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Tuesday, August 1,
2000
| Priye S. Torulagha (Ph.D., MHR)
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Nigeria's Dillema: Is Petroleum
a National Resource or Not?
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The question is "Who
owns the petroleum resources in the Niger Delta and other oil producing areas?
The answer to this question might help tremendously in curing the persistent
political and economic malaria that has infected Nigeria.
Currently,
two diametrically opposing views seem to dominate the political discourse about
finding an amicable solution to the oil crisis. The first view is that oil
belongs primarily to those Nigerian groups whose territories are explored for
the black gold. Therefore, the oil-producing areas must have the major share of
the petroleum revenue. The second or the other view is that oil belongs to
Nigeria. Therefore, the oil-producing areas have no exclusive right to the
revenue accruing from oil production. The exponents of this view strongly
believe that since oil is a national resource, the federal government should
have total control of the production and the revenue that accrues from it. They
also believe that the federal government should distribute the revenue across
the board for all the states on equal basis without unduely favoring the oil
producing states.
Generally, Peoples from the Oil Producing Areas
(POPAs) and their supporters are the main exponents of the first view. The
second view is generally supported by Peoples from Non-Oil Producing Areas
(PNOPAs) of Nigeria and those that might be considered to be Nigerianists
(ultranationalist Nigerians). Thus, President Olusegun Obasanjo and many
prominent Nigerians believe in the concept of a national resource and want the
federal government to dictate the terms of oil revenue allocation. The second
view is also supported by the military/political/business complex whose members
benefit the most from federal control.
Citizens from the Oil Producing
Areas complained bitterly that while their territories have been the economic
backbone of Nigeria for the past 30 or more years, they have been neglected,
marginalized and treated as third class citizens. As a result, their
territorial areas, particularly the Niger Delta, is the least developed. They
do not understand why their own areas are so neglected while trillions of Naira
have been invested mostly in Non-Oil Producing Areas of Nigeria. The want a
fair deal. They want the federal government to either increase their share of
the oil revenue or transfer the ownership or control of the management of the
petroleum resources to them. In return, they are willing to pay taxes to the
federal government.
Nigerians who oppose the increase of revenue
allocation or the transfer of ownership or control of the petroleum resources
argue that the citizens of the Oil Producing Areas (OPAs) should blame
themselves for the extreme underdevelopment in the Oil Producing Areas because
their sons and daughters were primarily responsible for managing the federal
agencies which coordinated the petroleum resources of the nation. The Minister
of Information and Culture in Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar's regime (1998-1999),
Chief John Nwodo Jnr. did not hesitate to accuse the indigenes of the Niger
Delta for their underdevelopment and marginalization. He said "... Before we
had an OMPADEC which was tied in the hands of the Niger-Delta people. They
plundered and looted the wealth intended to rehabilitate the infrastructure in
their places. Nobody is asking their children in the Niger Delta what happened
to OMPADEC..."
Pitifully, quite a substantial number of Nigerians from
the Non-Oil Producing Areas are convinced that the peoples of the Niger Delta
are primarily responsible for their predicament. Many of these Nigerians also
believe that the crises in the Niger Delta are organized by indigenes of the
subregion who are bent on seceding from Nigeria. Hence, high-level political
and military leaders have repeatedly warned that any effort to divide the
counttry would be crushed. Vice Admiral Mike Akhigbe, former Chief of General
Staff in Gen. Abubakar's regime, warned many times that the federal government
"would no longer tolerate violence in the Niger Delta." He threatended to use
force. Gen. Victor Malu is the most recent top military officer to say " The
army will deal decisively with any attempt to balkanize the nation. We fought
to keep the nation one, and will always do so."
Due to the extreme views
expresed by both sides, Nigeria has not been able to seriously resolve the oil
revenue allocation issue. Comparatively, the view expressed by the Peoples of
the Oil Producing Areas seem not to make an headway into the hearts of the
Peoples of the Non-Producing Areas. The reason being that the federal
government, as well as all the machinery of government, have been deployed to
propogate the view that the citizens of the Niger Delta are simply
troublemakers. Therefore, the federal government wants to impose conditions it
thinks are fair enough to settle the matter.
Unfortunately, indigenes of
the Oil Producing Areas tend to be very defensive and apologetic when the issue
of "their sons being responsible for their predicament" is mentioned by the
opposition. Recently, one Nwuke tended to raise that question again in an
internet article.
