Exodus of the Unwanted

By Marguerite Johnson

By land, sea and air, expelled aliens head for home and harder times

On the cab of a battered and overloaded Toyota van waiting at the border between Nigeria and neighboring Benin was the unintentionally ironic sign NO CONDITION IS PERMANENT. The statement was all too true for the score of Ghanaians packed inside, and for as many as 800,000 of their countrymen who had suddenly been ordered to leave Nigeria. By truck, boat and plane, they streamed out of the country last week, carrying what possessions they could. Many of them were hungry and sick. All of them were hurrying to meet the Feb. 1 deadline for their expulsion. Along the way, at least 34 participants in the chaotic exodus died of starvation, in accidents or from other hardships.

The unwanted aliens had come to Nigeria over the past five years to take jobs created by the country's oil boom. But Nigeria's economic bubble has been punctured by the recent decline in world oil prices. On Jan. 17, Minister of Internal Affairs Alhaji Ali Baba announced that the alien workers, most of them illegal entrants to black Africa's most populous state (85 million), had two weeks to leave the country. The suddenness of the decree sparked a panic among the Ghanaians and some 700,000 other foreign workers from Benin, Togo, Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

Within a day or two, hundreds of thousands had left their jobs and started looking for transportation to take them home. Ghana Airways scheduled six flights a day from the Nigerian capital of Lagos to Accra, Ghana's capital, and some 10,000 Ghanaians paid $60 each to go home in relative comfort. The Ghanaian government sent six ships to collect thousands of its stranded citizens who began packing the docks in Lagos the day after the expulsion order. By the time the first ship arrived, more than 30,000 people were waiting on the quays. In the scramble to get aboard, several plunged into the harbor; at least one drowned. "It was crazy," said a Nigerian port official. "Fights broke out, and the police had a hard job controlling the crowd." Those who missed the first ship camped out amid gathering piles of garbage, grateful for the harmattan, a breeze of Saharan dust that blotted out the sun and kept temperatures down from the usual 90DEG F. Women nursed babies in the shadow of cargo sheds, while vendors of fruit, bread and illegally distilled local spirits set their wares out in the open.

Most of the expelled workers chose to make the 275-mile trip to Accra overland and their journey was often a nightmare. Separated from Nigeria by the narrow countries of Togo and Benin (see map), Ghana is ruled by Flight Lieut. Jerry Rawlings, who seized power for the second time 13 months ago. Rawlings had ordered all his borders with neighboring countries to be closed last September in an effort to wipe out smuggling and assuage his own fears about an external coup plot said to involve foreign mercenaries.

To prevent too many Ghanaians from piling up in Benin and Togo, both countries had to close their frontiers temporarily. By the time Rawlings opened his border twelve days after the expulsion order, there were hundreds of thousands of people camped out on the road from Lagos. Food and water were in short supply, and the roadsides had become foul-smelling repositories of garbage and excrement. The border finally opened, and the caravan of vehicles loaded with household possessions, including shiny new radios destined for resale in Ghana, inched forward in the heat across Togo and Benin.

Nationals from countries bordering Nigeria had a much easier time. But the repatriation was frequently marred by acts of abuse. Some reported that Nigerian police had taken their possessions or asked for bribes to permit them to pass. Edward Konto, a Ghanaian construction worker, said a friend of his had been relieved of his radio, watch and money by a policeman. Konto was luckier. Piled on top of his taxi were a mattress, a battered suitcase containing his clothes, a bicycle, and a new Japanese shortwave radio. "I plan to sell it as soon as I get home," he said.

The immediate response of most of the governments involved was muted, though Chad called the expulsion "sudden and brutal." Among those expelled, the reaction for the most part was resignation. "We just want to go home," said Joseph Nartuy, who had come to Nigeria from Ghana three years ago to work as a painter for $250 a month, three times what he could have earned in Accra. "The Nigerians never liked us, and it would be dangerous to stay on now."

Most Ghanaians, for that matter, were well aware that their own government, pleading economic problems, had expelled 50,000 Nigerians in 1969. Since then, there have been several other expulsions of foreign workers. Moreover, most of those returning to Ghana last week were young men recently arrived in Nigeria who had left their families in Ghana. The money they and other foreign workers sent home had become extremely important to the economies of Nigeria's poorer neighbors. Said a Western diplomat in Lagos: "If there were a million Ghanaians here and they each sent $5 home each week, that's more than $250 million a year, a huge amount of money for a debt-ridden country like Ghana."

The official Nigerian explanation for the expulsion was that foreigners had been involved in religious riots and had played a role in the growth of both petty and organized crime. While there was some truth in those allegations, the reasons more likely stem from Nigeria's parlous economy as the country approaches a national election later this year, the second since the return to civilian rule in 1979. Oil production fell to around 800,000 bbl. per day last month because of weak world demand. The government's ambitious development plans, meanwhile, are based on expectations of revenue from 2 million bbl. per day, the level of output in 1980.

That dramatic decline has forced the government to draw on its foreign currency reserves, which are now down to around $1 billion, enough to cover a single month's imports. Although Nigeria's long-term debt is a relatively low $15 billion, the government is having problems putting together the financing for major projects. Several developments, including the construction of a new national capital at Abuja, have been cut back. Said a Western diplomat: "The government couldn't afford to allow foreigners to hold down jobs while increasing numbers of Nigerians were out of work."

The unemployment problem is also likely to be a crucial campaign issue. President Alhaji Shehu Shagari and his broad-based National Party of Nigeria are expected to triumph over the four opposition parties, but it could be an uncomfortably close race. Said a Nigerian journalist: "Throwing out the foreigners was a very popular move among Nigerians, who are a xenophobic lot in the best of times." The government is allowing skilled foreigners to stay until the end of the month in order to register for employment and obtain permits to remain in Nigeria. But few are expected to do so. "Being identified as a Ghanaian can lead to trouble at home or in the streets these days," said a Western official. "People are frightened." Some factories, particularly in the textile industry, were forced to close down when their foreign workers suddenly left. In the shantytown of Moroko, a preserve of foreign workers, a security firm put up a blackboard in the market. It read: "Wanted urgently, 50 security officers, 20 dog handlers and 2 cleaners."

Back home, the Ghanaians were promptly taken to the world trade center on the outskirts of Accra, where they were fed and documented before going on to their villages in the interior. Doctors and nurses were on hand to provide medical checks but reported few cases of illness or serious malnutrition. The U.S. turned over 60 tons of grains and edible oils to relief agencies caring for the new arrivals, and also supplied emergency foods to the Togo and Benin governments.

While the Ghanaian government officially welcomed back its citizens, there were fears in Rawlings' year-old administration that the influx could pose difficulties. Since Rawlings seized power, his left-leaning government has suffered from internal feuds and a growing sense of disenchantment among those who at first supported it. Government officials said that food resources would be strained, and there will be few jobs for people returning. Many factories are already operating at only 15% of capacity. One move that was applauded by all, however, was the decision to suspend collection of customs duties at the borders, an action perhaps taken more of necessity than in good will.

--By Marguerite Johnson. Reported by John Borrell/Lagos

With reporting by John Borrell This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.