Ethiopian Airlines has implemented a prohibition on the usage of ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bags during all of its flights departing from Nigeria.
This restriction was officially communicated through a letter dated November 24, 2023, signed by Henok Gizachew, the airline’s Manager of Airport Services. The letter was addressed to the Regional Manager of the Federal Airports Authority Of Nigeria (FAAN).
“The use of Ghana-Must-Go [bags] as a means of packing baggage has cost the airlines huge loss and also damaging the converyor belt system, not only on our flight but also on other foreign airlines, hence the prohibition,” the letter stated.
The only condition under which the airline will allow users of the bag to continue to use them to package their luggage is when they are well packed in cartons of a hardcover of rectangular size.
The ban took effect on November 25, 2023.
“Please be informed that effective November 25, 2023, the usage of Ghana-Must-Go to travel on our flight is hereby prohibited,” the letter read.
What is the origin of Ghana Must Go?
In the late 1960s, both the Nigerian and Ghanaian governments initiated a series of forced removals targeting each other’s citizens. The first major expulsion occurred in Ghana in 1969, while Nigeria carried out the largest deportation in 1983, affecting over one million Ghanaians. Subsequent smaller expulsions took place in Nigeria in 1985 and the years that followed.
These actions were not only an exercise of the state’s authority to define its national community but also had a detrimental impact on the principle of free movement within Africa. Drawing on records from Nigeria and other sources, ‘Ghana Must Go’ contextualizes these expulsions within the broader historical framework of law and nationality policies in the British Empire.
The ability to carry out mass deportations was facilitated by colonial-era legal principles that linked political membership to indigeneity, often through codified ‘customary’ laws.
Although the immediate causes of the expulsions in the 1960s and 1980s were rooted in economic resentment, the failure of regional cooperation, and the strained diplomatic relationship between Ghana and Nigeria, they were ultimately enabled by this legal framework.
The durable, checked bags in which they packed their belongings have since become a powerful symbol of exclusion and intolerance. Nearly forty years later, the region has yet to address the emotional baggage resulting from these events.
