Oil, state-capital and labour : work and work relations in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation

This study is, above all, about the men and women whose labour form the basis of Nigeria's economy and social stability: the petroleum workers. Those we will come across here, work in perhaps the most important single enterprise in Nigeria; the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The study itself was inspired by (i) an attempt to understand what work and work relations mean for these people, and (ii) by my dissatisfaction with the conventional wisdom in Industrial Relations analysis; which in the past years has inspired the regulation of the working lives of these petroleum workers as much as any group of employees in Nigeria. The study is on the NNPC, with special attention to the NNPC Refinery at Warri. The work itself is divided into three main parts; Part I, which is the Introductory section, is further divided in four chapters. Chapter 1 explores the main conceptual issues of this study, explains the research methods and examines some methodological issues that derive from the fieldwork. In Chapter 2, the labour process literature is reviewed, and this forms the analytical basis for the discussions in Parts II and III, while Chapters 3 and 4 provide the background information on Nigeria and NNPC respectively. Part U examines, under four chapters, the nature of work and processes of shopfloor relations in NNPC generally, with particular emphasis on the Refinery. Chapters 5 and 6 examine the nature of work and the internal labour market, while Chapters 7 and 8 look at the specific forms of relations on the shopfloor and their implications for shopfloor struggles. In Part III, I focus on unionism in the industry and the processes of interest mediation within the NNPC. The study takes conceptual issues with the main contributions to the Labour Process debate and argues for a more studied and coherent re-assesment of Braverman's work, by recognizing its theoretical and methodological objectives. The study concludes with a re-exposition of the main conceptual issues; first by emphasizing that it is only within the framework of a rigorous conceptual redefinition of production relations that we can overcome the limitations of conventional Industrial Relations discourse. Second, and central to this, is a re-conceptualized method of theory, which enables us to understand the socio-cultural peculiarities of each national or regional context, and overcome the limited vision of liberal-pluralist industrial relations ideology. In this sense, the study places strong emphasis on Marx's method of abstraction, both as a method of different levels of abstraction, and of one-sided abstraction. The Refinery, where the bulk of the field research was done, is located in the riverine belt of southern Nigeria. Although often referred to as Warri Refinery, the plant is situated in the Ethiope local government area of Bendel State, outside Warri (see Map A). This complication is a result of the settlement pattern in this area of southern Nigeria; Warri, for instance, is surrounded by tiny pockets of settlements, each with distinct lineage/clan history and traditional political autonomy. Two of such settlements are Jeddo and Ekpan villages which share the north-western borders with Warri, but in a separate local government area. It is on the territories of these two villages that the Refinery is located, although I will continue to refer to the plant as Warri Refinery

Reflections on aid and regime change in Ethiopia: a response to Cheeseman

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The Anatomy of a Bad Science: Reflections on Nattrass’ ‘commentary’

This Commentary is a response to a Commentary published in the May/June 2020 issue: Nattrass N. Why are black South African students less likely to consider studying biological sciences? S Afr J Sci. 2020;116(5/6), Art. #7864, 2 pages. https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2020/7864 Responses to the Commentary in the May/June 2020 issue have been published collectively in a special issue of Volume 116

Remittances and Household Welfare in Nigeria

Remittances remain among the most researched issues in contemporary international migrations, poverty alleviation, welfare dynamics and development financing in developing countries. This is particularly so as remittances continue to rival Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and it is being argued to be more effective in driving development than aid. While studies exist on influences of remittances on household welfare in developing countries, many more are needed to sufficiently understand the actual roles of remittances in households’ welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa- one of the poorest regions in the world. The relationship between remittances and household welfare has particularly not been sufficiently empirically tested in Nigeria- the most populous nation in Africa, among the poorest countries in the world and the highest remittances receiving nation in Africa. This article therefore examined the influence of remittances on households’ welfare in Nigeria. This is a very important article considering the increasing trend of migration and efforts to reduce poverty and inequality. Secondary and primary data were gathered for this article. Secondary data were gathered through documents, journal articles and newspapers, among others, while primary data were gathered through quantitative and qualitative methods between 2015 and 2016, Appreciable positive relationships were found between remittances and household welfare. Unlike many previous studies which claimed remittances receiving households mostly spend remittances on consumptions, more robust expenditure patterns were found. Expression of welfare was also found to be beyond the commonly noted to include important intangible welfare credits like community respect for remittances receiving households. It is concuded that development experts, partners, governments, groups and individuals should therefore better appreciate and appropriate both the financial and non-material effects of remittances on inequality and poverty in developing countries especially of Africa.

