The Other Side of Nigeria's Civil War

30 Pages·1970·47.808 MB·English

by  Africa Research Group

price 50¢
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t
i .
of ig ri .,
Civil-W r.
A NECESSA Y TRODUCTION
The ndofNigerill's civilwar wiN'fI1IlTkfor many
an e ofconsciousnessabout the tensions
inA rica's most populous country.
For threeyears, westerners havegrown accustomed
to lancingat the /Qtesr body count, orstaring, unbelievingly,
at th week's bestatrocity photo.
On the left, the issue was 1Ilrgelyavoided.
Few rlldicals could trust the slick adverts which soldBiafra's plight;
on the other hand theNigerilm's talk of"unity" seemed empty.
Wh .there wasdebate, slogansfrequently were substitutedfor a1l/llysis.
The nspiracy theorists blamed iton the ClA. .
Black 1IQtionaiistsupheld the principleofunity atall costs
whilea strange collectionofgenuineradicals, many
moreMcCarthy liberals, andafrightening number
ofright wing zealotsjumped to Biafra'sdefense.
Very jew critics took a hard look atNigeria itself,
its c structureand economicdependency.
Seld mwas the war located eitherin the country's
hist ricaldevelopment orits place in the world economy.
Th e have been few seriousattempts at radicalanalysis.
In th pages thlltfollow, we willattempt one.
Originally, we setout to write abook.
The ~ sk proved,{rankly, to difficultfor us to complete
at this stageoftheAfricaResearch Group'sdevelopment.
So w 've condensedourfindings and summarizedourconclusions.
Asy u willsee, in the two sections which follow,
many ofoW'formu/Qtions are still tentative.
There is moreres ch to bedone.
We nOtexpect this to be the final word, or
our st contribution on the subject.
We vedecided to publish it now in hopes ofprovoking
adiffi ent type ofdiscussion aboutNigeria and imperialism itsel//
one which pinpoints the natureofunderdevelopment
and
the transition from colonialism to neocolonialism.
We pe it will stimulate more thoughtsas to the methods
ofefficliveaction which can chaUengeand change
thos institutionsand systems which oppressd
so "1"ny ofthe world's peoples.
April 1970
p•• ' ]I 213
c••hrid~..... 138
ies '
u .
"Anotherthingwhichbothersusis
that,intheEasternHe'misphere,Ameri
canattentionseemstobedirectedsolely
towardAsia. Inthisconnection,Ithink
thatitisveryimportanttorealizethat
Nigeria,likeLiberia,isledbyAmericans
aswellasbyAfricans; thatalthoughwe
havesufferedundertheBritishinthe
past,wehavenotyethadanyCommun
ists; andthatthetypeofdemocratic
governmentwhichweareevolvingprom
isestobearelativelystableone; we
hopethatwearegoingtobeableto
achieveourgoalwithinfiveortenyears
bypeacefulmeans. Inotherwords,
foreigninvestmentwillbesafewithus,
becausewearenotfanatics."
S.l. Ojo
Harvard usinessReview
July-August 1952
Oth r Sid
g ria's Civil Wi r
A CLASSBASED PROBEINTO THEWAR'S ORIGINS AND IMPLICATIONS
ThewarinNigeriaisover. Whatwasit allabout? 'sidesthroughmassive reliefoperati nsand along
Many peoplehave preferred.not to ask themselvesthis plannedprogramofreconstruction. Whenone saw
questionbecause the dynamicsofthewarwere so elu theclass reunion ofmilitary elites nd their civil
siveand itsmeaningso unclear. Therewere many,too servants,the meaningofreconstruction,and per
man~~ho took positionsinsteadofofferingexplana hapsthe destruction aswell,reveale itselfas an
tions. They did soopportunelyin the face ofgrowing obscene calculation. Reconstructi nplanswere
pressurefrom rival politicalgroupsor simplyout of beingnurturedby theWorld Bank and the Ford
frustration WIththeirowninability to counterthe ad Foundationto whom thewar repres nted an oppor
vertisementssellingone sideorthe other. tunity to accelerate modernization and expand Amer
ican penetrationofNigeria'seconomy. One year
ThedeathimageryofBiafra'sstruggle triggered-
before the war ended,theNew York Times reported
asitwasintendedto--intenseemotionalreactions.
