Tragedy rectly, and committees of trade unionists against nuclear weapons are being built. The possibilities are being investigated for in West Africa a two-hour work stoppage on October 28. A national youth paper is being set up as the first step toward building a national youth organization against nuclear weapons. The PvdA declared that it was • going to fully support the actions, and the peace organizations call for mobilizing the two million PdA voters.
In the CDA, a memorandum has appeared by the defense specialists de Boer and Frinking. Both are not against the missiles. But in their document, which has been leaked to the press, they call for serious consideration for not deploying the missiles, regardless of what happens in Geneva. The reason is the mass opposition. Previously, former premier Van Agt said that it was necessary to consider not bringing in the missiles. In a TV interview broadcast February 13, he again stated that in the face of great social unrest it would be wrong to site the missiles.
The CDA is trying to water down the coming actions by making them into a vague apolitical protest against nuclear weapons. Premier Lubbers said that the memorandum drawn up by the Boer and Frinking represented a "nationalist point
Claude GABRIEL On January 18, 1983, in Nigeria the civilian government of Alhaji Shehn Shagari ordered all foreigners without "proper papers" to leave the country within twg weeks. It is generally accepted that this measure applied to about 2 million people who have come in from neighboring countries, at least half of them from Ghana.
In my article "The Effects of the Black 'Goldrush' on African Neocolonial Economies" in Issue No 22 (January 24, 1983) of International Viewpoint, I described how the oil economy built up within a few years in Nigeria totally disrupted the pattern of life in this country, creating deepgoing social and economic maladjustments. I pointed out that the mass of problems that had been allowed to accumulate was soon going to create difficulties for the regime and the coun-
Mass exodus from Nigeria (DR) case of the religious revolts in the north.
THE ISLAMIC REBELLIONS
It is significant that one of the reasons given by the Ministry of the Interior for the expulsion of the foreign workers is that non-Nigerians supposedly participated in these riots. (1) Whether this claim is true or false, it nonetheless reveals the contradiction of a state that presents itself as the only developed large country in Black Africa, and at the same time has to face the political and social problems of a backward semicolonial country.
When Nigeria gained its independence on October 1, 1960, the economy of the country was centered around the export of three commodities, whose production was focused in three distinct regions of the country. 1. Le Monde, January 19, 1983.
7
The petroleum boom that for a time reduce the pockets of poverty and un-
The coconut-oil industry was based in the southeast, while the production of cacao centered in the southwest and peanut growing in the north.
### OIL BOOM
Since the start of the 1970s, this setup has been radically altered by the growth of the petroleum industry. In the 16 years from 1964 to 1980, petroleum production rose from " million tons to 103 million tons. TI • st customer has been the U.S., v ok 40.7% of total production in About 90% of foreign-currency ne comes from petroleum. This w market aroused the greed of the imperialists, who are looking for opportunities for investment and to sell producers goods.
The backlash effects of these changes have been a rapid decline of agricultural production, an acceleration of the flight from the countryside to the cities, and growing inability of the country to feed itself, and hence spiraling imports of foodstuffs.
In an attempt to mitigate these effects, the Nigerian government is trying to push industrialization by reinvesting its oil bonanza and by heavy borrowing on the international money market. (2) Moreof "green revolution, Proclaimed a sort over, the regime has designed to give a new boost to agricultural production by introducing modern capitalist methods of cultivation.
However, by itself a partial industrialization will not be able to smooth out the maladjustments arising both from higher discount rates and failure of the "green revolution."
In fact, the final blow is coming in what might be called the tenderloin of the Nigerian economy, the
By reducing the world demand economic crisis started taking the buoyancy out of the petroleum market in 1978. •This decline was aggravated by political factors and by the growth of oil production in non-member countries such as Mexico and Great Britain.
