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Intellectuals, Economic Reform and Social Change: Constraints and Opportunities in the Formation of a Nigerian Technocracy

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  • Yusuf Bangura

Abstract

Crisis and economic reforms have changed the status of intellectuals and their relations with dominant élites and policy makers. Because of the technical and ideological nature of these reforms, policy makers have tended to rely on intellectuals as opposed to bureaucrats to shape the agenda of change. This has converted a large number of intellectuals into technocrats and undermined the fabric of academic life in universities. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in developing countries with a large middle class and an economic or financial base that ensures some degree of independence from the multilateral financial institutions. Understanding the success or failure of economic reforms in developing countries requires some analysis of the complex relations between technocrats and political leaders and the societal constraints both sets of actors face. This article explores these issues in the context of Nigeria, whose academic community, bureaucrats and professionals grew in leaps and bounds in the 1970s, following an oil‐induced boom. The crisis of the 1980s led to attempts at economic reform and a highly programmed strategy of political change in which academics played a leading role. The article examines the effectiveness of intellectuals in government, and compares the Nigeria case with technocratic experiments in Ghana, Botswana and Côte d̂Ivoire.

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  • Yusuf Bangura, 1994. "Intellectuals, Economic Reform and Social Change: Constraints and Opportunities in the Formation of a Nigerian Technocracy," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 25(2), pages 261-305, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:25:y:1994:i:2:p:261-305
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7660.1994.tb00516.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Ekong, Christopher N. & Onye, Kenneth U., 2017. "The Nigerian University System in a Recessionary Economy," MPRA Paper 88315, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Yusuf Bangura, 1994. "Economic Restructuring, Coping Strategies and Social Change: Implications for Institutional Development in Africa," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 25(4), pages 785-827, October.
    3. Thandika Mkandawire, 1999. "The political economy of financial reform in Africa," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(3), pages 321-342.
    4. Ganaba, Nouhoum, 1997. "Market failures and government failures in West Africa: Which strategies for the future?," Tübinger Diskussionsbeiträge 100, University of Tübingen, School of Business and Economics.

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