from Lagos: "Expertswho believ that the civil
Thedefinition ofgenocide became the issue,rather
war providesa rare opportunity to rebuild the country
thanthe meaningofthewaroritscauses. Television
estimate that Nigeriawill need nearly $240 million for
'presentedthe war asaspectacleoftribalism. Too
any effective reconstructionofroa sand bridges."
oftenthose who opposed the simplicityofthe net
workssawthe war inequallycrudetermsasabattle
The confusionsgenerated by thewar con
for oil.
tinued in itsafterJ!lath. ~ftervowing to never
None ofthisanswered the questionofwhat the surrenderhis "Biafran revolution" .ukwu
warwasall about. What hasyet to be dealtwithis fled only toproclaim from exile that Biafra would
theclassnature ofthe conflict and its relationto live as longas he did. Meanwhile, his loyal cron-
Americancapitalism. Thefirst 'stepisto reject the ies surprised all observersby the easewithwhich
notionthat therewere onlytwo'sidesto the war. In they sued for peace. More surprisingstillwas
every sense,the real issueswere not the onespre the fact that the longexpected an honestly
sented to usby either the rulersofNigeriaorBiafra, feared "final solution" to the "Ibo problem"
ortheirgreat powerallies. Peoplehavegot to avoid never materialized. No sooner had peace broken
out than did the U.S. Secretary of tate pay a
falling into the trap-asthey are conditioned daily
todo-ofchoosingfrom alternativesframed in re friendly visit. As Nigeria patches itselfupwith
acti~nary terms. alittle help from its friends, neocol nialism seems
there to stay. Only aclass based anarysiscan pene·
Reconciliation after the-war hasgiven new life .trate and explain the r's originsand larger Inean-
to the middle classmodernizingelitesfrom both ingfor Africa-and us.
~.,
A permanent wish for identifica ·on -tit
A Framework the bourgeois representatives of the mother
country is to be found among the native
Thereare some thirteen majornationalitiesin
intellectuals and merchants.-
Nigeria. Thismos i ofethnicgroupsisinterwoven
Frantz Fano14
withthe classforces m~ingNigeria'shistory. The
problemof aclass- ased"analysis ismadedoublydif
ficult by the econ .micspecializationofthe ethnic Theseclassforcesdeveloped unevenly in two
groupsand the regi nalframework inwhichthey are respects: they emerged at4i(t~r~iit "momentsinhis
situated. Before independence in1960therewere tory and they tended to dominate specificgeographic
threeregions,each"!lominatedbyamajorethnicgroup areaswithinNigeria'seconomy. TheNorthernEmirs
and basedonthe r ductionofseparate cashcrops: -" exercisedtheirinfluence overthecentralgovernment
amassive orth,themost populousand leastdeveloped from afeudal base inthe North; th~mercantilebour
region,ruled by the Hausa-Fulani people producing geoisie consolidated itspoweraroundthe regionalcen
mainlycottonand round-nuts; acocoa-richandvola tersin the East andWest; the influenceofthemiddle
'd~mi~:
tileWest,runbyth Yorubas; and the Ibo heartland, classwasconcentrated inLagos. Eachofthese
producerofpalm itandrubber,whichheld sway over nant classforces felt itsown positionbeingundermined "
the East. Inadditi n,eachregion"had itsowntensions bythe generalcrisisexperiencedby Nigeriaduringthe
between the dominantethnicgroupsand the minority postindependence period. Theywerethreatenedby
groupslike theTivin the Northand the Ijaw,EfIk and the growinginsecurityandthesporadicrevoltofthe
Ibibioin the East. With theexceptionoftheMidwest und~rclasses-the farmers,migrantworkersandurban
Region, the rubberproducingareawhichwascarv proletariat-whowere uffl ringeconomics agnation
outoftheWestin1 63,the three regionsremained in and socialrepression at the handsofthe rulinggroups
tact until shortly b fore the civilwarwhen theywere at alllevels.
