LEGAL ASPECTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITIES IN NIGERIA; THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF HER COMPANY LAWS

Abstract

Since mankind transited from the ‘State of Nature’ of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes where life was ‘nasty, short, and brutish’, legal systems and frameworks have become the yardsticks and parameters guiding human activities to maintain sanity in the society and checkmate infractions which when flouted, is punished by the same legal system and jurisprudence. The Judicial arm of government remains the custodian of the legal principles of any land, developing and ensuring its adherence though in conjunction with other arms of government namely, the Legislative and the Executive.  This paper examined the origin of Company Laws in Nigeria from the Colonial era and how this has sharpened entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial activities in the Country over the years.

 It was done as an expose facto research in form of a position paper using systematic literature review format.

Given pieces of information gleaned from different literature sources, it is evident in the findings that Nigeria’s Company Laws emerged and metamorphosed from that of her colonial master where it had its origin and root though after independence, it started having the semblance of her own goals and aspirations however, the hands of the colonial master and the Western worlds aligned is still apparent in her social and economic lives inform of neocolonialist influences like the World Bank, IMF, Bilateral and Multilateral agreements and many other similar ones and consequently, her entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial activities.

The way to go is therefore for the Country to prioritize her interests over and above other alliances given her foreign policy philosophy which is now Nigeria first.