In this paper, we employed a blend of multiple and historical case study design, and a mix of institutional, behavioral, resource-based, and multinational theories, to examine the nature of... Show more In this paper, we employed a blend of multiple and historical case study design, and a mix of institutional, behavioral, resource-based, and multinational theories, to examine the nature of multinational companies’ (MNC) engagements in local economic development and capital export practices in an African context. Evidence from our Nigerian case analysis (FrieslandCampina, Nigerian Breweries Plc. and Dangote Cement) confrms the proposition that, faced with a similar degree of uncertainty and constrained institutional environment and laying claims to difering sources of competitive advantage, both local and foreign MNCs would repatriate profts and limit exposures to local value chains (LVCs) mainly as a strategy for mitigating country risks and preserving corporate value. Such limited exposures detach MNCs, especially the foreign ones, from the LVCs, and by doing so push them to deeper reliance on the global value chains (GVCs). Linking local businesses to the GVCs is central in the inclusive development (ID) debate essentially because it allows for the redistribution of economic benefts, helps in building a complementary (rather than competitive) relationship between MNCs and local businesses, and facilitates local businesses’ access to international markets. We, therefore, recommend that in pursuit of the inclusive and sustainable development projects in Africa, industrial policies need to be tailored toward stabilizing the policy environment, protecting investments from risk of expropriation, and incentivizing MNCs’ participation in the LVCs. Show less
The continued absence of viable vaccines, limited diagnostic tools, insufficient protocol for isolation period, and weak health care system in developing countries with Nigeria inclusive heightens... Show moreThe continued absence of viable vaccines, limited diagnostic tools, insufficient protocol for isolation period, and weak health care system in developing countries with Nigeria inclusive heightens the tension trailing the arrival of Novel SARS-CoV-2 that was officially declared a global health emergency by World Health Organization (WHO) in January 2020. In this context, this study assesses the adequacy and potency of treatment for pneumonia associated with the Novel SARS-CoV-2. Counting from 27th February 2020, exponential rise in cases of SARS-CoV-2 has been recorded in Nigeria. Despite limited data on person-to-person transmission or nosocomial transmission, we report the epidemiological features of a familial cluster of 4 positive cases to SARS-CoV-2 in Nasarawa State, North Central Nigeria. This cluster presented with an unexplained pneumonia after having contact with a family member who died after manifesting symptoms of Novel SARS-CoV-2; the test came outpositive after his demise. Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid were performed using nasopharyngeal swabs (Novel Coronavirus PCR Fluorescence Diagnostic Kit, BioGerm Medical Biotechnology at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Abuja. Nigeria. From March 10, 2020, we enrolled a family of four patients out of a family of 10 who were positive to novel coronavirus. Four family members (aged 36-43 years) all presented with fever, upper or lower respiratory tract symptoms, or diarrhea, or a combination of these 3-6 days after exposure. These conditions continued to manifest at the Federal Medical Center, Keffi in Nasarawa State, 3-7 days after symptom onset. Their nasopharyngeal or throat swabs of these 10 family members were taken and four returned positive to coronavirus, while six tested negative. The epidemiological evidence from our study on familial cluster analysis reveals possible transmission of Novel SARS-CoV-2 during the incubation period. Study outcomes underscore the importance of probing contact history of potentially infected individuals, for prompt identification to preventing further spread. Show less
Akinyoade, A.; Agbaye, Y.T.; Olasanmi, O.O.; Olubodun, I.E. 2020
The study assessed home ownership, social costs and wellbeing in self residence in Nigeria using the employees of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife as case study. Structured questionnaire was... Show moreThe study assessed home ownership, social costs and wellbeing in self residence in Nigeria using the employees of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife as case study. Structured questionnaire was designed to elicit information from 279 respondents that were selected using convenience sampling method. Both descriptive and quantitative methods were employed in the analyses. The study revealed elements of economic and social dysfunctionality brought by dynamics of experiences of homeowners. This was made manifest in the form of personal provisions for water, electricity, roads, and partial completion in homes. It also manifested in the form of qualitative attributes which made it non competitive to discharge some academic responsibilities as effective as it ought to be if camp us residence were made available. Despite the challenges in terms of social costs in home ownership, the cultural orientation of Nigerians still deems it worth it to own a home. The study finally recommended an adjustment in OAU staff housing policy for academic and non-academic staff, and family sizes are getting smaller and families disperse, it behooves that new housing architectural design for housing units responding to evolving family sizes are necessary, and facilitation of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) for the availability and affordability of public water and electricity supplies. Show less