This article is intended to answer that question
categorically, using Zikian (Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe) and Socratic method of
systematic explanation.
1. The primary motive of the Peoples of the
Oil Producing Areas is to secure a fair deal in the distribution of oil
revenue. This include being treated as first class Nigerians, being consulted
before major national decisions are made, being listened to instead of decisions
being imposed on them, being included in the national budget, and not as part of
a special budgetary arrangement, being considered for national infrastructural
development, and not as part of a political gimmick like the OMPADEC, and being
rewarded proportionately to their share of contribution to the national income.
Their intention is not to secede from Nigeria but to help develop it in a
positive manner so that all Nigerians can share the fruits of
success.
2. The argument that the peoples of the Niger Delta have
themselves to blame for lack of infrastructural development in the "fufu plate"
of Nigeria is an old political trick designed to blame the victims. Throughout
history, conquerors and oppressors have used this trick to morally justify their
reprehensible behaviors toward the weak and the politically powerless. Lets see
why this is not an acceptable argument to justify the utter underdevelopment of
the richest part of Nigeria.
a. Assuming that the sons of the Niger
Delta were utterly guilty of looting the money allocated for the development of
the Niger Delta, then why were they not arrested, tried and sent to prison, if
found guilty, for embezzlement? Afterall, there are criminal laws regarding
theft in Nigeria. One of the major purpose of government is to enforce the laws
and protect the citizens. So, why did the Nigerian authorities fail to do their
work? This is a good question.
b. It can be answered that successive
Nigerian regimes failed to enforce the laws concerning theft and
misappropriation of public funds because the leaders themselves were the primary
driving force for the commission of the crime. To have enforced the laws
against the sons of the Niger Delta who looted would have meant the enforcement
of the laws against the leaders of various regimes for embezzlement and
corruption. It would have amounted to stirring the hornets nest because the
accused embezzlers would definitely have called upon their masters (Nigerian
Leaders) to the witness stand to answer questions. The trial of Mohammed Abacha
has already revealed incredulous facts about the efforts to assassinate certain
Nigerians. The Killing Of Mrs. Abiola and the attempted murder of Mr Ibru have
already been revealed. Is it not true that more than two billion dollars have
been recovered from the financial estates of the late Gen. Sani Abacha? Of
this, about a billion was found in the house of the late general. Ofcourse, Gen.
Abacha was a Nigerian head of state. The full story of the missing billions is
yet to be uncovered.
c. The argument that the Niger Delta people are
responsible for their underdevelopment and marginalization because their sons
were appointed to overseer various parastatal agencies intended to develop the
oil producing region is to assume that these sons of the Niger Delta really had
the political power to actually carry out developmental programs. Those who
make this implicatory assertion are either ignorant of Nigerian politics or are
fully aware of the cronyism of the system but do not want to face the morality
of the sad situation. Or they are so eager to have their own share of the oil
loot and do not want any hindrance from the indigenes.
d. An
explanation is needed here. It is a fact of Nigerian life that minorities do
not have political power in Nigeria. Likewise, minorities are expected by the
power wielders "to serve the masters and not to rock the boat." For instance,
when Chief Joseph Tarka challenged the Northern political establishment in the
1960s, he was threatened repeatedly. When the late Eyo Ita challenged the NCNC
establishment, he was considered to be a rebel. When Chief Samuel Akintola
attempted to break away from the Action Group, the Western region was thrown
into a state of anarchy.
e. It is quite evident that regardless of their
positions, minorities do not exercise power. They are supposed to execute
orders given from the above. Hence, Mr. Allison Ayida, a former high-level
federal government official in Gen.Obasanjo's regime, could not stop the general
from initiating and implementing the infamous Land Use Decrees. Infact, retired
Gen. David Ejoor and Col. Phillip Effiong have stated through interviews and
writings about how minorities, especially from the south, were treated in the
Nigerian armed forces. Even retired Gen. Bali too had a bad experience with the
political and military establishments. It is not a coincident that Generals
Ejoor and Bali and Col. Effiong are rarely consulted by Nigeria's
power-wielders. These guys are minorities.
f. This being the case, it
is obvious that the creation of OMPADEC and other governmental agencies were
intended to serve as smokescreens for the transfer of oil money into personal
accounts in overseas. The minorities were intentionally put in place to deceive
the Nigerian public. Ofcourse, the minorities were supposed to cooperate and do
as told. In turn for their cooperation, they were rewarded by the big players.
