Forging a Link: Diaspora Developmental Activities for the Homeland, The Case of Eko Club International

This paper focuses on relatively unknown Diaspora group (Eko Club International-ECI)) analyzing its activities both in the Diaspora and the homeland. My attempt is to present a tentative survey of the activities of the association within the last seven years. Despite being recent, the ECI has made remarkable impacts through social and developmental projects) members) monthly financial contributions) and networking with government in the homeland. Unlike exiting studies about Diaspora associations) this paper is not about remittances by Lagosians in the Diaspora. Rather) it is about their efforts at collective social and developmental projects for the homeland

British Anticommunist Policy and the Transfer of Power in Nigeria From the Late 1930s to 1960.

The subject of the thesis is the attempt to control communist influence by the British within the wider history of decolonization and the transfer of power in West Africa. It concerns the evolution and implementation of anti-communist policies in the colonies with special reference to Nigeria. It analyses British policy in Nigeria within the context of the Cold War and the efforts of the Western powers to secure the good-will of Nigerian leaders after independence. It suggests that the success of the various anti-communist measures marked the beginning of the special relationship between Britain and the emergent Nigerian elite which took the country into independence in 1960. The study reviews the role of the Nigerian Left in the light of new evidence and concludes that communism was of considerable significance during the terminal colonial history of Nigeria. It shows that decolonisation and the transfer of power consisted of more than constitution-making, economic and development planning, the Nigerianisation of the civil service and the institutionalisation of a parliamentary system and federalism. The study is an analysis of the transition from colonialism to independence which emphasises the involvement of the out-going colonial power in the development of Nigerian domestic politics in the 1950s

Britain and the development of leftist ideology and organisations in West Africa: the Nigerian experience, 1945-1965

Although organised Marxist organisations did not emerge in Nigeria until the mid-1940s, leftist ideology had been prevalent among nationalist and labour leaders since the late 1920s. Both official documents and oral histories indicate deep-rooted support for leftism in Nigeria and anxiety among British colonial officials that this support threatened the Colonial Office's own timetable for gradual decolonisation. This study analyses the development of leftist ideology and attempts to establish a nationwide leftist organisation in colonial and post-independent Nigeria. The role of the Zikist movement is retold in light of new evidence, while other leftist organisations are salvaged from the footnotes of Nigeria nationalist history. More importantly, the adaptability of Marxist-Leninist ideology to colonial reality by the different leftist groups in Nigeria is emphasized. The reaction of Anglo-American officials in Lagos and the metropolis towards the Communist Party of Great Britain and other leftist organisations' sponsorship of Marxist groups in Nigeria are discussed. Lastly, the continuity between the departing colonial power and the Balewa administration is addressed to juxtapose the linkage between the two governments. The study thus provides a lucid explanation for the failure of leftist ideology and organisations in Nigeria during the twentieth century. In this eight-chapter thesis I consistently argue, based on official documents from England, Nigeria, and the United States, that the role of Marxists and Soviet Cold War interests in colonial territories are relevant to nationalism and decolonisation in Nigeria; that the issue is not to determine or measure whether or not Anglo-American policies are direct response to Soviet interests; that there are political, economic, and diplomatic policies carried out as part of the transfer of power process; and that the success of these is partly a result of collaboration with local subaltern leaders and official resolve to institutionalise imperial preferences before independence on October 1, 1960.HistoryD.Litt. et Phil. (History

The International Labour Organisation and its Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV) in Africa on the Eve of the “Glorious” 1960s

 Dieser Artikel untersucht die Rolle und Bedeutung der International Labour Organisation (ILO) in den Arbeitsbeziehungen und bei der Arbeiterbildung im südlichen Afrika während der „glorreichen“ 1960er Jahre. Die Entstehung, Herausforderungen und Errungenschaften der ACTRAV-Aktiviäten in diesem Bereich werden historisiert. Die erfolgreiche Setzung internationaler Standards unterscheidet die ILO von vielen anderen internationalen Organisationen. Der Artikel untersucht den Stellenwert des subsaharischen Afrikas in den jährlichen Tagungen des International Labour Congress (ILC) und seinen 200 Konventionen und Empfehlungen am Vorabend der 1960er Jahre. Während diese Standards ursprünglich darauf zielten, direkte Arbeitnehmerrechte zu schützen, hat die ILO seit den 1930er Jahren begonnen, diese Funktion auf andere Felder wie soziale Sicherheit oder Beschäftigungspolitik auszuweiten. Der Artikel untersucht die Blaupause der ILO in Bezug auf den Aufbruch Afrikas in den 1960er Jahren und die ACTRAV-Ausbildungsmaßnahmen.This article examines the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) roles and impacts in labour relations and education in sub-Saharan Africa during the “glorious” 1960s. It historicise the genesis, challenges, and accomplishments in the area of labour union education – ACTRAV activities, its technical assistance programmes, Decent Work Projects, and its resolve to set international labour standards in sub-Saharan Africa. The setting of international labour standards is perhaps what separates the ILO from other international organisations as sub-Saharan colonies witnessed different levels of decolonisation during the post-World War II era. The article interrogates the place of sub-Saharan Africa in the mix of many annual sessions of the International Labour Congress (ILC) and its 200 conventions and a similar number of recommendations before the dawn of the 1960s. While the standards adopted in the early years were intended predominantly to protect workers in the physical performance of their work, as early as the 1930s the ILO had began to extend its standard-setting to a wider field of social policy, covering areas ranging from systems of social security to employment policy. The article examines the ILO’s Blueprint as it relates to its momentum in Africa and ACTRAV’s labour union education during the 1960s

The International Labour Organization

The book chapter describes the relationship between the ILO and the issue of African labour during the twentieth centur