Macroeconomic Policies and Pro-Poor Growth in Nigeria

Recently the depth and severity of extreme poverty in Nigeria has been alarming. And over the years, the government undertook some macroeconomic policies with the aim of reducing, if not totally eradicating poverty. These policies were expected to at least raise the standard of living of Nigerians. The impact of these policies on alleviating poverty has been contentious. Some studies in the past have argued that the poor has benefited more from these policies while some found that there was positive real growth yet poverty and inequality still worsened. This can be traced to the nature of growth pursued and the macroeconomic policies that underline it. This study empirically evaluates macroeconomic policies vis-?-vis pro-poor growth in Nigeria using secondary data covering the period 1960-2000. The study found among others that economic growth in Nigeria has been slightly pro-poor. This implied that growth was actually weakly pro-poor. Also, those that are far below the poverty line have not really been enjoying the benefits of growth. Infact, the benefits getting to them has been decreasing at an increasing rate. More so, economic growth in rural areas will be slightly more pro-poor than in urban areas. Overall, growth in Nigeria is not necessarily always pro-poor. --

Establishment of the Nigerian Railway Corporation

Making use of previously unused Colonial Office records at the National Archives in Kew, including newspaper reports, interviews with staff of the Nigerian Railway, and debates in the Federal House of Representatives, this study examines the forces that dictated the establishment of the Nigerian Railway Corporation. It argues that the primary reason why the British colonial government established the corporation was to assist foreign interests in Nigeria by distancing itself from the direct management of labor relations between the Nigerian colonial state and the militant trade unions in the Nigerian Railway and other commercially oriented government departments. By placing the day-to-day management of these departments beyond the immediate reach of ambitious Nigerian nationalists who were anxious to quickly take over the control of the colonial state, the colonial government undermined the ability of local elite to build their weak economic base

Evaluation of Monetary Policy Outcomes and Its Effect on Price Stability in Nigeria

This study examined the effect of monetary policy outcomes on macroeconomic stability in Nigeria. Data was gathered for a time frame of 1985 to 2010 from the CBN statistical bulletin. A simplified ordinary least squared technique stated in multiple forms was applied to the data after ensuring data stationarity. At 5% significant level, none of the variables are statistically significant. The insignificant statistics between monetary policy, gross domestic product, credit to the private sector, net credit to the government and inflation in Nigeria, suggest that monetary policy as a policy option may have been inactive in influencing price stability. These considerations suggest that sound fiscal policies will be an important component of the policy mix if the move to price stability is to be sustained and credible. Keywords: Monetary policy; price stability; fiscal policy; money supply

Learning in Local Systems and Global Links: The Otigba Computer Hardware Cluster in Nigeria

Conventional wisdom suggests to the fact that poor countries are unlikely to be host to a “high-technology” sector and doing so within the organization of small and medium enterprises. This paper examines an unusual phenomenon of industrial organization in an African setting; the emergence of a cluster of an information technology hardware cluster in a very late industrializing country, Nigeria. The evolution of the Otigba Computer Hardware Village (OCV) in Lagos, Nigeria has proceeded largely without direct support from the state and indeed within a decidedly hostile institutional and arid infrastructural environment. Yet the cluster has thrived, thus far, with institutional support of a local trade and manufacturing association. The study holds important lessons for late industrializing countries entering into a knowledge intensive sector.learning, innovation system, computer hardware, clusters

Claude Ake On Depsychologising Socio-Economic Problems of Africa And Its Public Services

Modern public services in Africa were the creation of European colonialism. They were established at first to assist in the exploitation of the continent’s resources. From this small beginning they later expanded to cover many services catering for the lives of African colonial people. When African nationalists took over governance and the public services, they decided to use them to engineer great political, economic, and social development. At first, the public services recorded some amazing successes, but as a result of many factors, not least poor leadership Africa’s public services since the 1960s have been bedeviled by many problems, including inability to lift many Africans from abject poverty. These problems have led some scholars, commentators and outsiders to hastily conclude that these are indeed congenital and inherent failures of Africans. This is “psychologising” the problems of Africa in its people. Relying on Claude Ake’s theoretical formulation on the state in Africa, this essay debunks this redundant thinking of uninformed analysts by locating the real socio-economic problems of Africa and its public services in the inherited colonial state, which lacks autonomy and is thus the booty of dominant political faction in power at a given time. The resultant battle by other factions with the dominant class in what is truly an intra class conflict leads to over-politicization of the public services. This latter process according to Ake is indeed the de-psychologising of Africa’s problem. Ake does not provide any direct and specific solution to the problems identified; one of the key omissions made by Ake, especially with regards to Africa’s public bureaucracies. As a solution to the conundrum, the state in Africa and its public services have found themselves the essay concludes that the mixed economy system as in the Scandinavian countries should serve as a model for Africa. This will help to reduce if not eradicate poverty and assist in the rebuild of Africa’s public services. Key words: Ake, state, psychologising, depsychologising, public service. DOI: 10.7176/JAAS/81-06 Publication date: April 30th 202

Corruption and Economic Growth in Nigeria (1980-2013)

