THE INTERFACE BETWEEN DEPENDENCY AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT IN THE STATES OF NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF EBONYI STATE, 1996-2018)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The development of any society is measured by the extent of influence and controls the people have on nature and ability to channel their natural resources. This is determined by the level of effectiveness and efficiency of the instruments of labour. In other words, without instruments of labour man - physical, intellectual and psychological assets cannot help him (Islam and Kazulnko, 2008). Nigeria, among the third world countries went through almost a century of colonial experience from 1861-1960, when she got her political independence. Since independence, Nigeria has been struggling in the course of political instability, economic and socio-cultural imbalances. And like other third world countries, the nation has been hugely confronted with underdevelopment which emanated from dominant exploitative character of the western economies on which those of the third world depend. The gap in income inequalities has widened, and perceptions of group marginalization have intensified youth's anger arising from unemployment and poverty, finds expression often in the violent ethno-religious conflicts, or in violent protests and criminal activities such as armed robbery, extortion and fraud. The atmosphere becomes perpetually tensed, laborious, charged, over-heated and characterized by violence (insurgency & counter-insurgency). More so, the nation's economy is suffering enormously owing to her main dependence on petroleum without economic diversification. "Dependency relates to a situation in which the economy of certain countries is conditioned by the development and expansion of the other to which the former is subjected’’ (Santos 2013). The relation of inter-dependence between two or more economies in a world trade terms, assumes the form of dependence when some countries (the dominant ones like the USA, Britain, Germany and France) can expand and be self-sustaining; while other countries (the dependent ones like Nigeria, Rwanda, Bolivia, Thailand and India) can do this only as a reflection of expansion which can have either a negative or positive effect on their immediate development". From the definition above, dependency, according to Santos is both bilateral and multilateral. It also explains or entails the existence of foreign and domestic inter-dependence i.e. two countries together with reasons to relate, again the relation leads to some conditioning effects on development policies of decision makers in a dependent society, and lastly, with this relationship inherently unequal being, are of the dominance and dependence (Santos, 2013). The basic assumption is that there is a dialectical relationship between development and underdevelopment. (Frank, 2010) "Development and underdevelopment are two different sides of a universal historical process’’. He asserts that what causes underdevelopment in third world is as a result of what brought about development in Europe and America". This dependency concerns the centre which refers to the technologically advanced countries of the world and the periphery refers to the third world countries. It should be noted that the centre has a centre which refers to the urban areas of the world and the periphery which refers to the rural areas of the world. The periphery (third world countries) also has both the centre and the periphery. This simply refers to the "centre of the periphery and the periphery of the periphery". Centre of the periphery refers to the urban centre of the developing countries like Nigeria, while the periphery of the periphery refers to the rural areas of the developing country. This is a relationship where the centres of the developed countries dictate the terms of their co-existence economically, socially and politically. There is an exploitative and vertical relationship between the centre and the centre of the periphery which is subordinate to the centre. In this, the centre is assigned the role of manufacturing industrial products while the periphery produces primary goods-raw materials and needed resources; the periphery now depends on the centre for her economic survival and consumption of the already made products (foreign products). Succinctly put, this is an unequal relationship between the countries provided to be already at an advantage the (capitalists) and disadvantaged countries (third world countries like Nigeria) as a result of economic exploitation.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In this research work, we shall explore into the problems Nigeria is faced with, understand reason for this underdevelopment, and try to sort out possible solutions to go into that, it is paramount to point out factors necessitating the phenomenon of underdevelopment and dependency in Nigeria, such as;

i. The reckless and excess lust for foreign loan and aid: This has to do with a financial assistance granted to third world country in order to boost their economy and project them capable for international trade.

ii. The domination of import over export trade: This is one of the major problems in Africa, or third world countries economy, since they tend to patronize more of the foreign goods over indigenous goods thereby bringing the implication of exploitation from the foreigners at the detriment of indigenous traders.

