Adesina, Jimi O. (1988) Oil, state-capital and labour : work and work relations in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

Preview

PDF WRAP_THESIS_Adesina_1988.pdf - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (38Mb)

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

This study is, above all, about the men and women whose labour form the basis of
Nigeria's economy and social stability: the petroleum workers. Those we will come across
here, work in perhaps the most important single enterprise in Nigeria; the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation. The study itself was inspired by (i) an attempt to
understand what work and work relations mean for these people, and (ii) by my dissatisfaction
with the conventional wisdom in Industrial Relations analysis; which in the past
years has inspired the regulation of the working lives of these petroleum workers as much
as any group of employees in Nigeria.
The study is on the NNPC, with special attention to the NNPC Refinery at Warri.
The work itself is divided into three main parts; Part I, which is the Introductory section,
is further divided in four chapters. Chapter 1 explores the main conceptual issues of this
study, explains the research methods and examines some methodological issues that derive
from the fieldwork. In Chapter 2, the labour process literature is reviewed, and this
forms the analytical basis for the discussions in Parts II and III, while Chapters 3 and 4
provide the background information on Nigeria and NNPC respectively. Part U examines,
under four chapters, the nature of work and processes of shopfloor relations in NNPC
generally, with particular emphasis on the Refinery. Chapters 5 and 6 examine the nature
of work and the internal labour market, while Chapters 7 and 8 look at the specific forms
of relations on the shopfloor and their implications for shopfloor struggles. In Part III, I
focus on unionism in the industry and the processes of interest mediation within the
NNPC.
The study takes conceptual issues with the main contributions to the Labour
Process debate and argues for a more studied and coherent re-assesment of Braverman's
work, by recognizing its theoretical and methodological objectives. The study concludes
with a re-exposition of the main conceptual issues; first by emphasizing that it is only
within the framework of a rigorous conceptual redefinition of production relations that
we can overcome the limitations of conventional Industrial Relations discourse. Second, and central to this, is a re-conceptualized method of theory, which enables us to
understand the socio-cultural peculiarities of each national or regional context, and overcome
the limited vision of liberal-pluralist industrial relations ideology. In this sense, the
study places strong emphasis on Marx's method of abstraction, both as a method of
different levels of abstraction, and of one-sided abstraction.
The Refinery, where the bulk of the field research was done, is located in the
riverine belt of southern Nigeria. Although often referred to as Warri Refinery, the plant
is situated in the Ethiope local government area of Bendel State, outside Warri (see Map
A). This complication is a result of the settlement pattern in this area of southern
Nigeria; Warri, for instance, is surrounded by tiny pockets of settlements, each with
distinct lineage/clan history and traditional political autonomy. Two of such settlements
are Jeddo and Ekpan villages which share the north-western borders with Warri, but in a
separate local government area. It is on the territories of these two villages that the
Refinery is located, although I will continue to refer to the plant as Warri Refinery.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Petroleum workers -- Nigeria, Industrial relations -- Nigeria
Official Date:	January 1988
Dates:	Date Event January 1988 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Industrial and Business Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Hyman, Richard ; Cohen, Robin, 1944-
Sponsors:	Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdom ; University of Ibadan
Extent:	413, xliii p.
Language:	eng

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads