria with a two-week notice by the government led by Shehu Shagari.
The massive expulsions came to be identified and archived in the subregion by the iconic tartan checkered plastic career bag named 'Ghana Must Go'. The artistic intervention was name after the bag. We created and presented new music compositions and garments with the bags for display in a 40-day-long special exhibition and catwalk. The importance of the intervention and its outcomes was the creation of alternative and positive narratives to disrupt the historic and contemporary negative narratives around migrants and migration.
A major outcome of the intervention (at the end of the MIDEQ project) was the initiative of partners on the Ghana Must Go to produce a docudrama ‘Omo Ghana, Man For Chop’ written by Franka-Maria Andoh and directed by Kwame Boadi, with a music score by Gameli Tordzro, in collaboration with Ben Mukabwa.
The film also features interviews with MIDEQ researchers Faisal Garba, Naa Densua Tordzro and Gameli Tordzro, Akosua Darkwah, (who are all also executive producers of the film) and University of Ghana academic, Gerladine Asiwome Ampah. While foregrounding the social impacts, the narratives, and the economic challenges of the expulsion era, the film draws on the echoes and resonances of contemporary negative political and media narratives around global migration marked by the global rightwing turn. A turn with implications for South-South migration.
Omo Ghana, Man for Chop “is an evocative documentary film that delves into the complexities of migration - exploring the human stories behind the phenomenon. At its core, this film unfolds the gripping events of 1983 when over 1 million Ghanaians were forcibly expelled from Nigeria. The tumultuous chapter captured in this film serves as a lens to examine the broader aspects of migration - its causes, effects, and the global interconnectedness that binds us all.
The forced deportation of 1 million Ghanaians from Nigeria in 1983 unleashed chaos at the Aflao border, where families were abruptly separated, and individuals faced uncertainty and distress. The film stands as a stark reminder of the human costs and complexities inherent in migration policies”.