It should be recalled that when Prof. Tam David-West got too smart for such
games, he was arrested and tried for embezzlement of over One hundred million
dollars during the regime of Gen. Babangida. Likewise, when one Dr. Amachree
of Okirika refused to play the embezzlement game while serving as the Rivers
State Commissioner of Health, he had to quit. The military governor who was
suspected of trying to loot the millions from the Rivers State did not suffer
any punishment. He was transferred to another military post.
g. Based
on the aforementioned facts, it is baseless to assert that minorities were
primarily responsible for looting the money allocated for the developemt of the
Niger Delta. Morever, it is a common saying that birds of identical plummage
tend to congregate together. Since many of the top players of the various
regimes were unclean, they tended to hire people of their kind into various
positions. This is why honest Nigerians rarely get into political offices or
made to serve. They are just too honest to be valuable for those who want to
misappropriate.
h. To claim that the peoples of the Niger Delta are
responsible for their predicament because their sons literally ran the petroleum
agencies is to purposely deceive Nigerians. The blame game is reminiscent of
what happened before the civil war. When the Eastern Nigerian political and
military establishments decided to secede from Nigeria, they hurriedly called
for a consultative assembly to supposedly decide whether to secede or not. The
Eastern "Leaders of Thought" were assembled at Enugu in which the decision to
secede was approved. The Biafran establishment then used that approval to
impress upon the world that the entire people of the Eastern Region had made the
decision to secede. The consultative assembly was a facade because the actual
decision to secede was made even before the assembly met. The minority
representatives had to go along with the approval because they were not given a
choice. Can you imagine an Efik or an Ibibio or an Oguta or an Ogoni or an Ijaw
person going to Enugu during those tumultuous days and saying that "I do not
approve secession" or saying "my people do not approve secession." Such a
person would have been immediately detained at Enugu or made to disappear on the
way home. It is not a secret that many minorities and Igbos who were opposed to
the secession were detained or killed. The truth of the matter is that the
Biafran authorities did not actually care about the opinions of the minorities.
They simply wanted the minority leaders to rubber-stamp the decision.
It
is obvious that the federal government is making the same mistake that Biafran
authorities made in assuming that it can talk to some self-annointed minority
leaders who would rubber-stamp federal decisions for the Niger Delta. If
Nigerian authorities are truly committed to finding a peaceful means to the oil
problem, it should send officials to tour the oil producing areas and talk
directly with the people, especially the youths. That is the only way the true
feelings of the people can be understood.
i. Perhaps, some Igbos would
understand the effects of marginalization better. After the civil war, the
Highest ranking Igbo military officer (Gen Ukiwe) was unceremoniously removed
from office without a convincing explanation. Since then, the Igbos have been
treated like the minorities in the Nigerian armed forces. It appears that the
position of the military spokesperson is always given to an Igbo officer. This
is degrading because an officer in that position does not make policy. He is
expected to announce and defend a policy that has been made by others.
Basically, for more than 20 years, Igbo officers have been responsible for
announcing and defending unpopular military policies initiated by the Northern
power-wielders. Therefore, it will be an overstatement to say that a military
spokesperson has power, just as it is an overstatement to say that the minority
head of a petroleum agency has power to do anything.
j. Some
Yorubas too would understand what marginalization is after Yorubas were
intentionally denied the opportunity to rule the country, even after a clear
victory was achieved by the late Chief Abiola. They would also understand the
pain of humiliation after Mrs Abiola and other prominent Yoruba leaders were
either detained or killed in order to ensure that competition for the
premierleadership position in Nigeria was minimized.
The Central Question
To the central question of this article: Is Petroleum a
National Resource or Not? The answer is yes and no.
1.
Theoretically, it makes sense to say that petroleum should be considered and
treated as a National Resource since it is the mainstay of Nigerian economy.
Thus, when President Obasanjo and others insist that Niger Delta oil belongs to
Nigeria, they are saying that the national security of Nigeria depends on the
oil and therefore must be treated as a national security issue. It is very
likely that every nation would nationalize the major source of its economy.
This is to enable the state use the revenue accruing from the product for
national developmental purposes.
