Abstract:
This work is on "Multinational Oil Companies in Nigeria and the Transfer of Technology: A Critical Evaluation of the Transfer Supporting Frameworks in the Companies". The broad objective of the study was to determine if technology acquisition can be achieved by Nigeria through the r MNCs' modes of operation. The study sought to achieve the objective by using questionnaires and interviews to sample the opinions of the respondents. The sample size was 126 persons consisting of 40 senior staff of the two oil companies used as Case study (Shell (16) and Chevron (24)) and 86 persons from the general public. The data collected was analysed using frequency and percentage tables. And the three hypotheses formulated was tested using chi-square (x2) distribution. The major findings were as follows: That the Nigerian senior personnel in the companies mostly occupy staff management positions like personnel, Legal advisers, Public Relations Officers etc. That it is only through involvement of Nigerian personnel in critical line management positions such as engineering, exploration, production etc that technology acquisition can be made possible. That the fewroutine technical operations but foreign experts are flown from the parent companies in cases of complex technical problems. That government's incentives can only make them feel indispensable in Nigeria. And as a result they can set conditions that will increase their profits during negotiations rather than being committed to technology transfer. The work recommends that the onus lies ~ith Nigerian government to choose the path of Ntgerian technological development upon which any foreign firm that wants to do business in NIgeria must thread