iii. Political Crisis and Corruption: Africa is conversant with the above, since it is married with different kind of political crisis ranging from military coups to party crisis and worst of all which is corruption since it is the end products of any political unstable nation.

iv. The failure of policies made by the government: Since policies made cannot be strictly adhered to them the problems in which that policy was made for has not yet been satisfied or settled, and in most cases these policies made are irrelevant to the countries or nations development agenda.

v. Lastly but not the least poor education: Here the level of education which is the key to every kind of success is too low and a times poor, in third world countries the education, sector is dominated with all manner of malpractices which includes bribery, strikes, indefinite closure of school, due to illegality in its operations, unaccredited academic structures and all other shortcomings etc

1.3 AIMS OF THE STUDY

The major purpose of this study is to examine the interface between dependency and underdevelopment in the states of Nigeria. Other general objectives of the study are:

1. To examine the problems of dependency and underdevelopment in Nigeria
2. To examine the major causes of political and economic dependency in Nigeria
3. To examine the impact/role of leaders in furthering the process of dependency and underdevelopment in Nigeria
4. To examine the relationship of the western economies and the third world economies
5. To examine some measures in tackling the problem of underdevelopment in Nigerian states.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the problems of dependency and underdevelopment in Nigeria?
2. What are the major causes of political and economic dependency in Nigeria?
3. What is the impact/role of leaders in furthering the process of dependency and underdevelopment in Nigeria?
4. What is the relationship between dependency and underdevelopment in Nigeria?
5. What are the measures in tackling the problem of underdevelopment in Nigerian states?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis 1

H0: There is no significant impact/role of leaders in furthering the process of dependency and underdevelopment in Nigeria.
H1: There is a significant impact/role of leaders in furthering the process of dependency and underdevelopment in Nigeria.

Hypothesis 2

H0: There is no significant relationship between dependency and underdevelopment in Nigeria

H1: There is a significant relationship between dependency and underdevelopment in Nigeria

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of this study cannot be over emphasized because it is of great importance and adds to the existing knowledge towards the concept (Dependency and underdevelopment). As such the ongoing analysis becomes of great importance to these who particularly seek to understand why Nigeria is dependent on the oil economy. Also of high value of today’s government of Nigeria, this tries to eradicate the concept of dependency and underdevelopment from the Nigeria, socio-economic and political system. This study will be of important to Nigeria as a whole because it explores and attempts to bring possible solution on how Nigeria could attain a sustainable development, inspite of her dependent nature. Finally, since no knowledge is a waste, readers of this work will find it interesting to know that dependency theory will help in analyzing the implication of foreign aid on the economies of developing world.

1.7    SCOPE OF THE STUDY 

The study is based on the interface between dependency and underdevelopment in the states of Nigeria. A case study of Ebonyi state, 1996-2018

1.8 LIMITATION OF STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Modernization: Is the “process whereby society or social institutions change or move from traditional or less developed ones to those that characterize the developed ones. For this work, modernization is seen as involving a complex or changes in institutions or societies for the betterment of citizens.

Economic Dependency: This means depending on the developed countries for over economic problems, that is the wholesale importation of western art crafts for our developmental purposes, we depend on the west for goods and services which we cannot create for ourselves with the resources available at disposal.

 Economic Development: Is the ability of a country to deal with its environmental through the knowledge of science and technology and applying this in changing its environment. Therefore, development connotes training in the art of using local resources and creative human energy in the problem solving rather than a wholesale limitation of the path to a good life that some societies have achieved.

Underdevelopment: This means economic backwardness which results from the inability of a country to deal with its environments, the underdevelopment is characterized by lack of indigenous industry, inadequate production of food, unscientific agriculture, underdevelopment is not absence of development but it makes sense only as a way of comparing levels of development. Underdevelopment is very much tied to the fact human social development has been uneven and from a strictly economic view part some human groups have advanced further by producing more and becoming wealthier.