2. However, to adopt the position that
oil is a national resource, the state must apply the same principle or standard
to other minerals. This is to make sure that every segment of the population
sacrifices some economic independence for the general good and wellbeing of the
nation-state. Therefore, other minerals in Nigeria, including gold, diamonds,
tin etc. must be nationalized and managed by the state. So far, it appears that
only oil is considered to be a national resource. If this is actually true, then
the purpose of the original intention is defeated because Nigerians from the oil
producing areas would not sit still while resurces are taken from them without
equitable compensation.
3. The view that oil is a national resource and
must be managed by the federal government is fully acceptable if the proceeds of
the oil are used for national development. Ofcourse, it is obvious that
proceeds from oil have not been used for national development. For the past 30
years, the proceeds have been treated as personal wealth. As a result, many of
the top leaders of previous regimes are now billionaires and millionaires while
Nigerians suffered tremendously for lack of development. It is a contradiction
that while the monetary value of oil went up, the living standards of Nigerians
went down. Consequently, it is not convincing to say that Nigeria's security
depends on the oil. If that is the case, Nigerian leaders would have worked
hard to stop the looting and the oil bungling that went on for years.
4.
If the view that petroleum is a national resource is to be accepted, the
federal government would have instituted measures to ensure that the citizens
from the oil producing areas are treated well. Nigeria literally abandoned
them and allowed the oil companies to do as they wished. Nigeria did not and
has never made any effort to protect or clean the environment and did not even
care whether the peoples' means of livelihood were being destroyed. In short,
Nigeria has behaved like a colonial power towards the Peoples of the Oil
Producing Areas.
5. Nigerians are ethnically based. Each ethnic group
has a territory. It is the responsibility of each ethnic group to protect its
territory from destruction. This being the case, it is proper for the Peoples
of the Oil Producing Areas to resist further exploration without an effective
arrangement to make sure that the environment is not destroyed further from
unrestrained exploration and exploitation by multinational corporations. If the
Peoples of the Oil Producing Areas do not resist and allow their environments to
be destroyed, then where will they go for farmlands? Will the Peoples of the
Non-Oil Producing Ares allow them to come and farm their lands and fish their
rivers? This is very unlikely, considering the regional and tribal nature of
Nigerian politics. Infact, if oil suddenly happens to disappear from the Niger
Delta, there is no doubt that Nigerians from the Non-Oil Producing Areas would
seriously laugh and mock at the Peoples of the Oil Producing Areas for their
studity.
If oil suddenly disappears, the peoples of the Niger Delta of
Nigeria would be totally forgotten by the Nigerian government. Think about it
for a moment. Even with oil, the Ibibios, Ijaws, Isokos, Ikwerres, Itsekiris,
Ilajes, Isokos, Ogonis, Urhobos, and the Igbos in the oil producing areas are
treated with reckless abandon, then can you imagine what would happen if there
is no more oil. The power-wielders would suddenly reverse course and resort to
revenue sharing by derivation formula so as to deprive the peoples of the Niger
Delta the opportunity to share from the "national resources." Such is the
nature of Nigerian politics.
6. There is no doubt that the
Onshore/Offshore, the Land Use Decrees and other mechanisms designed to
nationalize the proceeds from petroleum are illegal because they were instituted
during military regimes and the affected communities were not allowed to debate
the issues. Therefore, the argument that petroleum is a national resource
cannot be legally defended, both under domestic and international law. This is
why the federal government does not want a national conference to discuss the
issue. This also accounts for its hesitancy in using the courts to justify the
military decrees. Moreover, any time a constitution is imposed from the above by
a military regime, the constituion becomes null and void because a constitution
can only become legal if approved by the people through a negotiated and debated
compromise and consensus manner. A law or a constitution that is imposed is not
democratic, hence cannot be used by a democratic government to justify its
actions.
Nigerians should therefore be more sensitive to the concerns of
the Peoples of the Oil Producing Areas and find peaceful ways to resolve the
petroleum issue, instead of constantly threatening to use military force, like
in Katanga (Shaba)province in the Congo or Southern Sudan.
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Friday, September 8,
2000
| Priye S. Torulagha (Ph.D., MHR)
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Multinational
Corporations: Are They a Blessing or a Curse?
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It is quite appropriate at
this time to ask this touchy question. When private corporations metamorphosed
into giant mulitinational organizations,
they dramatically change the
dynamics of ecnomic development. Throughout the world, those who support the
growth of multinational corporations believe that such large economic entities
are crucial, especially for the economic development of the Less Developed
Countries (LDCs). Many leaders of the LDCs have made strenous efforts to
encourage multinational corporations to locate or establish branches in their
territories. Those who oppose the presence of multinational corporations
maintain that the MNCs are exploitative organizations that would not assist in
the development of LDCs economies.