divided into tw Iv tatesby th Federal overnment. M st pe piehaY beenled to believethatth w
wasprincipally afight between the Northernersand
The regionsh developed unevenly over the years
the Ibos. This perspectivewasstampedindeliblyin
so that thewealthwasconcentrated mainly in the South
people'smindsby the 1966massacresofIbosinthe
ern two regions-the East and theWest-particularly since
North. Actually thisnorth-southaxishadbeenviewed
the mushrooming itindustry had sprungupinthe East
foryearsas the burningissue inNigeria'spolitics. The
ernandMidwestern Regions. Lagos,the capitol city
war'ssignificance,however,waspreciselythat it bro~e
locatedon the coast,had itsown special statusas the
centerofcolonial vernment and the placewhere British theold political mold basedon regionalpowerand
tradingcompanies rainedwealth from the regions. asserted the dominance ofLagos. Thewarwasnot
fought betweentwo regionalpowers,nortwo tribes
igeria had p ssed throll hseveral stagesofunder
the Northernersand the Ibos. Itwasfought between
development since i sfirst contactswithEurope-from
Lagosand Biafra-between the urbanmiddleclassand
slave tradingto oil. Each phase saw the formation ofdif
the regional hinterland. Thewarweakenedallregional
ferent classforceswithin the regions and in Lagos to
power-whether itwasthat ofthe feudal Emirsor the
mediate theforeign exploitationofthe country's resources.
nascent capitalistclasses-andstrengthenedthe city.
By 1960three cIa forces were dominant: the traditional
Thosewho continue toview the Northernersas
elites,the mercantil bourgeoisie and the middle class.
the dominant powerin LagosunderGowonfail to
realize that the transition to neocolonialismischang
1. Thetradit; naleliteswere mostly Emirs
ing the nature ofNigeria'sdependency and,therefore,
orChiefswho ruled African society before
itsclassbase. The pogromsorganized bythe tradition
the Europeanscame and whose collaboration
al elites in the North,whose leader theSardunaof
with the ritishenabled the latter to main ~okotowas assassinated duringthe first coup
tain contr lover the ruralareas producing
which led to General Agu!yi-Ironsi's rise to power in
the maincashcrops-ground-nuts,cocoa,
January 1966,werenot-assome have claimed-plotted
palmfruit and rubber·-which were the major
by theCIA or supported by Americanbusinessmen.
sourceofwealth during the colonial peri<?d.
That isone reason why Americanofficials inLagos
2., Themercantilebourgeoisiewere African backed the moderate YakubuGowon insteadofthe
traderswh se economic poweroriginally Northerf.l secessionistswhen the second coupoccurred
developed from their organization ofthe inJuly 1966. .
slaye trade but whose function was re
There were segmentsofBritishofficialdomwho
stricted t etty tradingduring the early
apparently believed in Northern reactionbut they,
colonial riod-only to re-emergeasa
like the Emirs,were no longer the modern representa
nascentca italist classduring the postwar
tivesofcapitalist p wer. Everyevidence suggeststhat
period.
the neocolonial solution wa'sbeingarranged,through a
3. Themiddleclass consisted mainly of'white seriesofmilitary coups in 1966,by the newly emerging
collar' stateemployeeswho only developed nliddle class in Lagos. In fact, the civilwar may beseen
asaclass f erWorld War II when the Ameri partly as the result ofawithdrawalofsupport for the
can led tr n ition to neocolonialstatusbegan. Emirs,who were allied with the nascent capitalist class
in the regions,and the transferofbacking-by inter
national capital-to the Lagos middle class.
2 ....~.,'"I•
Thelbo-led middle classinLagos,however,failed
duringIronsi'srule to unitewithitsownclassinterests
intheWestandNorth. Thissetthe stagefor asplit
withinthe middle classitself. The secondcoupledby
Gowon ledmanyotthelboelitestochoose seces ion
ratherthangive uptheirdominantpositioninLagos.
Despitethe massacres,the Northernerswere notthe
realthreat to the Ibo. The radicalmiddleclassamong
theminorities-representedbyGowon-whoseallies
inthe'Eastcontrolledthe Deltaareaswherethe oil
waslocatedposedadouble threat: erosionofIboin
fluence inLagosandlossofcontroloverthe oil. The
.thirdcoupwhichendedOjukwu'srule inBiafra
alongwiththewaritself-broughtareconciliation
amongtheelitesinLagos,only now theminorities
.~ndtheYorubawere ontop.