Corruption is as aged as the existence of man and it exists in all sphere of human life. The  persistency  of  corruption  erodes  the  social  economic  value  of  a  nation. The study investigates the relationship between corruption and economic growth in Nigeria, in the period 1980-2013, using the VAR analysis. The study finds the existence of long-term relationship between corruption and unemployment growth on the economic growth of Nigeria. Also, the study found no short-term relationship in corruption and unemployment on economic growth. Hence, the result in the analysis shows that corruption positively has a strong influence on the output of Nigeria. So the rise in growth rate experienced in Nigeria is influenced by high corruption rate in the country, which is making the few rich to be richer, eradicating the middle class and making the poor to be poorer. Therefore, there is a need to develop political will to prosecute anyone found guilty of corruption irrespective of their position, tribe, religion or party affiliation. Such a punishment would also serve as a deterrent to others and help improve real economic growth and development

The Implication of Corruption on Sustainable Development in Africa: (Using Nigeria as a Case Study)

The scenario of the rise of corruption in Africa particularly in Nigeria is so much a problem. It cuts across the various Private Sectors including different tiers of government. This research paper applied collected secondary data from library materials, government publications, journals, the internet and daily newspapers. The kernel of the research paper is on the facts that corrupt practices among the class of political leadership have led to the undermining of the stability and growth of the country\u27s economy. Also, it is discovered that corruption maximizes the poverty level that triggers criminal exercises in the Nation. The paper suggests that corrupt leaders need to be probed as well as demanded to return the stolen and embezzled money. Apart from the setting up of anti-corruption organizations, these organizations should no more be under the influence of the executive organ of government but under the dominance of the Judiciary particularly the Apex Court

Seeds of Passage

Author\u27s abstract: Seeds of Passage is an exhibition of sculptural ensembles I have created with found-objects, musing the Nobel Prize winning play, Death and the Horsemen, by Wole Soyinka. The play is based on the incident that took place in 1946 in the western region of Nigeria, when the cosmological traditions of a colonizing power clashed with those of the indigenous culture. I use found (repurposed) objects to create many of my works. Three primary concepts guide my work: 1) latent energy - the memory or accumulative consciousness of the object, 2) the Sieving Process - the selection of individual parts from the local cache of materials, and 3) the pervasiveness of the material. Influenced by objects found in my late mother\u27s collection in 1993, I have designed sculptural forms to bubble in latent energy and to emphasize subject area relationships between theatre and the visual arts; used found-object in exploring the cycle-of-objects; objects-to geographic location-to social class-to sculptural form-to collective object, and the wooden palette-plinths symbolize the cyclic nature of the found-object. Gestured forms in each subject pose of the collection are designed to be as telling as to objects for aesthetic pleasure and more importantly of educational resource for viewers. I argue that found-objects are repurposed materials and thus are essential elements of organization of my sculptural form

The Proliferation of Churches in Modern Nigeria: A Socio-Political and Economic Reconsiderations

The Nigeria geo-political landscape is dotted with the presence of various Christian churches and ministries to the chagrin of even onlooker. What teases the imagination of Nigerians is that in spite of the presence of these Christian churches and ministries, Nigeria is notoriously noted for corruption. It is this bewildering situation that elicited the researcher to beginning a critical investigations of the phenomenon of proliferation of Churches in Nigeria. The researcher finds histo-sociological and philosophical method relevant in executing the research. At the end of the research, the findings yield that the proliferation of churches and ministries in Nigeria is occasioned by variety of factors depending on historical epoch [pre-independent period, the 1960’s -1970’s, 1970’s -1980’s and 1980 to the present]. Notably, the 1980’s period made it obvious that it was economic down-turn that gave birth to such Christian churches and groups. The new church groups therefore became somewhat an escape route for the timing population of Nigerians, more especially the youth, who could no longer find future in Nigerian polity and society.  Here the church offered and still offers hope in a seeming forlorn situations. The conclusion of this work therefore is in spite of the various criticism levelled against the mushrooming of churches and ministries in the Nigerian geo-political scenery, their presence has been quite relevant in maintain stability as Nigeria would have been more awful than the European society of Thomas Hobbes’s description. Keywords: The Proliferation, Churches, Modern Nigeria, Socio-Political, Economic

JORA: Complete Volume 3, Issue 1

The Journal of Retracing Africa (JORA) is pleased to release its third volume. This volume builds on the foundation of excellence and intellectual rigor evident in the two previous volumes. JORA has remained committed to its mission to deconstruct misconceived, mistaken, and missing narratives on Africa and Africans by providing a holistic appreciation of the African experience. The articles and book reviews published in this volume honor that commitment. They highlight the often overlooked or misunderstood social and economic issues surrounding colonial and contemporary Africa. The implications and ramifications of Africa’s encounters with the West, especially since the 19th century will continue to engage the attention of Africanists. By focusing on the exploitation of child labor for profit in colonial Kenya, the corporatization of the Nigerian railway to satisfy mostly British selfish economic interests, and the powerful corporate financial interest undermining meaningful regulation of tobacco usage in Nigeria, our authors provide a lens to better understand the roots of some of the challenges facing the continent