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(Re)inventing development: China, infrastructure, sustainability and special economic zones in Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2019

Omolade Adunbi
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Abstract

This article interrogates the introduction of special economic zones (SEZs) in Nigeria with an emphasis on the establishment of the Lekki free trade zone (FTZ) in May 2006 by the Lagos State government in partnership with a Chinese consortium, and of the Ogun-Guandong FTZ in Igbesa, Ogun State by the Ogun State government. The aim of the Lekki FTZ, Ogun-Guandong FTZ and other SEZs is to transform Lagos and Ogun states into the manufacturing hub of West Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. These economic zones in Nigeria encompass oil and gas, manufacturing, retail, real estate, and other ancillary companies. Based on interviews and participant observations, this article investigates how differing notions of land ownership circulate within communities affected by the FTZs. I ask how it is that indigenous populations, who fear displacement from their living spaces and socio-economic livelihoods, have begun to utilize claims to ancestral land ownership as symbolic expressions of cultural meanings and belonging that run counter to the property regimes associated with the FTZ project. How does the production of such cultural meanings intersect with the claims and counter-claims of indigeneity, communal ownership, and belonging to a space with a rich history that predates the postcolonial state and the inheritors of state power in Lagos? How is it that FTZs, framed as infrastructure projects designed to make life better for the people, end up displacing populations? In drawing out the connections between large-scale development and displacement, this article examines how communities employ both the tangible and intangible past to show how contestations over land ownership are reshaping new forms of community history and culture.

Résumé

Cet article interroge l'introduction de zones économiques spéciales (ZES) au Nigeria et plus particulièrement la mise en place de la zone de libre-échange (ZLE) Lekki en mai 2006 par le gouvernement de l’État de Lagos en partenariat avec un consortium chinois, et de la ZLE Ogun-Guandong à Igbesa, l’État d'Ogun par le gouvernement de l’État d'Ogun. La ZLE Lekki, la ZLE Ogun-Guandong et d'autres ZLE ont pour objectif de faire des États de Lagos et d'Ogun le pôle de production d'Afrique de l'Ouest et d'Afrique subsaharienne. Ces zones économiques au Nigeria regroupent des compagnies pétrolières et gazières, des entreprises manufacturières, des sociétés de distribution, des sociétés immobilières et d'autres sociétés auxiliaires. Basé sur des entretiens et des observations participantes, cet article étudie comment diverses notions de propriété foncière circulent au sein des communautés affectées par les ZLE. L'auteur demande comment il se fait que les populations indigènes, qui craignent de perdre leurs logements et leurs moyens de subsistance socioéconomiques, ont commencé à utiliser des revendications de la propriété des terres ancestrales comme expressions symboliques de significations et d'appartenance culturelles qui vont à l'encontre des régimes fonciers associés au projet ZLE. Comment la production de telles significations culturelles se recoupe-t-elle avec les demandes et contredemandes d'indigénéité, de propriété en commun et d'appartenance à un espace riche en histoire antérieur à l’État postcolonial et aux héritiers du pouvoir d’État à Lagos ? Comment se fait-il que les ZLE, présentées comme des projets d'infrastructure conçus pour améliorer la vie des gens, finissent par déplacer des populations ? En traitant des liens entre grands projets immobiliers et déplacement, cet article examine comment les communautés utilisent le passé, tant tangible qu'intangible, pour montrer comment les contestations portant sur la propriété foncière refaçonnent de nouvelles formes d'histoire et de culture communautaires.

Type
Afro-Chinese engagements
Information
Africa , Volume 89 , Issue 4 , November 2019 , pp. 662 - 679
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2019 

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