Between skills development and skills protectionism: The discourse and practice of skills development in the Nigerian multinational corporate sector.

Abstract

Against the backdrop of arguments regarding the role of multinational corporations (MNCs) as custodians of modern skills and technology and as agents of socio-economic transformation in developing countries, especially through training and human resource development, this study examined specific claims in this regard in the Nigerian context. Specifically, the study examined how skills development strategies in selected MNCs in Nigeria reflected, or failed to reflect, the “prescriptions” and “idealisations” about national human capital formation as gleaned from the dominant discourses in the country’s official manpower agencies, organised labour and organised private sector. Were there, for instance, specific MNC skills development strategies that potentially could undermine the notion of MNCs as “agents of socio-economic development”? Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from three MNC subsidiaries in Nigeria (Lafarge Cement Wapco, Unilever and MTN Communication), and from relevant national manpower agencies, organised private sector organisations, and two labour federations. One key finding was that, viewed against the backdrop of specific national “prescriptions” and “idealisations” about human capital formation in Nigeria, the terrain of skills development in the multinational corporate sector was one of connects, disconnects and paradoxes. While the MNCs maintained a vast and robust canvas of skills development strategies and professed some of the same “ideals” as national skills agencies and even organised labour about, their skills development strategies were overwhelmingly company- and product-centred, and thus lacked wider (societal) applicability. The findings also pointed to practices that appeared to actively “prevent” Nigerian employees from accessing certain levels of know-how. The study concluded that, at least from a skills development point of view, the idea of MNCs as agents of socio-economic development must always be qualified, as it was based on a failure of analysts to carefully distinguish between “everyday” or even “high level” skills (which were readily accessible to, and acquirable by, locals) and “strategic” skills (which locals were prevented from accessing) and how MNCs thereby helped to perpetuate the skills divide between host country and home country. The study thus raises important questions for both skills development scholarship and policy and further sharpens the focus on how best to appraise (and monitor), from the point of view of skills development, the socio-economic role of MNCs in a developing country such as Nigeria.