TheNigeriancivilwarwasanoutgrowthofthe
contradictionsgeneratedwithinthe capitalistsystem
by the transition fr9mcolonialismto the newmodes
ofdomination requiredby postwarcapitalism. We
callitaconflictamongelitesoran intra-classstruggle
iafra..
because itstemmedfrom antagonismsamongthe
em ceo
threedominant classes: the traditionalelites,the
mercantilebourgeoisieand the middle class. Looked
at from aglobalperspective,thewarwasthe conse Thisproce shasonlyjustbegunin igeria,yet
quenceofcapitalism'sattempt to organizethe mar it hasbeen un erwayI ngen ghto con ribu e sig
ket asacolony and to establishthe clearhegemony -nific ntly tothe reakdownwhichled to ci itwar.
ofthe middleclass. Priorto thewar,when Nigeri wasbeing'toutedasan
American ushowcase," per nneland businessmen
Ne colonialismis basically a product ofthe
,fromthe headqu rtersofco ratepower eredeep-
American corporationsand the transformation
lyinvolvedin makingdecisi whichhel e to deter-
they (collectively) have wrought upon the
mine the tragiccourseofev nt inthiscountry. All
world economy in the postwar period.
Nigeri 'str ublescannot be hea edonthe doormat
of ritishcolonialismorthe merican corporations.
Neocolonialismisnot simplymore ofthe same Thispopulardemonology mustbequalified. But,
that ismorecolonialism. Norisit merely a urvivalof thereisatribe ofinterventi ni and like the capi-
old powerrelations. Neocolonialismisbasically the 'talism ertold recht protested,it hasaname and its
productofthe Americancorporationsandthe trans owndirectory/ofstreet addre es. Thedevelopment
formation they(collectively)havewrought uponthe experts,foundation finance mechanicsand the in
world economy inthe postwar period. Theessence formation gatheringscholar weardifferent hats;but
ofthisnewform ofdomination liesin the organiza , they arealldisciplesofapseudo-technocraticexper
tionofurban massmarkets(i.e. consumption)ona tiSewhichisbound together y the common assump
worldwide basisby the corporations. We are pass- tionsand managerialvalues fcor orate imperialism.
ingfrom the age ofraw materialsexploitationto :rheirspecialtysince 1945 h beenthe rebuildingof
what the managerialelitescall"human resourcede war torneconomiesso that they could be moreeasily
velopment." penetratedby 'Americancom anies. While the State
Dep rtment brandished its ffficial neutrality through
Colonialadministration hasdisappeared only-to
out the Nigerianconflict,t y continued to intervene
be replacedby the organizationofthe market asa
daily inNigerianaffairs,all in the pirit of"reconstruc
colony. Thi~entailsthe introduction ofall the in
tion" and "relief."
strumentsofcoercionavailable to the omnipotent
administratorsofthe marketplace: the masspro
duced consumergoods,the media networks,the
SOMETHINGS N CHA GE
supermarkets,market researchand advertising. Cor
porate strategyviews thedevelopment ofthese mass
marketsas the key to managing social change and
preventingany revolutionary alternative to depen
dency. Thisdoesnot mean that raw materials have
become any lessimportant. On the contrary, they
are needed in largerquantitiesthan ever. Only now
the contemporary strategy for obtainingthem aims
atkillingtwo birdswithone stone: secure the raw
materialsand expand the Inarket in which they fin~
theiren uses. '
......~~.". •.'j' •
3
The break-up ofthe old colonial system and its mental in theirentreprenurial roles. They were especi
replacement by the organization ofthe market asa ally powerful because their influence over the colonial
colony required the sha ·ngofanew classforce on the state permitted themto dominate the disposition ofin
Nigerian scene. The tw class forces identifiedwith the ternal surplusfrom the ground-nut and cotton trade
old order-the traditional elitesand the mercantile bour and block the growth-at least in the North-ofamer
geoisie--werejoined by the class power introduced by cantile classcapable ofthreatening their power.