The study was about the economic impact of covid-19 lockdown and the sustenance of commercial motorcycle operators in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The objective of the study was to compare the... Show moreThe study was about the economic impact of covid-19 lockdown and the sustenance of commercial motorcycle operators in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The objective of the study was to compare the economic position of respondents during the compulsory stay at home order relative to what it was before lockdown. The study was a descriptive survey where questionnaire administration and focus group discussions were employed in order to get necessary information that was used for this study. Results from the study had it that the commercial motorcycle operators made a living within their income earning capacity in their transport operations before the COVID-19 pandemic days. However, due to the lockdown their economic life had been greatly affected because income plunged to zero; this has consistently thrown them into poverty. It was observed that the longer the lockdown, the deeper they are submerged into further depth of poverty. Respondents already concluded that it is certain that some routine basic economic activities that they indulge in cannot resume as soon as the lockdown is eased. This study therefore recommends that government should see to how they can subsidize tuition fee payment for school children as soon as schools resume. This hopefully will minimize idleness which if not look into may lead to breeding social miscreants in the face of inability of parents to quickly raise tuition fees. Show less
Using the case of Nigeria's Dangote Group and an exploratory research technique, we critique CSR practices in a developing country context based on a three‐pillar model—traditional CSR, strategic... Show moreUsing the case of Nigeria's Dangote Group and an exploratory research technique, we critique CSR practices in a developing country context based on a three‐pillar model—traditional CSR, strategic CSR and strategic business engagements. Our paper makes a unique contribution by revealing how a company can transform its strategic CSR into strategic business engagements that permit it to circumvent public procurement laws and secure public contracts at non‐competitive terms. We show how, in weak institutional and regulatory contexts, strategic CSR could be turned to a tool for rent extraction and profit maximization. We advocate for regulatory measures that impose ex ante and ex post limits on the extent to which firms can go in integrating CSR into their normal business operations. Based on the outcomes from this important African case study, we illustrate and propose the strategic business engagement model as a new framework for analysing the social benefits of strategic CSR practices in developing countries. Show less
Dietz A.J., Ehrhardt D.W.L., Akinyoade A., Veldkamp F. 2020
This report presents the research findings on the key social, economic and agronomic dynamics in communities whose livelihoods depend predominantly on the farming of sorghum in northern Nigeria.... Show moreThis report presents the research findings on the key social, economic and agronomic dynamics in communities whose livelihoods depend predominantly on the farming of sorghum in northern Nigeria. Sorghum has become a major element in producing beer and malt by companies like Nigeria Breweries (NB), which is partly owned by Heineken. The two main objectives of this study were to obtain NB’s diverse sourcing modalities and sourcing practices and to examine farm-level issues. In order to achieve the stated objectives, a mixed methods approach was adopted. Four-stage fieldwork was undertaken in 2018 and 2019 in six sorghum- producing states: Kaduna; Niger; Zamfara; Gombe; Katsina; and Yobe States. Researchers from Dutch and Nigerian academic institutions conducted interviews with six vendors from Kaduna and Kano state, administered a questionnaire survey among 433 farmers in the six sorghum- producing states, and conducted interviews and focus group discussions (FGD) with selected sorghum farmers. Based on the data collected, two main groups of sorghum value chain actors were distinguished for further analysis: ‘regular farmers’ and ‘aggregator-farmers’. The former group is further divided into five sub-groups, based on the size of owned land: smallholder farmers I (< 5 ha), smallholder farmers II (6-10 ha), smallholder farmers III (11-20 ha), middle-range farmers (21-200 ha) and large scale farmers (over 201 ha). The latter group consists of vendors and aggregators who combine their commercial activities with sorghum farming Show less
Barr, A.; Dekker, M.; Janssens, W.; Kebede, B.; Kramer, B. 2019
Using a carefully designed series of public goods games, we compare, across monogamous and polygynous households, the willingness of husbands and wives to cooperate to maximize household gains.... Show moreUsing a carefully designed series of public goods games, we compare, across monogamous and polygynous households, the willingness of husbands and wives to cooperate to maximize household gains. Compared to monogamous husbands and wives, polygynous husbands and wives are less cooperative, one with another, and co-wives are least cooperative, one with another. The husbands' and wives' behavior in a corresponding series of inter-household games indicates that these differences cannot be attributed to selection of less cooperative people into polygyny. Finally, behavior in polygynous households is more reciprocal and less apparently altruistic. Show less
