IGBO BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT PATTERN IN THE POST NIGERIABIAFRA WAR ERA: THE NNEWI EXAMPLE, 1967-2017

Résumé

In 1967, Nigeria’s volatile politics snow-balled into a civil war that shook the country to its foundations. The post-war era has also witnessed some minor crises that have connections with the politics of the civil war. The Nigerian Civil War has enjoyed wide discussions among the academics. Not many however, if there are any, have directly considered the relationship between the politics of the war and Igbo business history. One of the biggest lessons of the war is that there is a strong nexus between Nigerian politics and Igbo business investment pattern. Using the case of the Nnewi business men, this paper argues that the civil war and subsequent political developments created an unfriendly environment for Igbo businesses in non-Igbo lands of Nigeria which led to capital flights. Many of the Nnewi entrepreneurs had to relocate their businesses from the North and West to Nnewi, despite its lack of good supportive infrastructure. Investment pattern which was more outward-oriented began to have an inward orientation. Post-civil war political developments have also sought to consolidate the new isolationist investment pattern which has consequences for the Nigerian economy as a whole. The paper therefore stresses the need for the federal and state governments to create friendly political environment to attract profitable investments and to avoid unnecessary capital flights. Primary and secondary sources of information are used. Primary source of information used is oral interviews, while the secondary sources include books and internet materials relevant to the subject matter.