In 1982, world petroleum consumption dropped by 4% for the third con-
It will probably decline still further in 1983. For the OPEC countries alone, including Nigeria, the volume of petroleum sales has declined by 40% in
In order to try to limit this drop in as Nigeria have sought, in violation of their OPEC commitments, to offer lower prices on the parallel market. But then they have had cutthroat competition producers of a crude similar to theirs, such as the owners of the British North
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Map: Pluto Press World View '83 (DR)
inspired talk about industrial development and the Nigerian "miracle" has ended in a blind alley. Once again massive tragedies have revealed the falseness of developmentalist ideologies that ignore the control of the world market by the imperialists and the ability of the multinationals to manipulate trade for their
DISTORTIONS IN WEST AFRICA
The relative development of Nigeria for more than ten years helped to draw capital, industrial investments to this country, which were in fact diverted from other African countries in the region. A company like
Peugeot-South for example, went so far as to establish an assembly plant in the middle of Nigeria able to turn out far more cars than could be absorbed by the Nigerian market. It was designed to supply also countries such as the Cameroons, Togo, and Benin (formerly Dahomey).
even though by itself, million inhabitants, Nigeria represents a very important market.
As a result of these developments, a part of the poor population of the neighboring countries began to immig rate into Nigeria to find work. In the heyday of the petroleum boom, Nigeria welcomed all sorts of foreign workers
(electricians, street vendors, and so on). For a decade, this posed no problem for the Nigerian
The government saw it, as all governments do in such a situation, as opportunity for exploiting cheap,
However, with the onset of the crisis, found it necessary to impose draconian controls in order to
ALGERIA Arlıt o Bilma a MALI
Gao • Ayades NIGER Niamey Maradio Zinder UPPER VOLTA Ouagadougou
NIGERIA GHANA
Accra CAMERO employment. This was essential to avert social explosions. At that point, the government "discovered" that a lot of foreign workers had not come into Nigeria legally.
The abrupt expulsion of these masses of foreign workers was accompanied by a racist and chauvinist campaign in the press and media blaming the immigrants for the crisis. Thus, the Lagos Daily Times called on its readers to help idenundocumented foreign workers..
It is striking to see the government of a semicolonial country using the same ideological arguments and administrative measures as the governments of West European countries faced with growing unemployment. Making a scapegoat of immigrant workers is an old recipe of all bourgeois governments.
The majority of the "illegal" workers were of Ghanaian origin. The economie chaos that has reigned in that country for nearly five years gave impetus to this official language in both countries is English, in contrast to Togo, and Benin, which are French speaking, also facilitated Ghanaian immigration to Nigeria. Ghana and Nigeria are, moreover, members of a regional body, the Community of West African States, which has been touted as an example of a large-scale
Nigeria's external debt is around 10 billion
Like most oil-producing countries it is among the most indebted months ago there were similar upheavals in nent lowering of the price of oil, plan their income on a prediction of the price per barrel.Mexico is banking on a price of 28 dollars per barrel.If these forecasts turn out to be wrong we would see a new panic among the oil-producing coun tries, who only a few years ago were presented as the 'new rich' of the commercial world. But even at this price the IMF estimates that Mexwill suffer a drop in their living by 10-20% in 18 months. What will happen to Black Africa?
natives of the central and east central are now seeing the effects of an uneven scheme for regional economic and customs unity and development.
However, very quickly, the powerful Nigeria began to put pressure on the already precarious economies of the small countries associated with it in the Community of West African States. Smuggling benefited the Nigerian market, and, to the same extent, undermined the balances of trade of the neighboring countries.
In these last years, the pretty speeches about regional economic integration have given way to tightened border controls and protectionist policies. Countries such as Ghana have exported their unemployment to Nigeria, pinning their hopes on a projection of higher prices for cacao that would enable them to get out of the hole.
THE WORLD CRISIS MEANS DISASTER IN WEST AFRICA
The latest events in Nigeria, thereregions of the country, that is, they often belong to the Ashanti ethnic group. This fact also can aggravate the Ghanaian crisis by stoking the fires of regionalist resentments.
Benin and Togo, which have seen this exodus pass across their territory, have also suffered severely. But in the short term some privileged layers in these countries are going to be able to profit from this disorder. In a few days, the neiras, the Nigerian currency, fell from 315 African francs to 126 (350 African francs equal approximately 1 US dollar.). In the immense lines of Ghanaians waiting at the Benin and Togo frontiers, local operators have been able to acquire the few belongings that these unfortunates were able to take with them, and had to sell for a scrap of bread.
