Development and Diffusionism

Transcription

1 Development and Diffusionism

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3 Development and Diffusionism Looking Beyond Neopatrimonialism in Nigeria, Jeremiah I. Dibua

4 DEVELOPMENT AND DIFFUSIONISM Copyright Jeremiah I. Dibua, Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. First published in 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN in the United States a division of St. Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the World, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dibua, Jeremiah I., 1956 Development and diffusionism: looking beyond neopatrimonialism in Nigeria, / by Jeremiah I. Dibua. p. cm. 1. Economic development Government policy Nigeria. 2. Nigeria Economic conditions 20th century. 3. Nigeria Economic policy. 4. Nigeria Foreign economic relations. 5. Political corruption Nigeria. I. Title. HC1055.D dc A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Integra Software Services First edition: January

5 To my wife, Genevieve, and children, Ohiremen, Ihinosen, and Ohiole

6 List of Previous Publications Modernization and the Crisis of Development in Africa: The Nigerian Experience, 2006.

7 Contents List of Tables Preface and Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Maps ix xi xv xvii 1 Introduction: Neopatrimonialism, Eurocentric Diffusionism, and Development Planning 1 2 Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations of Development Planning 25 3 Colonial Planning and the Foundations of Eurocentric Diffusionism 47 4 Postcolonial Planning and the Dialectics of Neopatrimonialism 73 5 Planning and Agricultural Development in Bendel State Planning and Industrial Development in Bendel State Conclusion 169 Notes 185 Bibliography 223 Index 245

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9 List of Tables 3.1 Value of Some Cash Crops Exported from Nigeria, (in thousand pounds) Comparison of the Sectoral Allocation of Finance in the Ten-Year Plan ( ) and the Revised Plan ( ) Actual and Planned Capital Expenditure by Federal and Regional Governments and Statutory Authorities, by Sector 1955/ /62 (in million pounds) Types of Farm Cropping in the Bendel State School Leavers Farms Area Harvested and Yield at Agbede Farm, to Planting Seasons Area Harvested and Yield at Warrake Farm, to Planting Seasons Agricultural Loan Beneficiaries in Bendel State, Turnover and Profit/Loss Accounts of the Ukpilla Cement, Bendel Glass, and Bendel Brewery Companies, Turnover and Profit/Loss Accounts of Bendel Plastic and Bendel Pharmaceutical Industries, Bendel State Government-Owned Companies and Their Locations,

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11 Preface and Acknowledgments This book is a critical and extensive interrogation of the Weberian-influenced neopatrimonial paradigm that blames internal factors as solely or, at the very least, primarily responsible for Nigeria s development problems while exculpating external factors. The major shortcomings of the analyses are the privileging of theory over reality (many of the neopatrimonial analyses are often not based on extensive empirical studies and, therefore, anchored on generalizations), adopting an ahistorical perspective, displaying double standards in analyzing the African situation, and failing to acknowledge the inadequacies of the extraversion that underlined development policies, as well as other external factors. The neopatrimonial paradigm is one-sided and does not provide a full picture for understanding the fundamental factors responsible for the failure of development policies. However, in spite of the dominant and hegemonic position that neopatrimonialism occupies in the analyses of Africa s development trajectory, to the extent that it has become a master concept that is invoked in virtually every work by Africanists and development theorists, even in the face of lack of concrete empirical analysis or evidence, scholars have not critically engaged the paradigm. This work uses the case of developing planning in Nigeria to extensively and critically interrogate the neopatrimonial paradigm. The work also situates development planning within the context of the Eurocentric diffusionism through modernization that underlined the development process in Nigeria and, indeed, other African countries in the post World War II period. None of the works on development planning in Nigeria has examined the exercise through a critical interrogation of Eurocentric diffusionism. The existing works accepted the teleological notion behind development planning, thereby analyzing the plans from the perspective of the extent to which they were able to achieve or replicate supposedly universal predetermined ends and characteristics. This book states that Eurocentric diffusionism through modernization, which only attributes history to European societies while denying history or any form of meaningful autonomous development to African societies, fostered ethnocentrism and false universalism that negatively affected development planning in Nigeria. It points out that by denying agency to Nigerian societies while devaluing and denigrating the indigenous culture and realities, development planning ran into contradictory relationships with the indigenous realities, thereby negatively militating against the