Therefore, to the question of whether
MNCs are a blessing or a curse, it can be conveniently said that the MNCs are
more of a curse than a blessing to the world, especially to the Less Developed
countries of the world. Apart from their home countries, MNCs tend to be
exploitative, oppressive, corrupting, destablizing, and marginalizing of the
citizens of those countries in which they operate. In particular, the citizens
of the richly endowed regions of the world seem to be much more impoverished
than citizens of regions that have very moderate to very little natural
resources.
An economic snapshots of various regional crises would help to
support the view that MNCs are not a blessing to the world.
1.
Nigeria is a very good case study to start. Nigeria is the most populous country
in Africa and one of the top fifteen most populous countries in the world. Its
citizens are very vibrant, sophisticated, intellectually equipped, very
determined and ambitous. Nigeria is rich in both human and other natural
resources. Moreover, Nigeria has one of the best, if not the best (sweet crude)
oil. Thus, for the last forty years, Nigeria has depended on oil to propell its
economy.
The presence of
oil attracted the multinational oil corporations. Evidently, for more than 30
years, Shell British Petroleum Company (SBPC), Agip, Mobil, Texaco, Chevron, Elf
etc. have been doing business in Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta, where
most of the oil is located. The indigenes of the Niger Delta of Nigeria
cooperated and allowed the oil corporations to explore for oil by surveying,
dredging, cutting, and incessantly polluting and degrading the environment. The
multinational corporations rewarded the indigenes for their cooperation by
interacting with them from an arms-length manner, totally ignoring and avoiding
them with an attitude that is comparable to apartheidism. In short, the oil
companies totally pretended as if the indigenes did not exist and regarded them
as mere nuisance.
The oil companies did not even make efforts to hire
members of the ethnic groups who inhabit the Niger Delta. Most oil company
workers are recruited from Non-oil Producing Areas of Nigeria and abroad.
Therefore, the indigenes could not even believe that the vast wealth that has
been sustaining Nigeria came from their backyards. By ostracizing and
marginalizing the indigenes and bribibing the military and political elites of
the country, the MNCs got a free hand to do as they wanted. They polluted the
rivers, creeks, lakes, farmlands and flayed gas without even claiming
responsibility. They did not even try to clean up the polluted environments.
But they made billions of dollars.
Using manipulation and bribery, the
MNCs bought off some self-appointed leaders among various communities and
pretended that they were paying compensation for the destruction and pollution
of the environment.
As is always the case in most developing countries,
Nigeria ended up being ruled by very inept and corrupt military and political
leaders. These leaders saw the oil wealth as an instrument for the
accummulation of personal wealth. Evidently, they sold Nigeria to the MNCs.
So, successive Nigerian regimes turned the other way and allowed the oil
corporations to run wild throughout the Niger Delta. Nigeria even allowed the
oil companies to have their own private police forces. Thus, a neocolonialistic
relationship was established between the rulers and the oil companies.
Whenever the indigenes complained, the private police forces and the
Nigerian security forces would be used to silence them. As the situation became
unbearable, the indigenes of the Niger Delta became much more vocal in their
oppositon to Nigeria's usurpation of their economic rights and the MNCs arrogant
and uncaring attitude. The Late Major Isaac Boro made a small noise and
protested in the 1960s. He died mysteriously at the war front during the
Nigerian civil war. Then the Ogonis spearheaded a more frontal opposition to
the presence of the oil companies in their ethnic territory. The oil companies
and Nigeria joined forces to crush the Ogonis, including the killing of their
leader, Chief Ken Saro Wiwa. Of course, Dr Obi Wali had earlier been killed for
his opposition to the colonization and the marginalization of the Oil Producing
Areas. The attempt to crush the Ogonis only helped to increase the opposition to
the further exploration of oil in the Niger Delta. The Ijaws, Itsekiris,
Isokos, Illajes, Ibibios, Efiks, Edos, Urhobos, Igbos etc. openly made
declarative statements ordering the oil companies to stop exploratory activities
until Nigeria negotiates with the various ethnic groups in the Niger Delta.