In these last years, this uneven development has also affected Nigerian society. Alongside the oil economy and and combined development that in these last two years has been tearing the African continent apart. The main responsibility • for this falls on the imperialists.
A NEW IMPERIALIST CRIME AGAINST BLACK AFRICA
Does anyone need to be reminded, for example, that it was the EEC that set up a body such as the European Committee of Industrial Cooperation in the framework of the Lome Convention? This organization is responsible for investigating possibilities for industrial investment. And, in the name of so-called regional integration, it has favored a few show-case countries, such as Nigeria or the Ivory Coast.
In a continent where there were already 5 million refugees, hundreds of thousands more have now been added. The TV news has shown the horror of fore, represent a new phase in the general some big industrial areas, crisis of the dependent economies in the region. Nigeria is now exporting its problems. By sending hundreds of thousands of men and women home with hardly more than the clothes on their back, the Lagos government is assuming the responsibility not simply for swelling unemployment in its neighboring countries. Much worse than this, it is creating the gravest political and social problems.
In its February 14, 1983, issue, the American magazine Newsweek noted: "The recent exodus threatens the resources and political stability of the poorest nations in West Africa."
In an impoverished and politically unstable Ghana, constantly on the verge of civil war, the return of these masses of emigrant workers is increasing the chaos. The Paris daily Le Monde reports all the traditional features of a backward, semi-colonial country remained. In some areas, there is a peasantry working tiny plots of land. In some regions, the industrial fabric is quite weak. Technology and the banking system are dependent on the imperialist centers. • There is a widening gap between the well off and the poor.
The April 1982 decisions introducing a new austerity policy have not solved any of these problems. But they have worsened the lot of the poorest, that is the overwhelming majority of the population. At the same time, those in high places in the state apparatus and the army retain all their nouveau-riche arrogance. These contradictions, along with the sharp drop in the price of crude, are going to have cumulative effects on this mass of human beings standing holding bundles of clothes waiting for permission to pass from one country to another. Tens of millions of people around the world have watched Benin and Togolese police herd these crowds of starving people around with clubs. In a few days, dozens of people died of hunger.
Le Monde reported: "On this continent of refugees, these deportees were not surprised by the calamity that fell on them. Some of them have been subjected to brutality. A lot of them have been robbed of everything they had. At best, their prospects are poor. But they show less anger then resignation. They have been driven out again. They find themselves unwanted at home or anywhere else. They are just hopeless." (3)
that villages that have been virtually de- a society torn by structural maladjustserted for years are being filled suddenly to overflowing by people returning to their place of origin without resources or perspectives.
The majority of these refugees are ments. The expulsion of the "undocumented" foreign workers in no way resolves these contradictions. It can only provide a few months respite.
However, in the longer run no one will benefit from this crisis. The world recession is hitting all the African countries hard. What Nigeria has just done to its immigrant labor force, the Ivory Coast could do tomorrow to its immigrant workers from Upper Volta. We
This is a new crime that the imperialists nave perpetrated in Black Alrica. an outrage that they have committed through the intermediary of the Nigerian government and with the complicity of the other neocolonial states in Africa and the Organisation of African Unity. And some imperialist countries are trying to reduce the scandal by sending a few tons of food for the victims! 8. Le Monde, January 30 and 81, 1983.
jobs. In the agreement new norms for controlling of absenteeism are put forward, which go against the celebrated Workers Statute won after the 1969 struggles.
Finally, the idea of a contribution of
A social pact against the workers mobilization struggles in Italy in defence of the sliding scale of wages agreement, the trade-union leaderships made an agreement with the employers and government that severely limited the agreement (see International which went far beyond what the bureauscale was the central demand.
the agreement made by the trade-union leaderships came after mobilisations of a scope that has rarely been
0.5% of gross salary has been taken up again. This is to be paid to the 'solidarity fund'. Under the pretext of safeguarding jobs, these funds aim to subsidise the company. However, when the workers were consulted on this proposal, which was concocted by Carnitit (general secretary of the CISL) in June 1980 they rejected it. They rejected it again in 1982. What we are seeing is the trade-union leaderships taking a sort of revenge on the