This volume in honour of Stephen Ellis is a follow-up to the public presentation of his book on the history of organised crime in Nigeria This Present Darkness (Hurst, 2016) at the University of... Show moreThis volume in honour of Stephen Ellis is a follow-up to the public presentation of his book on the history of organised crime in Nigeria This Present Darkness (Hurst, 2016) at the University of Lagos, Nigeria on 28 October 2016. In addition to four papers, and a book review presented at this colloquium, other contributions about crime in Nigeria have been added, written by Nigerian authors. In July 2015 Stephen died, and he has worked on This Present Darkness almost to his last moments, as a senior researcher of the African Studies Centre in Leiden. This book also contains a tribute to his life and work written by his wife and scholar Gerrie ter Haar. Show less
Enrolment in both primary and secondary schools has risen substantially over the years, but secondary and tertiary enrolment remains low. The primary student population increased from just under 4... Show moreEnrolment in both primary and secondary schools has risen substantially over the years, but secondary and tertiary enrolment remains low. The primary student population increased from just under 4 million students in 1970 to more than 26 million students in 2013.Similarly, at the secondary level, student numbers increased from a base of approximately 360,000 students in 1970 to 12.5 million students in 2013. Likewise, the tertiary sector recorded an appreciable increase in the numbers of institutions, variety of courses and enrolled students in the same period. Despite these increases, only about half of all primary students continue to the secondary level, and less than 15 percent eventually make it to tertiary level. The seeming lack of employment opportunities and other problems identified in the tertiary sector has contributed to a substantial increase in the number of Nigerian students undertaking tertiary education abroad, with the United Kingdom and the United States emerging as the top two destinations.Unemployment is high, particularly among youth and higher educated students. Despite Nigeria’s natural resource wealth, many Nigerians appear to have been left behind, primarily because of the shortage of employment opportunities. Unemployment is highest among youth and among those with post-secondary education. Agriculture still has the largest share of employment. Trade emerged as the second most important employment sector providing jobs for Nigerians. Though manufacturing ranks third on the list, the proportion employed in this sector has shrunk to half of what it used to be in the preceding decade. One interesting sector is Information and Communication: while providing less than 1% of all jobs, it contributes more to Nigeria’s GDP than manufacturing, due to its high value added.Nigeria is an important area of origin, destination, and transit of migrants in Africa. It is Africa’s most populous country, and a country of high migration turnover. The high immigration rate (1.2 million in 2017) is accompanied by an even higher rate of emigration of Nigerians (1.3 million in 2017), resulting in a negative net migration rate. The Nigerian Government formally adopted a National Policy on Migration and its Implementation Plan in May 2015. This occurred in the backdrop of a growing recognition of the strong links between migration and potentially immense national development benefits for the country. For instance, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stated that the inflow of remittances to Nigeria increased dramatically from $2.3 billion in 2004 to $22 billion in 2018; The US, followed by the UK and Cameroon are the top three destinations of Nigerian migrants. In mainland Western Europe, the Netherlands ranks as the fifth destination behind Germany, Italy, Spain and Austria. Noteworthy is the large ‘brain drain’ of Nigeria-trained medical students and health workers as well as academics who appear to be fleeing Nigeria’s struggling tertiary education landscape and unstable labour market prospects. Thousands of them are now gainfully employed in medical jobs abroad, and they tend to prefer the US and the UK to the Netherlands. Show less
This paper critiques the emergence of Dangote Cement as the dominant player in cement manufacturing in Nigeria. It argues that the changed economic environment General Obasanjo met when he became... Show moreThis paper critiques the emergence of Dangote Cement as the dominant player in cement manufacturing in Nigeria. It argues that the changed economic environment General Obasanjo met when he became president of Nigeria for a second time in 1999 made it difficult for him to continue the nationalisation policies and the expansion of government involvement in several spheres of economic activity that he helped to promote in the 1970s. The realisation that this strategy, which created numerous crony capitalists, was unsustainable resulted in Obasanjo allying with Dangote and promulgating the Backward Integration Programme (BIP) for the local cement industry. This made it possible for Dangote to risk aggressive investment in the capital-intensive cement production business. This strategy achieved public good by rapidly making Nigeria, an oil rent- and import-dependent economy with enormous limestone reserves, self-sufficient in cement production. Show less