,the corporationsto over ee the new order: the middle Yoruba chiefsin the Western region were more
class. directly involved in the organization ofcocoa produc
tion because their powersover land relations remained
relatively intact and enabled them to exercise some con
The Id Order
trol overcultivation. "Nigeria standsout in rather sharp
contrast to Ghanawhere many ownersofcocoafarms
areindividual absentee landlordsbelonging to the ed
ucated classeslivingin the coastal towns. Thisstriking
difference betweenthe two territoriesismainly the re
sultofthe early policy ofthe Nigerian government in
preservingthe indigenous systemofland tenure."! --But
since theWestern Region's nascent capitalist classgrew
out ofcocoa farming into trading,there were linkages
between the agriculturaleconomy and the emergent mer
cantilecapital. Traditional authoritiesseemto have me
diated betweentheproducersand the cocoabuyerswith
out really developingthemselvesinto an economically
strongruralclass.
Chiefsorrural elites played alessinfluential role
in the Eastern regionwhichwascomposedofmany seg
mented societieswithout stronghierarchiesorextensive
territorial organization. Producersofthe main cashcrop,
palmfruit,did not really cultivate the crop so muchas
Meet: His Ex ellency SirJames Robert collect it from forest plotswhere itgrewwild. The pro
son, K:C.M.G., K.B.E., is the Governor ducerswere also scattered inoutlyingareasdue to poor
General of the Fed ration ofN'igeria, and as
transportation andcommunications. Chieflypowersin
such z·s Queen Eliz eth's representative. Sir
James, 'Who. 'Was born in 1899, has had a long Eastern politicswere assertedwithgreaterforce inurban
anddistinguishedcareeringovernmentservice, areasindisputesbetween originalinhabitantsand stran
spendingmostofhis.JzfeinAfrica. He'Worked
gersorimmigrants. Since the latterwere oftentraders
for over th'irty years in the Sudan Political
Service, helpingto uide acountry through all the East'semergingclassrelationswere marked,there
the stages ofconstitutionalevolution to almost fore,by acertainantagonismbetweenthe Chiefsand the
complete self-government. SirJames has also
nascent capitalistclass.
served in Brit'ish iana. In June 1955 he
was appointed G ernor-General and Com
Britain's"colonialadministratorsandbigtrading com
mander-in-Chiefofthe Federation ofNigeria.
paniesusedthe traditionalelitesto offset the strengthof
'Nigeria'srelativelywelldeveloped mercantile classes.
The old colonial or rin Nigeriawaslargely a Attemptswere made throughout the colonialperiod to
Britishaffairwhichsou ht primarily to obtaincer- confine these once powerfultradersto auxiliaryfunctions
'tain primary products-I" e palmoil,cocoa,rubber suchasproduce buying,transport orpetty trading. The
and ground-nuts-while velopingalimited market mercantile classes,particularlytheIbo tradersandDelta
for rather Jow-grade Briti hmanufactured goods. To merchants,had alonghistorydatingfrom the surplus
develop those commoditi sfor export the British theyhad accumulated from their internalorganizationof
colonial administration relied heavily uponthe tradi the slave trade. Manyhad made the transitionto palmoil
tional authoritieswho c trolled the rural areaswhere tradeor"legitimate" commerce in the 19thcenturyrather
the cropswere grown. T e farming populationwhich' successfully. Theywere the principalobstacle to British
produced the country's incipaJ cashcropsconsisted penetrationofthe NigerDeltaand they resisted tenacious
mainly ofsmall-holderswhose dispersion in village ly for overhalfacenturyBritain'seffortsto pacifythem.
economiesand~ubordination to the rural elitestended These so-called "middlemen"were also the oneswho
toweaken thefi formati tl as rural capitalistsoracon- soughtto purchase machineryfor sugarmanufacture and
sciouspeasant class. cotton culture from Britishmerchantsin 1842 andwere
refused. "InNewCalabar," observed oneBritishConsul,
The most notable ofthe quaSi-feudal traditional
"theKingandChiefswalk on the deck ofany shipwith
eliteswere the;Emirsin Northern Nigeria. Their social
an air~findependence,similarto that assumed by a
statuswasinherited from the influence they onewield
wealthy capitalistonthe stock exchange."2
ed over trade relations in the ancient Rausa city states.