These declarative statements were immediately accompanied by militant reactions,
including the seizure of oil platforms, the blowing up of oil pipelines, the
kidnapping of oil workers, and threats of further actions if the oil companies
continue to operate in their territories without proper and equitable
redistribution of the oil revenue.
The oil corporations did not even
hesitate to support the Nigerian military forces with logistical support. They
supplied helicopters, arms, and money to the forces. The Nigerian forces then
unleashed terroristic tactics on innocent citizens of the oil producing areas in
an effort to teach them a lesson. The list of communities, towns and villages
ravaged by security forces continue to grow: Egi. Choba, Iriyan, Opia,
Imiringi, Okpoma, Ikebri, Kaiama, Odi etc. Odi, in particular, was totally
burnt down by Nigerian troops and the Nigerian government has not made a
concerted effort to rebuild the town.
So far, there is no end in sight to
the issue of economic self determination. The Niger Delta continues to
deteriorate politically as the youths and the security forces engage in a cat
and mouse struggle to outwit each other tactically. The Nigerian government has
refused to allow a national conference to take place, fearing that such a
gathering would result in the disintegration of country. Meanwhile, almost
every ethnic group in Nigeria wants a national conference to beheld so that the
future of the country can be discussed democratically.
2. The
multinational treatment of the indigenes of the Niger Delta is not unique and
follows a pattern of behavior that is exploitative and oppressive. Before the
bloody civil war in Liberia, the Firestone Corporation used to be regarded as a
"state within a state." Like a giant octopus, it literally controlled the
country in every way possible. The political and business leaders of the
country had to listen to Firestone before making any political, economic, and
financial decision. While Firestone grew rich, most Liberians were reduced to
poverty as the company recycled every money made in Liberia back to its home
country. Liberia remained poor. During the civil war, unconfirmed reports
about Firestone's complicity in supplying arms to various factions captured the
airwaves and the print media. In a way, it could be said that the civil war was
a blessing in disquise because it helped to unshackled the country from the
imperialistic grip of the almighty Firestone Corporation. It is quite obvious
that Firestone did not contribute to the positive economic or political
development of Liberia, even though it had been in Liberia for
decades.
3. In the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo, the
multinational corporations did not hide their true intentions. When Prime
Minister Patrice Lumumba attempted to nationalize some of the companies doing
business there, the multinational corporations, led by Union Minere and other
mining interests joined forces and instigated the Katanga rebellion. Not only
that, the MNCs bought arms and helped to train the Katangese. In the ensuing
civil war, Patrice Lumumba was killed. The MNCs worked cooperatively with some
foreign nations to install Sgt or Col.Joseph Mobutu. The installation of Mobutu
was particularly done to ensure that no able or competent Congolese ever
succeeds to the leadership position. Mobutu performed beyond the expectations
of his king makers(MNCs)by being extremely corrupt and willing to allow the
foreign interests to hold the country hostage.
Later on, the Katangese
rebelled twice in the 1970s. The rebellions were nicknamed Shaba 1 and Shaba 2.
During these rebellions, the rebels turned the tide and threatened the Western
multinational interests that had helped to forment them in the early 1960s. The
French, Belgians and the United States helped Gen. or President Mobutu to stop
the uprisings.
Infact, the people of the Niger Delta are being treated
the way the Katangese were treated. Even though their territory is rich in
minerals, most Katangese remain very poor while the political and military
elites are very rich. It is not surprising that one of the causes of the
ongoing civil war in the Congo is the allegation of corruption launched against
the government of President Laurent Kabila. Although, he spearheaded the
rebellion against the late President Mobutu, he has not changed the corruption
that is endemic there, just like in Nigeria.
Thus, in the Congo, it is
impossible to say that the multinational corporations have been helpful in
developing the Congo, even though the country is blessed with abundant mineral
resources, including diamonds and gold. Instead, the multinational corporations
assist in no small measure to corrupt the country and to lay the foundation for
the perpetual destabilization of the central African region.
4. The
activities of the MNCs in other parts of the world are similar to those in
Africa. Although the South Eastern subregion of Asia is popularly regarded as
the "Asian Tigers," the picture is not something to be really very proud of.
Ofcourse, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore are
exceptions. These aforementioned countries have achieved great economic
successes. Japan was already a military and economic power before the 2nd World
War. Nevertheless, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan benefitted greatly
from the Cold War. In fact, it can be said that they were the main
beneficiaries of the Cold war. The United States and the Western nations
encouraged their economic and political successes. The purpose was to
demonstrate to the Soviet Union, Communist China and North Korea that a
capitalistic economic system was much more superior to a communistic economic
system. It should be recalled that both South Korea and Taiwan were very
abusive of human rights but the Western nations did not condemned such abuses.
