THE QUEST FOR AUTONOMY, NIGERIA AND FOREIGN MONOPOLY CAPITAL, 1966-1978
THE QUEST FOR AUTONOMY, NIGERIA AND FOREIGN MONOPOLY CAPITAL, 1966-1978
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Date
1980-03
Authors
Gana, Aaron Tsado
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
THE QUEST FOR AUTONOMY: NIGERIA AND FOREIGN MONOPOLY
CAPITAL: 1966-1978
Aaron Tsado Gana
At the time of Nigeria's independence in 1960, the
Nigerian economy was preponderantly in foreign (mainly
British) hands. The colonial administration's policy of
encouraging British private capital coupled with the
re-affirmation of 1956, by the federal and regional governments
that independent Nigeria would continue the open
economy policy of the colonial era, made the country the
investment target of European multionals, so much so
that by the end of the first decade of independence Nigeria's
dependence on international capital and technology
was almost total.
This overwhelming presence of foreign capital did
not escape the attention of the colonial as well as the
post-colonial governments, as reflected in the various
steps taken to use state power to mediate the conflict
between indigenous and transnational capital. The high
point of this mediation was the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion
Decree of 1972. This legislation, together with the
1977 Decree is the subject of this study. Seeking a balance
between nationalism and internationalism, the decrees aimed
at preserving certain sectors of the economy for the growing
business class while sharing the more sophisticated
sectors between national and international capital. The
decrees stipulated that businesses in Schedule I, believed
to be within the competence of indigenous expertise,
were, henceforth, the exclusive preserve of Nigerians.
Businesses in Schedule II-requiring considerable capital
and technical or entrepreneurial competence -were to have
a percentage of their equity sold to Nigerian individuals
or institutions. The 1972 decree stipulated 40 per cent but
this was raised to 60 per cent in the 1977 decree.
The study reveals that the 1972 decree, in spite of
its claim to scientificity (its authors having claimed
that it was the first real scientific approach to indigenization)
was careless in design and sloppy in implementation.
For instance, the policy-makers failed to evaluate
critically the size and capacity of the indigenous entrepreneurial
class to absorb the sudden flush of shares. The
result was the "unintended" outcome of "severe concentration
of ownership," as noted by the investigative panel
set up to enquire into the implementation of the decrees.
In addition, the lack of adequately staffed machinery to
supervise the transfer of shares lured many foreign investors
into various acts of subversion which, as the investigative
panel observed, could not have succeeded to the
extent that they did without the collaboration of Nigerians.
It was to redress the inadequacies of the 1972 decree
that the 1977 decree was promulgated. The tightening up of
the loose ends in the 1972 legislation did ensure not only
that the transfers were genuine and effective in terms of
ownership and control, but also that the spread of shares
was more inclusive. The main conclusion of the study is
that underdeveloped countries can, given the right leadership
and strategy, effectively tame multinational corporations
and direct their activities to accord with national
economic objectives. Thus contrary to the popular image of
omnipotent conglomerates dictating the direction of economic
and political activities of their host countries, this
study demostrates that political independence is an asset
of no mean value to an underdeveloped nation determined
to change the balance of power between the multinationals
and their host.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy
in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Keywords
QUEST,, AUTONOMY,, NIGERIA,, FOREIGN,, MONOPOLY,, CAPITAL,