Theyeventually proved uite resourceful in controll-
l. JamesColeman,Nigeria: BackgroundtoNationalism,
ing the expansion offarming estatesworked byHausa
p.68.
peasants,although theywere hardly more than orna-
2. K.OnwukaDike, TradeandPoliticsin theNiger
.Delll , 1956,p. 126. .
I G E R ."/.
.---r-.--.,-....~./
• Sokoto .~.~.~../ ~
-----..", .~
I
Maiduguri •
• Kano ~.~
>- (
1&1 N 0 E R N ('
~
®
(
j'
NIG IA
) mi.40 0 4 80 120mi.
./'-.;." I
\,...I' ECOLOGICAL REAS -
I.Dry Savann h
2.tnt rmediat Savannah
3.Wstern M i For t,
ioht of B nin 4.Central Mit Fore t
5.East rn Mit forest
6.Forest Say nn h Mo'aic
GULF OF GUINEA FORMER REGI NS -.---
Despite Britain'sattemptsto restrict their func
tion, Nigeria'straderscapitalizedon the withdrawal
The elitesare the van~uardofth middle class
ofexpatriate companiesfrom produce buyingand
retailingupcountry after 194~ to establish:Jh~mselve8
The elitesare thevanguardofthe middle class.
asthenucleusofanascent capitalist classwhichwas
Themiddle,classitselfisthe most s lidly structured
amon the strongestinWest Africa. What further dis I
cla'ssinNig~ria today and the primaryvectorofneo·
tingu' hed themfrom theirWest Africancounterparts,
colonial influence. Yet itsfunction r mainsinvisible
like those inneighboringGhana,wastheir seizure of
to many criticsofimperialism. Nearly 40%ofNigeria's
state powerat the regionallevel-intheWesternand
wage-earners-who themselves repre ent only 5%ofthe
Eastern Regions-duringthe processofdecolonization.
totalworkingpopulation-consistoffairly typical
Theconstitutional settlementin the early 1950's
white collarworkers. They constitute ahighly'.C!bn()r
permittedthe~to consolidate their poweraround the 'malsocialgroupingfor acountrywithhardly any in
regionalinstitutionsmanagingthe surplusfrom the
dustrial development to speakof. Th majorityof
commoditytrade. From 1955 onwards,theMarket
Nigeria'smiddleclasswork for theg vernment orits
ingBoards,DevelopmentCorporationsand indigenous
auxiliary institutionslike the schools,universitiesand
banksinSouthernNigeriaweredominatedby the re·
parastatalorganizations. Numerically they havegrown
surgent Nigerianmercantile bourgeoisie. Thiswasthe
rapidly since the late 1950'swhen the influenceof
ba 'sfor.theireventualclashwith the middle classand
Americanideasabout masseducationwasfirst felt.
internationalcapital.
Because ofthe armature ofstate pow rwhichsupports
them,they are the most politically c herent and self
consciousofNigeria's social classes. Normally,the
The New Order
state isviewed separately from the classstructure.
The neocolonialsystemisdevelopingitsown net Whatisnovelabout the developmentofNigeria's
work ofintermediariesand classinterestsagainst the middle classisthe degree towhichthe state isbeing
backdropofthedisparate socialgroupsformed during absorbed into-orisdirectly apart of-the country's
the colonialperiod. Theinternationalmanagerscall classstructure.
thenewsocialforce the "modernizingelites." They The historicmissionofthismid Ie classisto
are beingWidelycelebratedbythe professionalAfri mediate between its own people'sneedsand the
canistsandthe behavioral scientIstsasthekey agents marketingsystemofthe corporate c nomy. This
ofchange'inanexternall}' controlledprocessof marketingsystemdoesnot exclude the organization
"modernization." Onemust look carefully at the ofproduction,but rather incorporatesitwithin.the
classreality concealedby thisimprecise, ourgeois cialorganizationofconsumption. The middle class
jargo· 5
isthesocialwedgedriven into thecountry'sagricul
Grooming the Middle Class
turaleconomy to preventit from any autonomous
developmentorreal in ustrialization--whetheritbe
capitalistorotherwise..
