Kalakuta

Nearly at wits’ end on how to resolve the myriad issues facing the Nigerian economy in the early ‘80s, the Shehu Shagari led administration experimented with a number of reform programs aimed at improving the lot of Nigerians. One of which was to expel unskilled and semi-skilled foreigners working in the country without valid residence or work permit. Pres. Shehu Shagari at a rally About 2 million immigrants were affected by the exercise which was wildly condemned by the international community, and did sever diplomatic relations between Nigeria and her West African neighbors. immigrants leaving the country The fact that little evidence exist to suggest that any far- reaching economic benefits stemmed from the exercise, has led many to believe that the government-sponsored expulsion was simply in retaliation for a similar policy enforced in Ghana in 1969.  While many account of the exercise wrongly refer to it as the expulsion of Ghanaians from Nigeria (perhaps understandably, due to t