This study assessed the factors influencing the acquisition and deployment of technical facilities for maternal healthcare delivery in Osun State. A two-stage probability sampling procedure was... Show moreThis study assessed the factors influencing the acquisition and deployment of technical facilities for maternal healthcare delivery in Osun State. A two-stage probability sampling procedure was employed to select two Local Government Areas (LGAs) from each of the three Senatorial districts of the study area. The state hospitals in each of the selected LGAs and all the tertiary hospitals in the study site were selected for the study. A total of 112 respondents (14.3%, 28.6% and 57.1% from Ede, Osun East and Ife/Ijesa senatorial districts respectively) from seven health facilities were surveyed. Data were obtained through primary and secondary sources in both secondary and tertiary health facilities. The study revealed that the factors influencing acquisition include the need and demand for a particular technical facility, increase in the number of equipment, damages to existing ones, availability of funds as well as the disposition of management authority towards the demands. Also, the deployment of these technical facilities in the various maternal healthcare units of the health facility depends on the areas of needs. Therefore, the study concluded that acquisition of technical facilities should be quickly attended to in order to shorten the purchase and installation process. Also a system of preventive maintenance, where maintenance of equipment will be done at a fixed and predetermined interval usually fixed by hours-of-operation was preferable. Show less
This paper critiques the emergence of Dangote Cement as the dominant player in cement manufacturing in Nigeria. It argues that the changed economic environment General Obasanjo met when he became... Show moreThis paper critiques the emergence of Dangote Cement as the dominant player in cement manufacturing in Nigeria. It argues that the changed economic environment General Obasanjo met when he became president of Nigeria for a second time in 1999 made it difficult for him to continue the nationalisation policies and the expansion of government involvement in several spheres of economic activity that he helped to promote in the 1970s. The realisation that this strategy, which created numerous crony capitalists, was unsustainable resulted in Obasanjo allying with Dangote and promulgating the Backward Integration Programme (BIP) for the local cement industry. This made it possible for Dangote to risk aggressive investment in the capital-intensive cement production business. This strategy achieved public good by rapidly making Nigeria, an oil rent- and import-dependent economy with enormous limestone reserves, self-sufficient in cement production. Show less
Why would the citizens of an oil-producing state continually resist reform-induced petrol price increases, even when subsidy payments are proved to be a serious threat to the capacity of the state... Show moreWhy would the citizens of an oil-producing state continually resist reform-induced petrol price increases, even when subsidy payments are proved to be a serious threat to the capacity of the state to deliver its core constitutional mandates? In this paper, we tackle this question by contending that the difficulty in petrol subsidy implementation in a country like Nigeria has more to do with the clear lack of state legitimacy and public trust, and the recorded cases of political instability entrenched by forced attempts at reforms. By contextualizing the reform efforts in Nigeria within the framework of the relationship between state legitimacy and reforms, we are able to provide valid insights to a broader understanding of the “whys” of public resistance to the authority of the state to enforce reform. The Nigerian case, as revealed in this article, provides evidence of a shift in paradigm from the conventional and dominant Weberian emphasis of state legitimacy around the nature and sources of state authorities to a more functional context of citizens’ perception of the governance process as a source of legitimacy. Show less
This paper examines the historical context of census-taking and its importance to development trajectory of Nigeria from 1866 to 2006. Secondary data obtained from five-year national development... Show moreThis paper examines the historical context of census-taking and its importance to development trajectory of Nigeria from 1866 to 2006. Secondary data obtained from five-year national development plans, archival records, in-depth interviews and extant demographic literature were used to determine how population census exercises has evolved in a 140-year period, the problem of counting Nigerians living in Nigeria, and the politics of using population as a yardstick for distributing national wealth. The study shows that nearly all censuses were found to be grossly inadequate, tradition of conducting censuses every ten years has not taken root in Nigeria, and colonial administration as well as post-independence governments grappled with politics of numbers for socio-economic development planning. Despite flaws, the 1991 census remains relatively acceptable amidst fifteen complete and incomplete censuses ever taken in Nigeria in the period under study. Show less
This paper critiques the rise of Dangote Cement plc to become the dominant player in the Nigerian cement industry. Although the close relationship between the company's founder, Aliko Dangote, and... Show moreThis paper critiques the rise of Dangote Cement plc to become the dominant player in the Nigerian cement industry. Although the close relationship between the company's founder, Aliko Dangote, and subsequent Nigerian governments has been an important factor in this success story, we argue that it is not the only explanatory variable. Dangote's entrepreneurial skills and understanding of the Nigerian political and economic environment enabled him to proactively predict and exploit the rapid increase in demand for cement in the country. The reluctance of most multinational cement companies to increase their investments in Nigeria - a consequence of the ever increasing international scrutiny of business ethics especially in corruption prone countries - also helped reduce the competition and investment risks for Dangote Cement. Show less
