ENGAGING PRIVATIZATION POLICY
Privatization of state-owned enterprises is a core aspect of the economic policy of the Nigerian government. Privatization intends to improve efficiency and to combat corruption. Privatization remains controversial because of the lack of transparency involved, and because of the social effects it may bring about: from job losses to increased prices for services. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the opportunities and risks of privatization, HBF Nigeria supports a number of initiatives aiming at strenghtening the capacity of civil society organisations in Nigeria to meaningfully and critically engage government's privatization policy.

A Privatization Observatory

One of the initiatives supported by HBF Nigeria is the Privatization Observatory, established by Socio-Economic Rights Initiative (SERI), a Lagos-based non-governmental organization dedicated to the promotion of due process and basic standards in economic, social and cultural rights. SERI established the Observatory to provide an alternative independent framework to the privatization programme currently pursued by the Nigerian government.

The Observatory evaluates how the privatization programme in Nigeria scores against the values of transparency, accountability, non-discrimination, popular participation, adequate access to information, gender, regional and class equity, poverty reduction or pro-poor concerns.

The Observatory seeks to provide early warning signals/ mechanisms on conducts and practices that are capable of derailing the privatization programme from realizing its intended objectives.

It delves deeper than the question of technical efficiency and growth to set benchmarks that will score privatization from both economic growth and people-centered development points of view. The special interest is on poverty-reduction and gender issues.

It operates the Privatization Observatory Website.

Capacity Building and Power Mapping

Since mid-2003, SERI organized two workshops in Lagos and Abuja aiming at building the capacity of civil society in Nigeria to understand privatization and to formulate its own demands and suggestions. The workshops brought together representatives from NGOs, trade unions and the media, as well as a number of government officials involved in the administration of the privatization programme.

The two workshops culminated in an exercise of "Power Mapping". In an attempt to identify the key players and institutions of power relevant to the privatization of state-owned enterprises in Nigeria, it was necessary to do a comparative study of other privatized economies to understand their politics, labour issues and the general orientation of their national debates. This involved a detailed literature review on privatization. It also involved an analysis of the legal framework on which the Nigerian privatization programme subsists.

The essence of the power mapping exercise is to identify potential strategic partners for SERI's intervention into the debates around privatization, and to earmark at the beginning of the programme, sources of support and likely tension/difficulty spots during the implementation of the advocacy stage.

A Preliminary Report (Literature Review and Power Mapping) on the Privatization Programme was completed in August 2003.

[Read / Download the "Literature Review and Power Mapping" Report]
(.pdf document, 332 kB)

Meeting Executive and Legislative on Privatization

As another important step within the Privatization Observatory project, SERI conducted a capacity-building workshop in Abuja on 20-21 November 2003. The workshop brought together, for information and discussion about the government's privatization policies, members of a wide range of civil society organisations with representatives of the executive and the National Assembly.

Mr. Baba Mohammed, Assistant-Director and Special Assistant to the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), presented the rationale for privatization and the modes of operation of the BPE.

Dr. Sunday N. Onuoha, Special Assistant to the President on Privatization, stressed the need for increased information of (and debate with) the general public on issues of economic policy. He expressed the executive's readiness for greater engagement with civil society on privatization policy.

Hon. Nnaemeka C. Ughanze, Chairman of the House Committee on Privatization and Commercialization, criticized the BPE's operations from the National Assembly's point of view. He went on to explain details of the new Privatization Act, currently debated in Parliament, designed to give legislators a greater say in on-going privatization exercises.

Readings on Privatisation is the first book-size publication that emerged from the Privatization Observatory. It contains a broad spectrum of positions towards privatization policy, held by members of the broader civil society in Nigeria, from NGOs to academics to trade unionists. The aim of this book is to stimulate further debate and enquiry that will help in creating the awareness necessary for holding the privatising authorities accountable to the people.

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