Drugs and development: exploring nuances based on the accounts of Nigerian retail dealers

Nelson, Ediomo-Ubong Ekpo (2024) Drugs and development: exploring nuances based on the accounts of Nigerian retail dealers. Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, 5 (3). 47 - 59. ISSN 2516-7227

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Abstract

The production, distribution, and consumption of drugs has long been seen as a threat to social and economic development. On the other hand, conditions of unemployment and poverty foster expansion of illegal drug markets. In this study, I offer a nuanced view of the drugs/development connection where poverty and unemployment incentivise participation in the illegal drug market as a response to the failure of state-led development. The study is based on 31 in-depth interviews with male retail drug dealers in Nigeria. Findings revealed various ways the participants framed retail drug trade in connection to development. This includes, drug dealing as a pathway to social and economic mobility, drug dealing as way of mitigating youth crime, drug dealing as a response to failed development promises, and drug dealing as a means of capital formation for legitimate investment. The complex relationship between drugs and development revealed in these accounts troubles the narrow emphasis on counter-narcotics that dominate Nigerian drug policies. They indicate a need to view illegal drug trade, especially low-level distribution, as grassroots dissent from exclusionary development. Social policies designed to provide skills and opportunities for legitimate, gainful employment for at-risk youths offer scope for curbing involvement in retail drug trade.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://jied.lse.ac.uk/
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	LSE
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
Date Deposited:	04 Mar 2024 17:39
Last Modified:	15 May 2024 18:36
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/122169

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