Themiddle classoc upiesanextremelypreca'ri
ouspositionvisavisthe·underclasses,ormajo.rity'of
Nigeria'sfarmersandw rkers,whose surplusthey
AllISt alsomanage andc nsumeonbehalfofforeign
capital. The.irreward ~ rthese servicesisstatuswith
out power. The underlyingeconomicforce that creates
theirnew "roles"or~'st tus" isthe structureofthe
n13SSmarket andwfthinit'theorganizationofcon·
sumption. Nosinglea ct oftheirclas identity-
DP it income,education rjobfunction-should be
vie\ved in iSolationfrom thisdimension ofthe neo-
cof()ni~1 economy. · .
With the integratin conceptofthe massmarket,
it isnowpossible to nchorthe notionofthemiddle
clussmoreconcretelyinthesocialorganizationof
Wlorwithin the neocol nia}economy. 1The middle
classcanbe identifiedas'that partofthe pr~l~tari~t
(i.e.workers)whose pr uctive relationsare deter
Inined mainly by the cialorganizationofconsump~
'tion. Whether they b teachersorbureaucratstheir
livesarebeingsystem tic llyor anizedand prole
tarianized throughthe:m rketingsystemofthe cor
porations. The middlecl 5S'isnot<necessarily pro
ductive laborin the ~Ias icsenseofproducinggoods.
can
But neither th~i~function be viewed asunprp-..
are
ductive since they an integral part ofthereproduc
tion ofcapital. The cor orationshave extended the
socilllo'rganizationofth factory intoareaswhich
formerly ~ere consldere indjvidualizedand "un-
productive." -
In theeyesofintern tional management the
elitesofthe middle classareconceived and organized
aspartofa massclass, ~spite the tiny percentage
ofthe total populationwhich they represent. These
civilservantsand thei~c unterpartsin the private
sector(clerks, ales~en, tc.)clearly do not belong
to the bourgeoi~ie. They are organizednationallyas
arulingelite; but on the international level,they
.shotit~ ~~f;onsidered.p rt ofthe growing interna
tion,ilmiddleclass.'There th~ elites rank with middle
management,which isn thing more than the man
agement ofthe middlecl SSe
1. The conceptofthe m ss is used'here with aprecise
meaning. Most peo I think ofthe mass in termsof
ofnumbersbut it isstructurewhich actually deter
·minesitscharacter. The mass isan aggregation of
individualswho are separate,detached and anony-
mous. They are usually urbanworkersorganized on
anational, rather th nsocial,basis. There are some
importantdifferencesbetween the c nceptsofmass
andcl SSe Aclassisc 'nsciousofitssocialexistence,
because it is-organize .by the corporations in order
to prevent it from or nizing itself. The socialex
istence ofthe mass is individualized(i.e.self~
conscious). Itsrules ndrituals,the structuting ,
ofitsstatusrolesah its leadership,areall organ
ized prim rily thrau hthe marketingsystem,of.
the cor~rations. Th organizationofthe market
,asacolony me~ns the organization ofthe classas
amrss..
. ,Thenewtechniques'beingintroduce~~inNigeria
lanning without Facts·
arebaseduponmarket organi~tionswhichmakeuse
ofinformationgatheredand analyzedaboutallfacets
,ofpeople'slives. In Nigeri~,thi,i r~search,~an~~ (r~m
studiesofclassidentific tionamongelite'c!Ji/4ren'to
LESSONS IN RESOURCE A~LOCATION to the"motivationaltuning" f ,~ultbeh vior.· Sys.
tematic'studiesofbehavioratall'levelsofNi erian
FROM 'NIGERIA'S DEVE~OPMENT
society arepresently'beingcarr" doutwithimpunity
under the false pretextofa~ademicse1'.tol.rship.
