The Third World and the Gains of Globalisation

By Chuks Oluigbo

The term globalization became popular in the 1980s. However, when its underlying objective is properly considered, it becomes clear that it is nothing but old wine in new skin. Globalization has really been around for more than five centuries. It is the consummation of the internationalization of capitalism and its associated institutions and the subjugation of the people of the globe which began several centuries ago. It could be said, and with justification too, that slave trade, colonialism and globalization are stages within the same process – that of Third World underdevelopment. Slave trade sowed the seed, colonialism nurtured and perfected it, and globalization is now reaping the fruit.

Globalization ideally should imply global interconnectedness and interdependence, but what obtains in reality is the dependence of the imperialized Third World on the industrial capitalist nations. In the present global village, information, goods, capital, people, knowledge, images, communication, crime, culture, pollutants, drugs, fashions, entertainment, beliefs, among others, all quickly move across territorial boundaries. True, but the question to be asked is: how much of these items move from the Third World to the industrial West? None, except for cheap raw materials. Global interdependence and interconnectedness presuppose that the movement of these items should be mutually equal and symbiotic so that each participant would derive maximum benefit from the association while equally contributing to the overall benefit of other actors. It has become evident, however, that globalization in the present world economic order works to the advantage of the domineering industrial nations while dislocating, plundering, devastating, impoverishing, and further under-developing the economies of the already imperialized Third World. For the one thousand and one foreign owned multinational corporations in Nigeria, for instance, how many Nigerian-owned corporations can be found in New York, Paris, London or Moscow? Clearly, the Third World countries are unequal partners in the global system with only their cheap raw materials and their age-long dependence on industrial goods and aid from the West. This perpetuates an asymmetrical, super-ordinate-subordinate relationship in which the loser Third World countries merely dance to the tune of economic music played by the IMF and the World Bank – financial agents of the West.

In order to participate as equal partners in the globalization process and reap fully the fruits of globalization, Nigeria and the rest of the Third World must, as a matter of urgency, aspire towards self-sustenance and –sufficiency by developing indigenous technology, diversifying their economies, reducing importation and conversely encouraging the emergence of local industries, limiting the activities of the multinationals through strict regulations, searching for alternative roads to development where the capitalist mode of production has failed to produce results, developing independently strong nuclear power to match the threat of the US and its Western allies, and most importantly, producing fearless and truly nationalist leaders propelled by genuine desires to lead their people on the path of true freedom. Unless and until this is done, globalization will continue to hurt rather than heal our economies, and instead of reaping the fruits of the global village, we will continue to experience the brutal pillaging of our economies by the imperialistic capitalism of the West. Former President Bush’s comment on his last visit to Nigeria that in a unipolar world there can be no symbiotic relationship should warn the Third World economies of the true intent of globalization and the urgent need for a radical reordering of the present global system.