shipping company. This was much closer tomy naval andmaritime experience. I approached the assignment with the same discipline I had brought from the Navy, describing what needed to be done as a “surgical operation” to address improper practices and strengthen the organisation. In January 1983, I was given an assignment that would test my leadership in an entirely different way. Following an order by the Nigerian Government under President Shehu Shagari requiring undocumented immigrants, including a large number of Ghanaians, to leave the country, I was appointedNational Coordinator of the National Task Force responsible for bringing our compatriots home. I travelled to Nigeria to assess the situation and returned to Ghana to coordinate what became known as “Operation Exodus.” Working from the Trade Fair site in Accra, we coordinated the return of approximately 1.2million Ghanaians by land, sea and air. Rather than establish permanent camps, as recommended by the local office of the UnitedNations Development Programme (UNDP) in Accra, we documented the returnees and helpedmove them to their respective regions, districts and communities. I also supervised the distribution of emergency relief supplies under the National Emergency Food Programme from 1983 to 1984. The integrity with which I handled the food distribution exercise received high commendation from the donor community and brought honour to Ghana. My performance on the Task Force subsequently encouraged the government to establish a permanent body to handle national emergencies and disasters, the National Mobilisation Committee (NMC), now the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), withme as its first Chairman. As Chairman of the NMC, I spearheaded the evacuation of another large number of Ghanaians who were deported fromNigeria, as well as fromCôte d’Ivoire, in 1985. I also established and nurtured a There was relief at being home, but also uncertainty. For many, their villages and families were still hundreds of miles away. Howwould they get there? And after years away, how would they begin again? At the Trade Fair site in Accra, the scale of the movement became clear. Families gathered as officials documented their arrival and organised transportation. At the harbours, more returnees arrived by ship and had to be received, registered and directed onwards. Our responsibility was not simply to bring them across the border. We had to receive themwith dignity and, most importantly, help them complete that final journey home. Leaving the Ghana Armed Forces in 1982 was a major turning point for me. The Navy had shapedmuch of my adult life, and suddenly I found myself stepping away from the uniform, the ships and the command structure that had become so familiar. I did not know exactly what the next chapter would bring, but I knew that my years of service had preparedme to contribute in other ways. Not long afterwards, Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, the Head of State, called onme to serve again. I was initially offered an appointment at the State Fishing Corporation, but I felt that it did not align closely with my professional background. The organisation also had a reputation at the time for practices that concerned me. As I put it, “I was not trained to be a fisherman.” I was subsequently appointed Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) Officer in Charge of Black Star Line, Ghana’s state Sports activities with some PNDC Secretaries of State, 1986 28 The Birthday Journal
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