12 xii Preface and Acknowledgments success of the exercise. Thus, contrary to the blame of neopatrimonialism as primarily responsible for the failure of development policies, Eurocentric diffusionism, as embodied in the modernization paradigm and the associated extraversion that constituted the theoretical foundation of development planning, played a significant role in the failure of the exercise. Coming to terms with the failure of development planning in Nigeria, therefore, entails going beyond the neopatrimonial paradigm. There are very few books that have examined development planning in Nigeria. Many of the existing books examined either colonial planning or a single planning exercise, mainly the first plan, Most of the studies that went beyond examining a single postcolonial plan only focused on a specific sector of the plans. The very few books that examined postcolonial development planning in Nigeria accepted the diffusionist modernization paradigm that underlined the planning exercise and analyzed the plans from the perspective of the extent to which they were able to modernize Nigeria. Invariably, they emphasized poor implementation and other internal factors as the main reasons behind the failure of planning. In addition, the books, which were mainly concerned with macro planning at the national level, examined the planning exercise from the perspective of official statistics and other official documents. This work goes beyond examining planning at the national level and the analyses are not based on only published, official documentary evidence. Using the former Bendel State of Nigeria as a case study, the work examines specific projects at the state and local levels, making use of published and unpublished materials, including records of various projects. In examining agricultural and industrial development policies in Bendel State, the book deconstructs the neopatrimonial analysis while providing a more robust, comprehensive, and critical analysis of the planning exercise and pointing out the crucial but mainly adverse roles of Eurocentric diffusionism, as embodied in the modernization paradigm. Bendel State, which was generally regarded as one of the most progressive states in Nigeria, was created out of the Western Region on August 9, 1963, and was then known as the Mid-Western Region. The name was changed to Mid-Western State in May 1967 with the creation of 12 states, and the name was again changed to Bendel State in February 1976, with the creation of 19 states while the territory that comprised the state largely remained intact, as was the case in 1987, when the number of states in Nigeria rose to 21. The creation of new states in August 1991, which increased the number of states to 30, resulted in the split of Bendel State into two states: Edo and Delta. The creation of six additional states in October 1996, thereby increasing the number of states to 36, left the Edo and Delta states largely intact. Under the federal system, the broad aims and objectives of the development plans of the state were expected to be drawn from those of the federal government, although the priorities emphasized by each state could be different. The case studies from Bendel State help provide useful insights into aspects of the planning exercise at the state and local levels in Nigeria.

13 Preface and Acknowledgments xiii This book also intervenes in the debate over the role that the state should play in the development process. Since most neopatrimonial analysts are sympathetic to the neoliberal perspective, they portray the failure of development policies as the crisis of developmentalism, as embodied in state-centrism. They therefore favor state minimalism. I argue that state minimalism is not the solution to Nigeria s development crisis. Nigeria needs an interventionist and developmental state; but the critical issue is the form and nature of the state. Furthermore, Nigeria needs a form of development planning that is internally generated and based on the concrete historical, cultural, and social realities of the country. Thus, a re-conceptualization of development strategies in Nigeria and other African countries is imperative. I want to thank Chris Chappell of Palgrave Macmillan for offering me the opportunity to write this book and for his gentle promptings during the period it took to complete the work. I am grateful to Onaiwu Ogbomo, Polycarp Ikuenobe, and Musa Abutudu, who read aspects of this book and offered insightful comments. I thank Ugbana Okpu, Mike Idehen, and Sam Ugbechie for the various contributions they made toward the successful completion of the book. Words cannot express the depth of my gratitude to my wife, Genevieve, and children, Ohiremen, Ihinosen, and Ohiole, for their love, insights, and invaluable contributions toward the completion of this book. It is, therefore, to them that I dedicate the book.

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15 List of Abbreviations ACB ACEDSW ADC ADP ASUU BFPB BLF CBN CDA CDB CDWA CDWF CEAC CIA CPO CSNRD DDC ECA EFCC EPU FAO GDP GNP IBRD ICPC IDC IFIs ILO IMF JPB JPC Agricultural Credit Bank Advisory Committee on Economic Development and Social Welfare Area Development Committee Agricultural Development Projects Academic Staff Union of Universities Bendel Food Production Company Bendel Livestock Farms Limited Central Bank of Nigeria Colonial Development Act Central Development Board Colonial Development and Welfare Act Colonial Development and Welfare Fund Colonial Economic Advisory Committee Central Intelligence Agency Central Planning Office Consortium for the Study of Nigerian Rural Development Divisional Development Committee Economic Commission for Africa Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Economic Planning Unit Food and Agricultural Organization Gross Domestic Product Gross National Product International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offenses Commission Industrial Development Center International Financial Institutions International Labor Organization International Monetary Fund Joint Planning Board Joint Planning Committee

16 xvi MAN MASSOB MFPC MIT/CIS NAAC NACB NAFPP NBCI NEAC NEC NEPAG NEPB NICs NIDB NISER NLC OFN OPC PDC SAP TNC UNDP USAID USICA List of Abbreviations Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra Mid-West Food Production Company Massachusetts Institute for Technology s Center for International Studies National Agricultural Advisory Committee Nigerian Agricultural Credit Bank National Accelerated Food Production Program National Bank for Commerce and Industry National Economic Advisory Council National Economic Council National Economic Planning Advisory Group Nigerian Enterprises Promotion Board Newly Industrializing Countries Nigerian Industrial Development Bank Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research Nigerian Labor Congress Operation Feed the Nation Oodua Peoples Congress Provincial Development Committee Structural Adjustment Programs Transnational Corporations United Nations Development Program United States Agency for International Development United States International Cooperation Administration

17 Maps

18 xviii Maps