insidiou~~tu4i~s tho~e
Amongthe most are di
By
rected.~y Dr.RA.Levine<?ftheUi)i,v~r~ityofChica
gounder aNational Institute .fMentalHe Itl) rant
Wolfgang F..Stolper
andsupportedby funds fr,om ~h F.ord ~ou.n .~~_on's,
.Fundfor Research:inPsychiatry. These-inclu ed sur
veysofthedreamsofNi erian sch~olb.oy to,deter
With an Input-Output An'alY$iS
'mine the,attitudestoward statusmobjJity,achievement
of the Nigerian Economy, 19S~o motivationandobedience-wc{,1-~,oJIl,!iancevalu
By Nicholas G. Carter .accordingto the.ir;'esp~cti'Pe ethnic,groups. ,Th~se
termsarenothingmore thanc ewordsfor the un
potentrole playin associatedwiththe new pyramid
ofauthoritybeingorganized thr ughthemass.mar
Harvard Uni,,-ersity',rr~ss,
ket..The type ofbehavioralscfenc~ re~~.reh'which
Cambridge, Massachusetts Levin 'condu'ct'sthrivesby'fee in taonthe cul~
turallife andmotivesofits"S11 ~ects~', into'the re
1966 sear~h apparatusesofcorporati itsandgo~ rn~ent
agen~ies.; there itistranslafed Onto tqel~'u eof
consumpt.ion orcounter..ins~r enc)',orboth,and
used'to"formulatemarketingormilitary strate ies
The MANhada plan. Itdidn't,work.
aimed at,"mobilizing" the populationinqneway
or.anotner" ' '' , ,
FACT:
"Neithertheplanningprocessnortheresul
.Corporate managementisfar m~reconscious
tantplanshowsevidence'ofanyseriousfl:ttempt
, ,
to maketheeconomictargetsantl'polici~s repre
Corpor~te managementisfar,moreconsciousof
sentnationalgoalsin morethan thevaguest
theobJective function ofbehavi ral science research
sense. Forallpracticalpurposesthefederal
beingcarriedout inNigeriath.~ th~Peoplewho ac
planwasflra,wn,~p.byali~ited'nu~berofex~. ·
tuall~ practice it.' JosephW. Newman" Q~servat~o~s
pairiateeconomists, workingvirtuallyinava an
in articleon motivational r archpublished by
cuumsofarasdetaileddirection orcQnsultation',
theHarvardBusinessReviewin 1.957are typicalof
with politicalleaderswent,andwithonlyperi
management'sview:
pheraladvisorycontactwithNigerian civilser
vantsandplanners. The socialandpolitical "Socialanthropologists mak.e use ofthe'.
preferencesoftheplan,aswasinevitablegiven conceptofsocialclass,which referstoSOCIal
statusand broad patterns fvalues,attitudes,
thismethodofpreparation, representwhatthe
roles,and behaviorwithin culture. Itim
plannersprefe"edor.feltNigerians oughtto
pliesahomogeneityofconsumerwantsand
prefer,'ratherthananyexpressedNigerian
attitudestoward productsandwell-known
preferences." brands. Knowledge ofvaluesand attitudes
isbasic to an understandingofresistance'to
R.H. Green,"FourAfricanDevelopmentPlans," change." . . ,
fromReadingsin theAppliedEconomicsofAfrica, "Becauseofthe behavioral science influence,
ed. EdithWhethamandJean~. Currie" 1967. there hasbeen agrowing numberofinten'sive
investigationsaimed at discerningmotiv~tional
'~samatterofhistoricalinterest, boththe patterns. In thisconnection,psychol.oglcal
WorldBankin Washingtonandthe United needsand cultural and interpersonalInfluences
are receivingsystematicstu yasdetermin~nts
.StatesAgencyforInternationalDevelopment
ofbuyingbehavioralongwith theecon0!1l1c"
.throughanappraisalmissionledbythelate
material,and situational f: ctors. TheeXist-
ArnoldRivkin, weregiven thefacilities,qndthe
ence of unconscious mental functionillg has
confidentialinformation whichenabledthem
been·'recognized,and'mar eling research.now
tofinalize theirassessmentofthenewNafion isg9ingbeyond what peo Ie say they thln~ and
alPlan beforethedata weremadeavailableto feci. lncrcasin~ usc isbein2madeuf beh,avloral,
thepublicinNigeria. " . science methodswhichar especially suited to
the study of1110tivation.1
~"eech by A.A. Ayida, ,
Confe'renceon National Reconstruction I.Jose.ph W. New.nan""New Insigtlt,New Progress" for '
and Developnlent Ibadan,March 24-29" 19(iq ~..1arkctirn:~.."" H,!rvard'Bu inessrRcview.'Nov-Dec. 1957"
'I
t. •• in La S.H IS f rei n xch n list, an
m t, litic "ti t, usin 5S C . r.
m kn wt IV
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