The threats from the Communist northern neighbors compelled these states to
develop at all cost in order to avoid being communized.
They are now
heading toward the First World. Of course, Japan is already a super economic
giant since it is the second largest economy in the world. Even among these
successful countries, multinational corporations were not overtly responsible
for the economic successes. Thesepeople sacrificed in other to be where they
are now. China is joining them even though it is a Communist
state.
However, Indonesia and the Phillipines are economic and political
basket cases. They have been primarily used to advance the strategic interest
of outside powers. The MNCs played their devilish role in exploitng and
pauperizing the populace. In both Indonesia and the Phillipines, two corrupt
leaders were installed and protected by outside forces. Both the late Ferdinand
Marcos and the former Gen./President Suharto turned their respective countries
into their financial empires. They enriched themselves, their families and
cronies at the expense of the general population.
In particular, the Nike
Corporation gained tremendously from Indonesia by paying Indonesian workers very
little and then charging high prices for their shoe products beyond reasonable
limits. Nike got rich and the Indonesians got poorer. Americans had to pay
steep prices for Nike shoes that were being produced with cheap labor.
Therefore, Nike presence in Indsonesia did not help the Indonesians. Thailand
goes up and down economically. However, it should not be forgotten that
prostitution was almost officially sanctioned in that country as a way to create
employment. Many young Thai girls were recruited into the oldest profession to
provide services to tourists who poured in there for such services during the
1970s and the 1980s before the AIDs epidemic struck there. Cambodia, Laos, and
Vietnam are still trying to recover from the Vietnam War. Burma is only in the
news during political upheavals.
5. The picture of MNC exploitation is
not different in Latin America. Perhaps, Latin Americans suffered MNC
exploitation more than any other continent. First of all, the Native Americans
were almost wiped out and their lands seized. Those who survived the onslaught
are so pauparized to the extent that most of them are barely existing. The
legendary tales of MNCs turning Central American countries into "Banana
Republics" are still fresh in memory. Countries like Nicaraqua, Guatamela,
Honduras, Costa Rica etc. were literally ran by the leaders of the MNCs who
generally picked the poltical and military leaders of these countries.
No
wonder, ideological conflicts in this part of the world are very common. Chile,
Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Nicaragua, Guatamela, Mexico, El Salvador,
Cuba, etc., went through a series of civil conflicts as the marginalized groups
fought to have a piece of the economic and political pie.
6. The
situation in the Middle East resembles the situation in the Niger Delta of
Nigeria. Oil is abundant in this region. However, the Shiites in Iraq and
Saudi Arabia are marginalized even though a substantial amount of oil is
explored in their territory. They are treated like enemies and carefully
watched for fear that they might cause trouble and stop the flow of oil.
Generally, the oil wealth is not as beneficial to the Shiites, the Kurds and
other minority groups in the Middle East.
Having briefly described the
universal situation, one can make the following observations about the behavior
of multinational corporations:
1. Multinational corporations do not like
able and well-intentioned leaders. Such leaders are considered to be
impediments to the acquisition of wealth. Such leaders are considered to be too
smart and therefore, not good for business. It is not surprising that competent
and able leaders generally do not last long in office because they are always
overthrown and replaced by incompetent and corrupt leaders. Patrice Lumumba of
the Congo was overthrown and replaced by incompetent and corrupt Mobutu. Dr.
Mossadegh was overthrown as the president of Iran and replaced by a monarch who
was willing to obey the command of the multinational oil companies and their
foreign supporters. Gen Murtala Mohammed of Nigeria was killed in an abortive
coup because he had an agenda to turn Nigeria into a respectable regional
power. The list of names of able leaders that were tactically prevented from
achieving their developmental goals is very long.
2. Evidently,
multinational corporations prefer to do business with incompetent and corrupt
political and military leaders in the Less Developed world. Incompetent and
corrupt leaders are easily persuaded with the offer of bribes. Such leaders do
not think about long term implications and neither do they think about the
national security of their states. Such leaders want to become rich at all cost
and are willing to sacrifice the interests of their citizens for the purpose of
amazing personal wealth. It is not surprising that leaders like Gen/President
Mobutu, Gen. Suharto, Gen. Pinochet, President Ferdinand Marcos, Gen/President
Somoza of Nicaragua, Gen Siad Barre of Somalia, etc. remained so long in
power.
