Pa~e· 46 -DAILY TIMES
October
t. 1960
On the attainment of
NIGERIAN INDEPENDENCE WIEDEMANN & WALTERS {NIGERIA) LIMITED TECHNICAL AND ENGINEERING Congratulate the Prime Minister
of the Federntion.
the Regional
Prime ·Ministers, the Gorernor · General of the tion, the Regimwl
'edera·
Goi·enwrs. ,mcl the entire p ,pie of
:'.1igcriu for this great
achict·cment,
ewry ·success on the occasuni
and wi~
1
1hem
of this hi.·~cuic da)' of
Independence.
TOWARDS ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE
'1'11 F
main
economic pro1'ii.:,·ri.t, likl' ;m, other countrv , on the l'\ ~ of independence, rml) he described as financial, technoloi:irnl anti administrativ e. But the most importunr ol" these seems to be the finaneial: for, if we have enough tu spend on the acquisition of knowledge, the improvement of skills, and the payment of administrative personnel, economic growth will be reasonably ensured. But how is the necessary capital lo be obtained"! Voluntarv saving in Nigeria is low, and there is only one way ·by which ii can be increased - namely by keeping dow n the standard of living. \\ hich includes the standard· or living of most ,if the pcop.e -whosc standard of living is very [O\\ ina'eelJ. at present This mav cause social and political strife. One of the ways to escaping such hardship, is to have capital from abroad. from loans or grants, fro 111 private or public. national or international agencies. No new nation has developed or can develop as rapidly as modern circumstances require, without foreign aid. Th c developed nation, themselves ha \"C come to realise that thcv cannot live happily as ,,,~ses of prosperity in a desert of misery, and have therefore voluntarily agreed to share part of their wealth ,,'i• h their lessprivileged neighbours. so that the countries can have a bit more to spend in increasing the national income, the per ca p i t a wealth, increased standard of living. education and technical. knowledge, help to stabi~ their internal administration by helping to train more capable personnel, and thus save the country from endless political and social upheavals which are unavoidable in a backward and unbalanced society. hlcrus
of
their c.rpitul, stltlcd down in the places of their investments. d r o v c away the owners of the land, made :111J unmade governments. b r i be d politicians and parties, or finaily entered par'iiaments. Foreign investors colonised the United States and are ruling it today. foreign investors torpedo governments, occasionallv today,
By
I DR. s. A. ALUKO I beginning from Latin Arnerica lo Japan. Their techniques have changed, and are changing to becoming more discreet and subtle. But still, no one of them is prepared to pour his money into a young country only to close his eyes to what happens to it. Business docs not grow that way. . In the same way, national goHirnntents often try to interfere in the naiional and international affairs of the aid-receitin2 eountrles, The donor countries are divided
Non· alignment
Real question:
On this historic and happy occasion, Elect1~oluxLimited ex tend cordial good wishes to the Government and Peoples of
r-1
l 1Hit'i:0ndent Nigeria.
Ii:I. ,. ~ ;,_1 I
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·L~:C'TROLl!X
Electrolux are proud to hace sup;.-::?d Nigeria with refrigerators of unsurpassed quality for many years.
1·
Ii' LIMITED
• Li3-155
REGENT
STREET
, LONDON
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The real question is not the desirabililv of foreign aid and its consequential benefits, but the least objectionable way of making the donor to give it and the receiver to have it. For, the situation depicted ::i b o v e occurs only if the aid is given disinterestedly, and there is close co-operation between the giver and the receiver. But in a world where "nothing goes for nothing", it might be . worthwhile to consider what are the likely effects of foreign economic aid on the domestic life of a newly independent country, and the best way of organising world development effort. The sources of capital may be classified, broadly, into private, national and international. Profit is a major aim of the private and national investors. Past experience shows that private investors often tried to alter the lnt!.!rnal political situation in the countries of their operation, in order to guarantee the safety of their investments a n d advance their own speciat interests. That was why. in the past. private investors moved with
proclaims neutrality in their I)' o m i c and political systems. But whether you can spend someone else's money and freely throw dust on his face remains to be seen. Up till now there has not been a successful instance of that. When the greatest of all neutrals, India, intervened to overthrow the Communist regime in Krela Stale (one of India's states), Khrushchev withdrew many of his Russian technicians. and deferred the technical and financial aid promised to India, and refused to build the technical college promised Krcia. Cuba has become the economic battlefield for Russia and America. and the Communist technicians have just been expelled from the Congo. Puppet government, are sustained in the Middle East, or law ful governments overthrown with dollars or roubles. In most cases, over 60 per cent of economic aid is given as mititary aid, either designed to combat Communist revolutionaries or .. countcr-revolu tionarics."
cco
ALHAJI SHEHU SHAG ARI Minister of Economic Development. into Communist and nonCommunist blocs, each distrustful of the other and is anxious to hpve the greatest influence in, and capture the imagination of, the underdeveloped territories. One therefore sees the amount of propaganda that precedes and follows any assistance given by each of these two blocs, and the unhealthy rivalry-that is the consequence. By the Western bloc singing the tune that Communism can only be driven out in poor countries only by giving them aid to improve their standard of living, they tend to make it a condition of aid that the receiving country will not deal tao closely with the Communist bloc. • The Communist bloc, on the other hand, uses the "new cotonialism" stunt to arouse suspicion against the Western powers. and to pretend that to be nro-Cornmunists is the only way out. The receiving countries, confused about this International hideand-seek economic ame
a
Some or biese , tnmas could obviously happen in Nigeria, particularly in the immediate vears after independence, ~hen we shall be tryi112 to find our feet in all fields, and no non-alignment slogan will succeed in preventin" their happening. That is whv econornists from the "poor countries" have been insisting, and will continue to insist, that more and more aid should be given by international, r .r than nationa1 agencies, .rd that countries wishing to help in the development of poorer countries should contribute generously to a fund which has been cailed. the Specia] United Nations Fund for Economic Development (SUNFED). In spite of the many difficulties that may arise in the coltection, distribution and administration of such Fund, it is the only way by which the "East and the West" can convince the receiving countries that they are really willing to give aid without strings. Funds would be given to areas that are most need, and duplication and rivalry would be avoided. Furthermore. a co-ordinated development of the world's resources will play an important part in building a united world organisation, and would help in giving the united nations more authority which it deserves, whilst ensuring more internal peace and co-operation among the various sections of the population in the poor countries, which are being set against one another by 'ideological' capital. Perhaps, Nigeria will help to strengthen the voice of those countries that have long, but feebly, been ur.ging the establishment of SUN· FED as an agency of the United Nations.
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