Men at work keep-off: male roles and household chores in Nigeria

Many extant studies and popular narratives have accounted for female mainstreaming in domestic roles. This has indeed become common rhetoric to the extent that literature documents the reality in most traditional African households and a few western ones. What is lacking however is the need to capture emerging issues in the same heavily traditional contexts. Hence, more works are needed in the area of objective women/men roles in the domestic realm. What then is the emerging scenario and even the old yet unaccounted for in gender relations in the traditional contexts of household chores? This article explores mainly Nigerian men’s views of the division of household labour. Using qualitative data from a sample of married Nigerian men, we examine men’s participation in housework, their attitudes towards the spousal roles, their attitudes toward men who share housework and sustainability of change. The role of background factors such as socio-economic status and level of education was also considered. This article is on an important topic and the findings could expose and teach processes of change in social norms particularly in the contexts of family.Keywords: Gender, Masculinity, Domestic Roles, Ibadan, Nigeri

Trado-modern medicine and growth in Nigeria: consequences of innovative processes’ adoption

Traditional medicine is becoming increasingly popular across the world. However, its growth potentials have been understudied and poorly appreciated due to existing global political economy of health and many surrounding informal processes. This article therefore investigated the developments of traditional medicine in Nigeria as it appropriates conventional and modern innovative (unconventional) infrastructures to enhance effectiveness, acceptance and growth. Traditional medicine is very critical for growth given its widespread use in developing societies somewhat leading to its increasing capacity to contribute to growth and development in Africa against the backdrop of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hence, better understanding of the trajectories of traditional medicine in a Megacity of Africa is important to enhance policy and practice for possible achievement of the SDGs in Africa. The end product of adoption of innovative modern processes in the preparation, packaging, marketing, distribution and utilization of traditional medicine were explored and described as Trado-modern Medicine in this article. The study was conducted in Nigeria. Primary and secondary data were collected. While secondary data were gathered through learned articles, newspaper clippings, official unclassified documents and so on, ethnographic and survey research approaches were adopted in primary data collection- through In-depth Interviews (IDIs), Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and questionnaires. Many findings were made, among them; Trado-modern medicine is, in some ways, contributing to development, health care, job creation, economic activities, growth and development in Nigeria and Africa. Valid conclusions were reached and sustainable recommendations given in the article.Keywords: Trado-modern Medicine, Development, Growth, Lagos, Nigeria

Gender paradoxes and agricultural monopoly in Nigeria: implications for policy and food (in)security in Africa

There is no doubt that Africa today is food challenged (insecure) and confront huge poverty despite the fact that much of African lands are arable and suitable for agriculture. This is essentially paradoxical. While policies and scholarly attempts have focused the roles of mechanization, processing, subsidies, redistribution, export and, recently, climate change, the role of gender relative to sustainability, social justice, exclusion/inclusion and agricultural optimization for food security remains largely policy and scholarly appendages. This is however not surprising given the patriarchal econo-social and power relations in most African societies only also playing out in land and agricultural space. It is impossible to have agriculture without the important roles of women, as women are responsible for about 80 percent of agricultural productions through their small farm holdings. Yet, local and global monopolies do not factor in the role of women sufficiently and often marginalize women thereby creating a gulf of sidelined critical gender mass. This gender sidelining is not only in terms of access to land, but also in terms of access to inputs, food and agricultural commodity markets that are mostly male dominated. This is more so in exchange and transactional terms as well as at policy domains. This paper thus maintains that the continued lack of real, substantial and practical appreciation of the role of women in agriculture through policies, interventions and practices contributes highly to the high level of food insecurity and policy failures in Africa and this only demonstrate the unsustainability of current lopsided agricultural monopolies in Africa. This paper brings useful Nigerian case studies that will contribute immensely to the ongoing debate on the problematic in manners that will enrich scholarship, policy and practice on the continent