3. Multinational corporations are singularly driven by the need
to make as much profit as possible. Hence, they have no regard for human rights
and are quite willing to lie, manipulate, cheat, neutralize, and possibly kill
in order to achieve their objective. Didnt the tobacco executives lied to the US
Congress about the addictive nature of cigarettes?
4. Multinational
corporations are a threat to the democratic system of government. They are
hateful of debates and any argument that would compell them to explain their
intentions. Even a powerful country such as the United States is fearful of the
power and influence of the multinational corporations. No wonder, the US broke
up the giant AT&T in the 1980s. The US too has been waging a battle to
bring Microsoft down to a level in which it is managable by the
state.
5. They have voracious appetide and do not know when to say
enough is enough. Consequently, left unsupervised, they can literally destroy
the world by over exploitation of natural resources.
6. Multinational
Corporations have a tendency to lie and to refuse to claim responsibility for
their deeds. The tobacco companies still do not believe that their products are
a major health hazard. As the US attempts to force them to become legally
liable, they are rushing overseas to continue their businesses. Asian youths
are particularly being targeted and encouraged to smoke. Youths of other
continents too are being influenced through tantalizing commercials to light
up. Firestone knew for sometime that some of its tires were defective,yet, the
company refused to pull those tires off the market. After many deaths around
the world, countries, including the US, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela etc., want
answers. Caught in the scandal, the Ford Motor Company is pointing an accusing
finger at Firestone. If Ford knew long ago about the tire problem, why dit it
not inform the world and stop putting those tires on its vehicles?
7.
Multinational Corporations are like robber barons. They are incessantly
attracted to cheap labor. It was recently reported that some McDonald's fast
food restaurants in China employed children and made them work for long hours.
As soon as the allegations were about to be released to the public, the
children were immediatley fired. Many US corporations moved to Mexico and other
LDCs, instead of complying with American labor laws. Mexico eagerly welcomed
the MNCs in the hope of using them to develop itself. That hope has not
materialized, instead, pollution and environmental degradation seem to be the
rewards of the Mexican hospitality.
8. As far as they are allowed to
continue to do business as they wish, many countries in the Less Developed world
would not rise above what they are now. The MNCs pay very little for the raw
materials they buy from developing countries. Yet, they charge so much for the
prices of their finished goods. For example, it is a known fact that the prices
of pharmaceutical products are exhorbitant, hence, many citizens of the world
cannot afford to buy critically needed medications. Even some American citizens
are forced to go to Canada and Mexico to buy needed medications because the US
prices are always exhorbitant. Since most LDCs depend on the supply of raw
materials as their primary means of economic intercourse, they would not be able
to grow economically to a level in which they can provide for their citizens
conveniently.
Two schools of thought have developed regarding whether
MNCs should be morally responsible for assisting in the development of the
countries in which they do business. The first school of thought believes that
MNCs should not be held liable because they primarily exist to do business and
to make profit. The proponents of this view believe that itis the
responsibility of political leaders to develop their countries, not MNCs. The
second school of thought believes that MNCs should be held morally accountable,
in some way, for the development of the countries in which they do business.
There is no end to this debate.
Nevertheless, since it is a fact that
MNCs are increasingly becoming a threat to the environment, peoples health, and
the sociopolitical stability of many countries of the world, the United Nations
need to get involved in the debate. Perhaps, A universal Declaration of
Economic Rights of Citizens of Territories in which Business is Being Conducted
would be a starting point to hammer out a universal operational conditions for
multinational corporations. The Calvo Doctrine was intended to prevent the MNCs
from interferring and destabilizing countries in which multinational
corporations do business. The UN needs to strengthen the Calvo Doctrine by
coming up with a universal statement. Affected citizens of the world should
become much more active in defending their interests and not allow tjemselves to
be exploited.
So far, it is quite clear that MNCs are not a source of
economic development. Countries that have developed economically did so on
their own, not through the altruistic tendencies of multinational corporations.
Likewise, MNCs have made life very unbearable for many people in territories
that are richly endowed with natural resources. In short, it is like a curse to
have oil or other essential raw material in your territory.
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Multinational Corporations: Are They
a Blessing or a Curse?
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