Download Leonard Ugbajah, University of Enugu, Nigeria

A Paper Presented By:
Leonard O. Ugbajah
at the Final Workshop for the CUTS 7Up4 Project In West Africa held in Dakar,
Senegal, 6-7th August, 2010.
[email protected], [email protected].
Introduction
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The economy…
Making a transition- the challenges
Competition law in Nigeria-the Egg that never
hatches…
Understanding Government bureaucracy- a hydra or
an octopus?
Major actors and vested interests
Towards an inclusive stakeholders-driven approach
Mobilising political support…
All or nothing? What options for developing
countries
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Oil and gas dependent
Relatively strong industrial base
Agriculture is very important too
Relatively strong financial services sector
Same for telecommunications and IT generally
Retail trading
Annual growth rate of about 6%
Annual GDP of about…
Per capita income of about…
Enormous potential human capital- population of
about 150 million (144.7 million by the 2006
Census)
◦ Market Reforms in the absence of a competition
policy/law – telecoms, power, oil and gas,
broadcasting- prevalence of sector specific
approach.
◦ Negotiating a difficult bend
 The challenge of changing cultural attitudes
 Technical capacity challenges-sound policies, effective
implementation, institutional integrity.
 Dealing with political interference -let’s kill all the
politicians?
 Competition policy and law was on the table from the
onset.
• Multiple Bills, lack of co-ordination…
◦ The Federal Competition Commission Bill, 2002
◦ The Nigerian Trade and Competition Commission
(NTCC) Bill, 2005
◦ The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection
(FCCP)Bill, 2009
◦ Members Bills in the National Assembly
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A hydra or an octopus?
The Executive
◦ MDAS- FMC&I, BPE, MoJ, NIPC, NCC, CPC, etc
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The Legislature (National Assembly)
◦ The Senate
◦ The House of Representatives
◦ The Committees
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The Judiciary.
The Process of law-making in Nigeria
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Government Actors- what do they really want?
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Non-state Actors- little appreciation and interest
◦ The Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry (FMC&I)
◦ The National Council on Privatisation(NCP) /Bureau of
Public Enterprise(BPE)
◦ The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
◦ The Consumer Protection Council (CPC)
◦ Others.
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Private sector- formal and informal sectors
Civil society , consumer organisations
The mass media
Labour movements
The Competition Law Committee of the Nigerian Bar
Association
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What needs to be done◦ Ironing out the divergent positions of MDAs
◦ Well defined pro-development policy objectives
while not sacrificing core principles and
international best practices.
◦ Convincing the business community and consumer
organisations of the importance of competition law.
◦ Building a private sector driven coalition for
advocacy.
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Advocacy! Advocacy!! Advocacy!!!
How?
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By whom?
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Vested interests…the hawks wont let go easily.
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◦ Media trainings/sensitisation
◦ Sensitisation/lobbying of the law makers and their support staff –
‘targeting’ may be utilised to build a core of committed advocated
within the legislature.
◦ The private sector driven coalition.
◦ Donor support may be needed
◦ Politicians are businessmen- politics often triumphs economy!
◦ Vested business interests have well oiled lobbying machinery.
◦ But evidence based and strategic advocacy can swing the tide.
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Using sector regulators to enforce competition
law in the absence of an economy-wide
legislation and authority.
The Nigerian experience.
◦ Investment and Securities Act (ISA) of 2007
◦ Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Act of
2002 and the Competition Regulations of 2008?
◦ Nigerian Energy Regulatory Commission (NERC) Act of
2005
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The merits and demerits.
One step at a time, we’ll get there!