This paper traces the movement of Yoruba people into and out of Ghana since the nineteenth century. The paper examines the phenomenon from three points of analysis and through three “generations” of Yoruba immigration into and emigration from Ghana. The points of analysis, which approximately parallel the causes of the movements are: Economic (trade); Political (deportations); Service Industry (higher education and commerce). First we consider First Generation Yoruba immigrants into Ghana during the period up to the end of colonial rule. These immigrants, mostly Yoruba traders, served as a link between European commercial interests at the coast and the hinterland of Ghana as they broke-up bulk goods and sold these to inhabitants of the hinterland, making huge profits in the process. To date, statements such as: “You like money like a Yoruba man” are still heard in the hinterland of Ghana. Second generation Yoruba immigrants into Ghana were those who were invited by the first generation immigrants, now settled in Ghana, or who came on their own but were assisted upon their arrival by their kinsfolk. We also categorise the descendants of the first generation immigrants into this category. Their growing economic might, the galvanisation of the remnants of anti-colonial nationalism, the rise of international movements for national sovereignty over natural resources and other economic activities and the coming to power of a government which programmed to return the commanding heights of the economy to Ghanaians, led to the mass deportation of several aliens, including Yorubas from Ghana in the early 1970s. Before this, selective deportation of some rich Yorubas who were thought to be financiers of political opponents of the Nkrumah regime had taken place.

In the last decade, a third generation of Yoruba immigrants into Ghana is occurring, mainly in the educational sector. Many Nigerians, including Yorubas, now pursue higher education in Ghanaian Universities. If we add to this, The ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Goods and Services and the New Monetary Union involving Ghana and Nigerian that is in the works, it is not surprising that there is a significant Yoruba presence in Ghana. This paper also examines these latest phenomena. The paper concludes by examining in detail two key consequences of generations of Yoruba immigration into Ghana. The first is the practical difficulties of a group of basically detribalised Yorubas who have descended from the first and second generation Yoruba immigrants and who are strictly not Ghanaians under the citizenship laws of Ghana. The travails of these people as they are rejected and denied the rights attendant to citizenship in the only country that they have known, lived in and worked for are explored in some depth. Second, the paper examines the lives of a group of 100 Yoruba respondents on how they live their lives in a country that rejects them, what is left of their “Yorubaness”, and what moves they make in other to survive in an environment that is quiet hostile to persons with precarious citizenship statuses. The key purposes of this paper are: 1. To review the state of knowledge on diaspora history of the Yoruba in Ghana; 2. Introduce into the West African immigration discourse, other push and pull factors other than the predominant ones of civil strife and safe havens; 3. Discuss the daily struggles of aliens in a sister country and the role of law in worsening or alleviating their struggles; and 4. Point to ways in which a neglect of the concerns of some subgroups of the population results in a search for survival options that are less than optimal.